298 A MEDLEY OF SPORT 



for miles round, I reckon ; for it lies in the direct line of 

 the flight of the duck as they pass to or from the decoy- 

 ponds. Many's the time I've carried home a big load 

 of mallard, widgeon, and teal after spending half-an-hour 

 behind that bend." 



'' It was close to yon point — take a pull on the main 

 sheet, if you don't mind, sir — that a gert ode whale got 

 stranded some years ago, and all the men and boys — and 

 I might say gals, too, for that matter — come down from 

 all parts of the country, with masterful ode guns, scythes 

 bound on poles, pitchforks, and every sort of weapon 

 you can think on. But do you think they could kill her ? 

 Not much they couldn't ; and in the end they hauled her 

 ' fluker ' up on the sea-wall with tackles, leaving her head 

 in the river ; and when the tide rose she was drownded. 

 Whew, didn't that gert ode fish ' hum ' in a few days' 

 time, for she got stranded in July." 



" Have a nerve-binder, Dan, and get forrard again to 

 your yarns," suggest Maldoon, handing the skipper a 

 bottle of beer, and slyly winking at me. 



" Good health, gentlemen " ; and then, without losing 

 a moment, Daniel was at it again. " Can you see that 

 long line of black ground just beginning to show dry 

 above the tide ? Well, gentlemen, without telling a lie, 

 I've seen hundreds of thousands of brent ^ geese, not 

 counting other fowl, feeding on the widgeon grass \Zostera 

 marina], which grows in wonderful plenty along the 



^ During the Arctic-like winter of 1894-95 the writer saw many thousands 

 of brent geese assembled on the ridge in question, but they were very wild 

 and difficult to approach. 



