508 The Water-fowl Family 



ravenous mud, with water continually threaten- 

 ing the gunwales of his longest boots before he 

 could get much fun, while the poor novice who 

 had to venture a " pot-shot " from the shore was 

 too often compelled to look with fond regrets on 

 a bunch of dead ducks he dared not try to reach 

 with the longest pole. 



But on the greater part of this coast the ponds 

 have firmer bottoms and sides, so much so that a 

 horse can often be ridden and even a wagon driven 

 through. In almost all cases it is a simple matter 

 to drive a wagon within a few yards of the water 

 and often quite easy to touch it dry-shod. The 

 consequence is that you can often hunt in a 

 wagon or on a horse, locate the game from a dis- 

 tance, and then swing round upon it as you wish. 

 This will nearly always insure a rising shot which 

 is generally hard enough for the tyro. But better 

 shooting may be had by scaring but the ducks 

 without shooting, and then hiding in the reeds or 

 in many of the little gullies or cuts in the hard 

 ground around their edges. If not shot at, and 

 often if they are, they are quite apt to come back, 

 singly, in pairs, and flocks for some time, wheeling 

 and whizzing about at great speed before decid- 

 ing to alight and thus presenting every style of 

 difficult shot. In many places the water of 

 flood years has gashed the plain with a long, 

 winding gully six to ten feet deep, leaving a small 



