GAME AND ITS PKOTECTION. 21 



There is no meaner mode of shooting than from a 

 battery. In attaining destructiveness, every idea of 

 beauty, comfort, or sportsmanship is sacrificed. The 

 shooter lies on his back in a species of coffin sunk to 

 the level of the water, with his decoys near by ; and 

 whenever a flock approaches, he rises to a sitting 

 posture and fires. He cannot leave his battery nor 

 move it, nor hardly turn round in it, and is unable 

 to retrieve his ducks without the aid of an assistant. 

 It is an invention suited solely to the market-gunner, 

 and utterly unfitted to the sportsman. Bad weather 

 prevents its use altogether ; and in a moderate breeze 

 the water is apt to break over the narrow rim and 

 destroy the comfort, if not absolutely endanger the 

 safety, of the sportsman. 



When ducks are scarce the confinement is weari- 

 some; and when they are abundant the excitement, 

 united to the awkwardness of position, often leads 

 to terrible accidents. " Cribbed, cabined, and con- 

 fined," the duck-shooter lies for weary hours ex- 

 posed to the cold winds of winter, unable to keep 

 his blood in circulation by exercise, and is hardly 

 remunerated by the sport; although, if money be his 

 object, he may be paid by the commercial value of 

 his game. It is this ignoble mode of warfare that, 

 more than anything else, has brought discredit upon 

 wild-fowl shooting; for the upland shooter, accus- 

 tomed to the free motion and active exertion of his 

 favorite pursuit, naturally feels disgusted at being 

 thrust into a box scarcely large enough to contain 

 his body, and which cramps his every motion. 



