204 BROADLAND SPORT 



we are compelled to turn towards fresh hunting grounds 

 without catching another glimpse of him. Not only did this 

 clump harbour the otter, but many birds seemed to have 

 taken up their abode there. We bagged three water-hens 

 and a cock pheasant, but twice that number managed to 

 escape, two of them sorely injured. 



" Hailing a boat propelled by a friendly marshman, we punt 

 some way down stream, and are landed upon the river 

 wall adjoining a large dyke running to a drainage mill, at 

 which point we proceed to partake of a well-earned lunch. 



" It is a curious country. All around is as flat as the 

 Netherlands ; nothing breaks the line of the horizon except 

 a slight upheaval of the uplands of the Flegg district to the 

 eastward, and in the neighbourhood of Hick ling Broad, far 

 away to the westward, a dark clump of woodland stands out 

 boldly against the sky. Elsewhere the marshland fades away 

 into the blue haze of distance. 



" Reclining at length upon the wooden boards which cover 

 the sluice, and are warm from the rays of the sun, we discuss 

 our sandwiches and whisky, and enjoy a lazy smoke. After 

 half an hour's rest we proceed again, and beat out several 

 more osier beds, in which only one solitary hare is found ; but 

 on nearing the end of the last osier bed a large flock of pee- 

 wits cross overhead, rather high up ; however, we fire four 

 barrels into their midst and gather three birds. - The peewits 

 seem to be the advent of further sport, and although the land 

 looks anything but inviting, from a shooting point of view, 

 we are fortunate in securing some excellent fun for the next 

 three-quarters of an hour. 



" Crossing a couple of fine marshes we have several shots at 

 snipe, and in passing over the dam,* to visit the marshes on the 

 other side, fall in with two small coveys of birds, which we 

 hunt round and round the marshes until we have accounted 

 for nearly all their number. Why the birds laid as they did 

 so late in the season was a mystery, unless it was because 

 they had for a long time been left undisturbed. 



* A marshland roadway. 



