154 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. xix. 



drain ; and once in this we were nearly sure of a shot. Luckily 

 a farmer was ploughing in an adjoining field, and though at every 

 turn he approached the ditch of the oatfield where the geese were, 

 the birds, according to their usual custom, took no notice of him. 

 We joined the ploughman, and keeping behind the horses, slipped 

 unperceived by the geese into the ditch, which, by the by, had 

 in it about a foot of the coldest water that I ever felt. It was 

 deep enough, however, to conceal us entirely, and following Simon 

 I went about three hundred yards down the drain, till we came 

 to another which ran at right angles to the first ; we turned 

 along this ditch, which, not being cut so deep as the other, obliged 

 us to stoop in a manner that made my back ache most unmerci- 

 fully. Simon appeared to understand exactly what he was at, 

 and to have a perfect knowledge of the geography of all the drains 

 in the country. Putting on a nondescript kind of cap, made of 

 dirty canvass, exactly the colour of a ploughed field, he peered 

 cautiously through a bunch of rushes which grew on the edge of 

 the ditch ; then looking at me with a most satisfied grin, floundered 

 on again till he came to another ditch that crossed us at right 

 angles ; up this he went, and of course I had nothing to do but 

 to follow, though as I occasionally sank above my knees into 

 cold spring water, I began to wish all the wild geese were con- 

 signed to his black majesty : we went about a hundred yards up 

 this last drain, till we came to a part where a few rushes grew 

 on the banks ; looking through these we saw about fifty geese 

 coming straight towards us, feeding ; we got our guns cautiously 

 on the top of the bank and waited till the birds were within 

 twenty-five yards of us, they then began to turn to cross the 

 field back again. Some were within shot, however, and on our 

 giving a low whistle they ran together, preparatory to rising ; 

 this was our moment : only one of my barrels went off, the other 

 having got wet through, copper cap and every thing, during our 

 progress in the ditch. "We, however, bagged three birds, and 

 another flew wounded away, and at last fell close to the sea- 

 shore, where we afterwards found her. Having collected our 

 game, I was not sorry to walk off home in double-quick time to 

 put a little caloric into my limbs, as I felt perfectly benumbed 

 after wading for such a distance in a cold March wind. 



On our way home we saw an immense flock of geese alight to 



