, CHRISTMAS ON THE VELDT 231 



leisure to watch how the man on my right fared, as the 

 air seemed alive with coots, and for several minutes 

 the " pop -popping " of " nitro " and " black " on both 

 sides of my stand was quite incessant, while the yelling 

 of the beaters was almost unearthly. Coots in their 

 tens and their hundreds came past and over me, until 

 from continuous firing the barrels of my old 12-bore 

 became so heated that I could scarcely hold them. 



Briefly, I obtained my full share of shooting during 

 that really exciting Christmas coot drive ; but I am 

 bound to confess that my contribution to the aggregate 

 bag, which consisted of nearly 150 couple of coots and 

 some 20 brace of ducks and teal, was far less than that 

 of either of my fellow guns, with the exception of Madcap 

 Hood, who only accounted for an ancient hammerkop 

 during the drive. 



