BREYDON IN LEISURELY AUTUMN 183 



to be exercised, for they had a knack of jumping the net- 

 rope as sheep jump hurdles, in a crowd. 



Old " Pero " Pestell was on one occasion rowing down the 

 channel, when a curious freckled appearance on the surface 

 of the water near the " north " (drain) against the Knowle 

 momentarily suggested to him a shower of rain. He at 

 once, however, saw it was an immense shoal of mullet at 

 play. He hastened home and told "Poker" Lamb, who, 

 with Charles Brackenbury and old Jack Edmonds (all notorie- 

 ties), were then thinking of going up Breydon with their nets. 

 Pestell accompanied them to the " north," and they speedily 

 surrounded the shoal. Brackenbury remained in one boat 

 outside the bight of the net, "splouncing" with a pole, in order 

 to keep the frightened fish from jumping out. But the 

 mullet did not intend to be taken, and one or two jumped 

 over in spite of the rumpus, and were followed by the whole 

 school of magnificent fishes. When the net was hauled in 

 only a solitary individual was found remaining in it. 



" The language ! " remarked Pestell, " well, I cleared out ! " 

 And it would take something abnormal in that line to 

 frighten "Pero." 



****** 



IN BRACING DAYS 



October on the whole is a fairly interesting month ; fine 

 days intervene between those of rougher kind, and the air is 

 bracing. The nights are longer, and are occasionally frosty. 

 There is a fishy aroma pervading the flood tide, for the Scotch 

 and English luggers are steaming in and out the harbour 

 with their cargoes of silvery herrings. The gulls muster up 

 in considerable numbers ; they too are following the herring 

 shoals, and spend many of their leisure hours on the mud- 

 flats, often staying there, content with the offal from the 

 boats which floats up the river. 



Wading birds come and go, and the gunners prowl around 

 and among the drains and channels. Most of the birds have 

 assumed the sober dresses which distinguish them in winter. 

 A few now and then, such as knots and curlew-sandpipers, 

 are found tinted with ruddy hues, but the majority of the 

 birds are no longer eligible as specimens, save for the " pot" 



