THE WILD DUCK. 303 



Thousands on thousands are brought to market by 

 these modes. 



While speaking of ancient and modern modes of 

 decoy, we cannot avoid taking notice of that which is 

 said to be the Chinese method of ensnaring these 

 birds : it equals the French decoys for ingenuity. 

 The Italian method, of putting out their eyes, is too 

 cruel for our English habits ; but this Chinese 

 method might be followed without detriment to hu- 

 manity. Whenever the fowler sees a number of 

 ducks settled in any particular plash of water, he 

 sends off two or three gourds to float among them. 

 These gourds, being made hollow, swim on the 

 surface of the water ; and on one pool there may 

 be sometimes seen twenty or thirty of them. The 

 fowl are at first a little shy of coming near, but 

 by degrees they approach, and, as birds grow fa- 

 miliar with scarecrows, so the ducks gather around 

 the gourds, and amuse themselves by whetting their 

 bills against them. At last the fowler is satisfied 

 he can deceive them. He puts his head into one 

 of these hollow gourds, and, making holes to breathe 

 and see through, he wades slowly into the water, 

 keeping his body under, and nothing but his head, 

 gourd-accoutred, above its surface. He thus gets in 

 among the wild-fowl, while they, long used to see 

 gourds, take not the least fright while the enemy is 

 in the midst of them ; and an insidious enemy he is, 

 for ever as he approaches a fowl, he seizes it by the 

 legs, and jerks it under the water; there he fastens 



