286 THE WILD FOWL. 



shoulders have become tolerably sore from the constant 

 percussion of our guns — long before day all have shot 

 away the whole of their powder and lead, and we 

 rendezvous on the ridge — tin cups are drained of the 

 remnants of the different grog-gourds, pipes puffed, 

 and opinions hazarded as to the haul the morning will 

 give us. At daylight, an old cypress * dug out ' is 

 drawn out of the sedge, where it has been concealed 

 and launclied ; two men take their seats in it ; one 

 paddles, and the other retrieves, till the boat is loaded, 

 when the game is brought ashore, and two others take 

 their places, and in time all the birds visible upon the 

 water are collected and counted. Hundreds of the 

 wounded have concealed themselves in the sedo-e, in 

 the rushes, or have wandered out into the prairie grass 

 to die on the one side, or into the forest on the other ; 

 and how many have been destroyed of course we never 

 know, but those collected we count, and then tie upon 

 our saddles to carry home. The total of this nicfht's 

 work is 347 birds, or 24 apiece and 10 over; and we 

 feel confident that not more than one-third has been 

 brought to book. 



Eather than be a spoil-sport I have joined in these 

 flight-shooting parties ; but it alwa3^s went against the 

 grain, for I dislike beyond everything to kill and then 

 lose a head of game ; but here retrievers were out of 

 the question, as instead of bringing us our birds they 

 would have furnished late suppers to the alligators. 



