PUNTING BY DAYLIGHT. 141 



to that of the ordinary position for rowing : to do which, the punter 

 may either sit upon the floor, or, as is the more general method, lie 

 may keep upon his knees. 



Directly the punter discovers any birds, if within reasonable dis- 

 tance, he lies down at once, unships his oars, and proceeds to approach 

 them through the assistance of the paddles. If in deep water, he 

 will confine himself to the use of these alone, for the purpose of 

 "setting up" to the birds : but in shallow water he generally resorts 

 to the setting-pole, i. e., a small pole about eight or ten feet in length, 

 shod at the lower end with an iron ferrule, or a lump of lead, so as to 

 assist it in sinking to the bottom. If the setting-pole has a forked end, 

 it will be found useful in pinning down wounded birds by their necks, 

 when pursuing them on the^ooze. When the punter requires one or both 

 hands inside the punt, for the purpose of steadying the gun and 

 pulling trigger, or otherwise, he need not take in the paddles at the 

 moment, but may leave them hanging over the sides of the boat. 



The young punter will find it no easy task to work his punt ahead 

 in the wind's eye, with a pair of hand-paddles, whilst lying flat upon 

 his chest. The pursuit will try his arms severely, at first ; for it is 

 downright hard work, much more so than rowing ; on account of the 

 prostrate position in which the punter has to perform his operations. 

 It is usual to be provided with an extra jacket, or cushion, on which 

 to rest the chest or stomach : and such is a great comfort and 

 assistance to the punter. The extra jacket will often be found very 

 useful when obliged to sit about in the cold, waiting the flow of tide ; 

 also in case of snow or rain and such like casualties. 



The paddles used for the purpose of punting are about 2| feet in 

 length by four or five inches in breadth : they are of the form and 

 substance of oar-blades, rounded at the top for handles, slightly 

 forked at the bottom, and connected together by a string or small 

 cord, which is secured through a little hole bored in the top of the 

 handles : the object of the cord being as a preventive against losing 

 them when dropped alongside the punt at the time of using the 

 hand for pulling the trigger. 



The engraving opposite, is intended to represent a scene of one 

 of the author's best shots by daylight. It occurred at about eight 

 o'clock one morning in the month of January, during a snow- 

 storm, when the birds appeared particularly tame : the scene is there- 

 fore termed " the day for ducks." The punter has just fired half-a- 

 pound of shot among a paddling of wild-ducks, killing twenty-nine 



