UNDER THE MOON 



NE of the most fascinat- 

 ing forms of wildfowling 

 afloat is that of punt- 

 gunning by moonUght. 

 Nature is then in her 

 quietest mood, the 

 plaintive calling of the 

 fowl, the lapping of the 

 tide against the "big- 

 gunner's " low - sided 

 craft, the muffled 

 thunder of the combers 

 breaking upon the treacherous sand-bar and against 

 the bold headland which looms high and gaunt 

 amidst the grey moonlit tide, awaken the slumbering 

 echoes of the vast expanse of ooze-flats, saltings, and 

 dyke - intersected meal marshes. Scarcely a glim- 

 mer is there to be seen ashore ; the old-time crooked, 

 cobble-paved fishing hamlet and its toil-weary, brine- 

 tanned inhabitants are wrapped in slumber. Out 

 on the main, however, there are more evidences of life 

 than may be seen ashore, and the cluster of lights that 

 dance upon the waves like so many will-o'-the-wisps are 

 the lights of the drifting fishing-fleet, while the dazzling 

 flashes which appear at frequent intervals from beyond 



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