WILD-FOWLING IN DRIFT-ICE. 155 



those who are fortunate enough to be first on the spot with a dog 

 and small g-un, wherewith to salute them with a coup-de-grdce, and 

 secure them. 



The punter should attentively mark the commencement of a thaw 

 after a long- frost, and proceed at once, on such an occasion, to the open 

 waters. It is a fine opportunity: the birds then feed upon the soft sub- 

 stances of the ooze very greedily, and may be approached, under ordi- 

 nary precautions, almost with certainty. Some of the best shots I have 

 ever made with the punt-gun have been on the first breath of a 

 morning-thaw. 



The round-bottomed punt described at p. 117 is preferable to the 

 flat-bottomed for moving amongst drift-ice ; because, by listing the 

 boat on one side slightly below her bearings, the other side rises to 

 the ice, and allows it to pass beneath the bottom ; and, if accidentally 

 hemmed in between two ice-bergs, the round-bottomed punt is far 

 the less likely of the two to be crushed. The colour of the punt, 

 during these operations, should be of the same spotless whiteness as 

 the crystallized masses of drift-ice and snow-clad shores. 



In windy weather, the punter should be extremely cautious of 

 venturing among' drift-ice, more especially on a lee-shore : the punt is 

 very liable to be stove-in or seriously damaged by the hard sub- 

 stances driving against it ; and it is almost impossible to extricate a 

 punt, under ordinary circumstances, from the iron grasp of drift-ice, 

 when affected by wind or tide. 



Should the punter accidentally find himself beset, and there is no 

 fear of immediate danger, he must remain quiet a few hours, until 

 the tide turns, when he may stand a chance of getting out : and it is 

 his only chance ; for, if the ice be left on the ooze by the receding 

 tide, he must be left also ; his position then becomes by no means an 

 envious one, it being impossible to conjecture upon what sort of a 

 landing the punt will rest. If across a rill or hollow, such must be 

 an extremely perilous position both for the punt and its occupant 



The punter will find the same, or greater, difficulty in returning 

 home from an excursion of the kind, as that which he encounters 

 on setting out ; and unless he can return up the channel in advance of 

 the ice, it will be of no use to make the attempt ; he had better 

 row ashore in the open water to windward of the ice, and walk home 

 afoot, though it should be ten miles distant. 



To attempt forcing a passage through heavy drift-ice, at night, would 

 be next to madness : no one at all conscious of the risk would incur it. 



