208 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



might truthfully say, a deep-water boat. While it is 

 light of draught, still the power so essential to give the 

 propelling force can only be had where the sculling oar 

 can have ample room to work, and it ought to have at 

 least three feet to work in ; although in still water, or 

 where the current is running lightly, one can get along 

 nicely in two feet of water. The water should be free 

 from stumps, logs, rice spots, roots and moss. If the 

 sculler gets in where his oar is constantly stopped or 

 impeded, he cannot work with satisfaction, for the 

 steady motion is lost, and his oar loses control of the 

 boat. 



The sculler sits on the larboard side of the boat, on 

 some hay or an old blanket. The sculling oar is run 

 through a hole about two and one fourth inches in 

 diameter, in the stern of the boat ; the oar is bound 

 with leather where it works in the hole, and is from six 

 to eight feet long, depending on the taste of the sculler, 

 some liking long, others short oars. First thing the 

 sculler does, is to see that the boat is properly trimmed 

 or balanced. If he is alone, he puts weight enough on 

 the starboard bow to offset his own, as he sits on the 

 opposite side. Grasping the oar in both hands, he holds 

 the stem or handle of the oar on a level with his body, 

 and shoves the handle from, then draws it to him, turn- 

 ing his wrists a trifle each time as he reverses the mo- 

 tion. This gives a lateral movement to the blade in 

 the water, and he gets his power by shoving hard on 

 the oar as it goes from him, and drawing equally as hard 

 as the handle approaches him. The body of the water 

 is the resistance, and whether the oar goes from or to 

 him it lifts up against the dead weight of the water, 

 and the twisting of the wrists turns the blades just a 



