230 



THE WILD-FOWLER. 



When not actually approaching- wild-fowl, one person sits facing 

 the prow, to look out for sport and give directions to the other, who 

 rows the boat with a pair of sculls, up creeks and rills, or wherever 

 there may be a prospect of sport ; and notwithstanding that it is an 

 old-fashioned method of wild-fowl shooting-, very good sport may 

 sometimes be had with a boat of this description ; particularly during 

 sharp weather, when wild-fowl are generally more abundant. A dog 

 is sometimes carried in the wild-fowl canoe, for the purpose of fetch- 

 ing the birds after a successful shot has been fired ; but it is not 

 always necessary that a dog should accompany the sportsman, the 

 better plan being, to carry a pair of splashers, which the sportsman 

 or his boatman can put on, and go upon the ooze in pursuit of dead 

 and wounded birds ; this is the more usual course, and certainly 

 the more humane, for it must be at a risk of serious constitutional in- 

 jury to a dog to get very wet in sharp weather, and then be com- 

 pelled to remain a long time in that miserable condition, without exer- 

 cise, in a small open boat ; to say nothing of the annoyance which 

 must be incurred to the occupants of the canoe, by having a wet dog 

 at their feet during the rest of the day. 



The wild-fowl canoe will also be found useful for curlew shooting, 

 as described under that head (vide post) ; also for plovers, oxbirds, 

 sandpipers, and other frequenters of marshy lands intersected with 

 tidal waters. Three persons may be occasionally accommodated in 

 the canoe, one of whom may carry as large a shoulder-gun as he can 

 manage, whilst another attends the great gun ; the whole duty of the 

 other must be to attend the canoe. It is a pleasant means of enjoy- 

 ing a day's wild-fowl shooting, and often highly satisfactory to all 

 parties, particularly those who do not venture on the more " crack 

 performances " of punting, with its difficulties, dangers, and labori- 

 ous exertions. The canoe is an excellent school for a youth who 

 takes his first lessons in the famous sport of wild-fowl shooting ; 

 and if an experienced hand accompanies him, attends to the boat 

 properly, and knows how to manage it, the young sportsman may 

 soon learn sufficient of the habits of wild-fowl, the method of ap- 

 proaching them, and management of a boat, to enable him to try his 

 hand at punting. 



The boats used at Poole and various other places on the south 

 coast, for this purpose, are upon a wrong form of construction. In 

 the first place they have straight flat bottoms, consequently trou- 

 blesome to manage in windy weather, -and very difficult to scull 



