WILD FOWLING 



persuaded myself that I should derive more pleasure from 

 witnessing his operations than in spoiling his sport — which 

 would have been the result of a premature movement on my 

 part, for he was yet half a mile from the objects of his pursuit 

 — but it occurred to me at the same moment, that I might 

 even manage to convert him into an unconscious but important 

 ally in contributing to my — the jackal's — share of it. Tak- 

 ing, therefore, a hasty survey of the harbour and its shores, 

 I saw that if I could contrive to conceal myself at a certain 

 point on a long and narrow belt of shingle at some distance, 

 over which the swans would probably fly when returning to 

 the sea, I might perhaps have the good luck to intercept them. 

 I lost no time in carrying out this plan : The coastguard- 

 man ferried me across the mouth of the estuary, after which, 

 by taking a wide circuit and availing myself of the nature 

 of the ground where it was possible to mask my advance, I suc- 

 ceeded at last in reaching the desired point, and having scraped 

 a hole in the loose shingle sufficiently large to conceal myself 

 and my dog in a crouching attitude, I placed my guns on either 

 side of me, and now directed all my attention to the exciting 

 scene in the harbour. The hoopers were still there, surrounded 

 by several flocks of wild ducks, some five hundred yards from 

 the position which I occupied, and about half that distance 

 beyond them was the gun-boat, as harmless a looking object 

 as could well be imagined, lying low in the water, and never 

 for a moment attracting the attention of any of the devoted 

 birds, who appeared to be perfectly at their ease and in the 

 full enjoyment of repose and plenty after their long and stormy 

 voyage. The brent geese and the widgeons were preening their 

 feathers, while the scaup and tufted ducks were continually 

 diving, or flapping their wings on their return to the surface 

 before they again plunged to the bottom. The swans were 

 also feeding, but in a different manner : with their long necks 

 they explored the surface of the mud beneath, where, to judge 

 from their perseverance and the number of tails that appeared 

 at the same moment directed upwards, they must have dis- 



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