92 BROADLAND SPORT 



pany of visitors on board the Warrior. Whether he did so 

 by way of a show, or to see what they would say, we do not 

 know, anyhow, it had the effect of instantly rousing every 

 man into action and words. They gesticulated and argued 

 on all sides, several leaving their seats to get closer to the 

 heretic of their faith, and they almost climbed on to his lap 

 in their eagerness to convert him. 



" You may have had plenty of experience in most sports, 

 but you clearly know nothing of punt-gunning, or you would 

 never thus expose your ignorance by repeating such absurd 

 notions; light your cigar and give us your attention for 

 half an hour only, and we will try to convert your very 

 erroneous ideas into a reasonable shape." 



Eventually they brought our friend round to vouchsafe 

 that perhaps it was " not so bad after all," etc. The argu- 

 ments that were used included the following : 



A good and successful puntsman may in some respects 

 be compared to a good general ; the latter must be well up 

 in the geography of the place, and the tactics of managing 

 and manoeuvring an army of men ; whilst the former must 

 also be well acquainted with the handling of a large army 

 of wildfowl, and the skill he requires for such is quite on a 

 par with that of his bellicose compatriot. When he attacks, 

 single-handed, a large company of several hundreds maybe, 

 thousands of wildfowl in the open, with perhaps no better 

 shelter than a small cloud to back him, it is next to impossible 

 to get within range of the main body ; for the number of 

 ears, eyes, and quantity of outposts, sentries and stragglers 

 are always the more numerous the larger the flock. The 

 extraordinary amount of skill, perseverance and judgment 

 required in outwitting their instinctive wariness is in- 

 credible. First, the gunner ventures a semi-approach from 

 the right, then from the left, now in the centre, until the 

 birds are worked into a favourable position, and gradually, 

 little by little, ground is gained. Yet he must in no way 

 alarm the sentries beyond bare suspicion, but play with 

 their susceptibilities to such an extent that they retire 



