CHAPTER XLIL 



THE WILD-FOWL CANOE. 



'Tis now the fowler mans his little bark, 

 Equipped with gun, and dog of sturdiest strain, 

 Prepared to weather the relentless blast 

 To deal destruction 'mid the feathered train." 



T. HUGHES. 



THIS is a small boat about twelve feet in length by three and a-half 

 in breadth, and about fifteen inches deep in the fore-part by ten inches 

 in the aft. It is clench-built in a similar manner to a skiff, and with 

 a keelson ; but as flat in the floor as it is possible to make it, because 

 of the occasional necessity of going- into shallow water. The canoe 

 is intended to carry two persons and a dog j it is used for the purpose 

 of going up creeks and under the banks of oozes at low water ; also 

 when the tide is sufficiently hig'h to bring the top rim of the bows of 

 the canoe upon a level with the surface of the ooze, when the sports- 

 man may sometimes make a very prolific shot. 



He must be provided with a large fowling-piece of proportions too 

 heavy for lifting to the shoulder or firing in an ordinary way, but of 

 such weight and dimensions as to require a rest on which to place 

 the barrel when taking* aim. A gun of this description generally 

 carries about four ounces of shot at a charge, and should be loaded 

 with No. 1 or single B's. When the sportsman has discovered wild- 

 fowl feeding on the savannas, he places himself on his knees in the 

 forepart of the canoe, rests the barrel of the gun on the bow of the 

 boat, and in that position remains as motionless as possible, whilst 

 his companion cautiously sculls the canoe, with one oar, towards the 

 birds : a sculling rowlock is purposely fitted to the centre of the stern 

 piece, through w r hich the oar is thrust ; and the bows of the boat 

 being higher than the stern, the movements of both men are con- 

 cealed from view, and effective shots are sometimes made, particu- 

 larly on moonlight nights. 



