WILDFOWLING IN THE WILDERNESS. 393 



verily a terrible frost did fall that night : for when Caraballo 

 awakened us at six in the morning, the poor fellow's teeth 

 chattered, his limbs shook, and he declared that never 

 before had Dios made so cold a morning. 



M3' luck favoured me for once, and by lot, No. 5 was 

 placed by the deeps of "El Jondon," flanked by miles of 

 bamboo and cane-brakes of tropical dimensions. The oozes 

 were covered with ice, at first so thick as almost to bear 

 the horses ; but as the water deepened, the ice broke and 

 cut their fetlocks ; so we had to seek our posts on foot, 

 dry shot for the first time on record. It fell to me to 

 fire the signal-shot, so I took an opportunity of sending 

 to speedy end just nine teal with the two barrels. I had 

 never before held the luckiest number ; to-day I was in the 

 fk)r and the nata of the fray ; it will give some idea of the 

 character of the sport this day that, at times, it was 

 desirable to decline all offers from the duck-tribe, and to 

 reserve one's attention, and cartridges, exclusively for the 

 geese. 



The solid ice around my battery lent a novel feature to 

 experiences of wild sport in Spain. The ducks, even heavy 

 mallard and pintail, rebounded from the ice-bound surface ; 

 and a goose, falling obliquely, also slid for twenty yards 

 before remaining still. No ducks broke the frozen coverlet ; 

 but geese came crashing down through the ice, each 

 making itself a captive in its own chasm. I was soon 

 surrounded by these ice-bound prisoners, bringing down, 

 during the day, over thirty greylags, besides some eighty 

 ducks. Many of these, however, fell in the tall canes 

 and reed-brakes behind, and as we shot till well after dark, 

 it was impossible to gather all — even of the dead. The 

 whole bag, which, had the shooting been uniform, should 

 have been much greater, amounted to 363 ducks and 72 

 geese, besides snipe and 39 " various." 



A note on the subsequent movements of the wildfowl 

 may be an appropriate complement to this chapter. 

 During the severe weather of December, most of the ducks 

 disappeared, x^t the New Year comparatively few remained, 

 and a second shoot resulted, as regards wildfowl, in 



