74 BROADLAND SPORT 



estuary is a favourite haunt for fowl and waterbirds of all 

 descriptions, and sportsmen and ornithologists come many 

 miles to visit this locality in the hope of sport and specimens. 



When a party cruising in Broadland contains one or 

 more sportsmen on board, a council meeting is generally 

 held on arrival at the Dicky Works. 



The question to be considered is, whether to lay-to for 

 the night, or proceed to the quay at Great Yarmouth ? We 

 compromise matters, arranging to stay one night at each 

 place. Next morning our gunner is up before dawn and 

 out in the punt with one of the watermen. He was fortunate, 

 as he secured a duck and mallard, a reeve, two May birds 

 (whimbrel), a young curlew, and a nice bunch of oxbirds. 

 He informed us he might have shot several herons had he 

 been of a mind to do so, but he refrained with which course 

 we all heartily concurred. At twelve o'clock we once more pro- 

 ceeded on our way, making Yarmouth in time for lunch. Great 

 Yarmouth is so well-known that there is no need to describe 

 it, beyond the few words which may be useful to sportsmen. 



Yachts, boats, punts, steam-launches, and almost every kind 

 of craft may be bought or hired at Yarmouth from many 

 agents, but it is not as good a centre to start from for a sporting 

 cruise as either Oulton Broad, Norwich or Wroxham. 



On the North Quay and in the hamlet of Cobham Island 

 reside many professional gunners and watermen. Punts can 

 be hired by the day or week, with or without a swivel gun, 

 and either breech or muzzle-loading. There are many hotels 

 in Great Yarmouth, but those who go for the shooting only 

 will do well to take up their quarters as near to Breydon 

 Water as possible. If they are working for the early morn- 

 ing they had better secure a berth on one of the house-boats 

 lying in the creek before mentioned, otherwise they may 

 have to row a couple of miles or more before the first streak 

 of dawn appears. During a hard winter, when the feathered 

 tribe is frozen and starved out from inland waters, birds of all 

 kinds congregate in vast numbers on Breydon Water, which, 

 but for the number of gunners and shore shooters that abound, 



