MEN AND MANNERS 69 



all on a sudden the wind chopped to the nor'ard and west'ard, 

 and away comes the whole body of ice, moving directly on 

 her. I hurried towards the open channel for fear of getting 

 jammed in ; but I see the ice strike her on the bow 

 tons of it and come sliding about the decks, and right over 

 the stern of her. I never see such an avalanche ! " 



If you " 



" Well, if I'd stopped, theer'd have been a smash-up, of 

 course ; but I was best out of it," said Sharman. 



" I remember one "night in October," remarked William, 

 "the air abovehead seemed alive with golden plovers, and 

 I heard some cries that tickled my fancy ; I couldn't for the 

 life of me make 'em out. The whistle was shriller than 

 a redshank's. The wind was south-east. I went up early 

 next morning and fell in with the strangers ; and the flats 

 were crowded with plovers. Ten tall birds were standing in 

 the water and I pulled at 'em, knocking over seven. I found 

 two of 'em were greenshanks, and the other five were spotted 

 shanks. A queer time of the year for 'em." 



" One of the funniest things I ever see," said " Strike," 

 " was a couple of kestrels chasing a gull ; they dashed at 

 him right and left, and there was he, dodging and screaming, 

 till at last he took to the water and, looking up, opened his 

 beak at them. I could see his little trick ; he was after 

 nabbing hold of 'em, and drowning 'em. And I see a crow seize 

 a wounded stint (dunlin), when away comes a big gull at him 

 afore he could make off with it, and made him drop it. The 

 gull gobbled up the poor stint, feathers and all, the Kentish 

 crow standing, like a fule, a little way off, looking at him ! I 

 once knocked down a kitty (black-headed gull) when gulls 

 was fetching threepence each for hats, and crows (rooks) 

 as high as eightpence, when down dashed a great black- 

 backed gull and snatched it out of the water, and bore it 

 over to the flats and ate it ! " 



The Sharmans' record winter was that of 1890-1. During 

 the long spell of frost they were enabled to devote their time 

 to wildfowling, and made a bag of some five hundred wild- 

 fowl (ducks). 



" And somebody got writing to the papers about the 

 slaughter! They'd better by half have let us poor men 

 alone, who were glad to earn a shilling by it, and turn their 



