ii2 BROADLAND SPORT 



on Breydon Water when a shore shooter walking past had his 

 hat blown well out into the water. Mr Harmer, ever oblig- 

 ing, pushed off and fetched it, returning it to its owner, who 

 upon receipt thereof fumbled in his pocket and handed him a 

 penny, saying, " Here, old chap, is a half -pint for you." On 

 the other occasion referred to, when going down Channel, he 

 passed a " brig " at anchor waiting for the tide, from whose 

 deck one of the hands hailed him with, " What cheer, old 

 bloke ! Do you git many on 'em in that there coffin o' yours ? " 

 Although the costume here described may not be regarded 

 by most people as " a thing of beauty," it will undoubtedly 

 prove to those who try it " a joy for ever." 



STALKING-HORSES. 



When speaking of appliances used by wildfowlers it may 

 not be thought altogether out of place to include a short dis- 

 cussion on stalking-horses, which are never to be despised by 

 those who have large tracts of shooting ground at their dis- 

 posal, and who find the birds shy and difficult to approach. 



No matter how rough and uncouth the apparatus may be, 

 if it is only shaped somewhat like a horse, a cow, or an ass, 

 the birds are deceived by it and good bags secured until dearly- 

 bought experience teaches them caution. 



Geese may be circumvented by the aid of a tumbril, or an 

 ordinary cart used in the neighbourhood, the shooter conceal- 

 ing himself inside. The real or artificial stalking-horse 

 answers equally well for geese as for ducks and other wild- 

 fowl : it was Drayton who wrote 



" One underneath his horse, to get a shoot, doth stalk ; 

 Another over dykes upon his stilts doth walk." 



First in the rank of stalking-horses should come the real 

 live animal in the genuine flesh and blood, and, if it is trained as 

 it should be, great execution may be accomplished at times with 

 its valuable assistance. But it requires a quadruped of no 

 mean training to stand unflinchingly the deafening and awe- 



