THE WAVENEY VALLEY 217 



marsh are all shot within the first week, including the home- 

 bred red -shank, snipe, coot and moorhens. 



Our marsh has little to encourage a visitor who is bent 

 on killing something before November, when the migratory 

 snipe and duck arrive. Then it is an elysium if it is only 

 caught at the right moment, and many a hundred ounces of 

 shot have I distributed over its surface. 



A peculiar feature of our marsh is a moving bog. This 

 is situated near the entrance gate, and Nature seems to have 

 placed it there out of sheer cussedness, as a trap for the 

 unwary, whether man or beast. Often have I been caught, 

 more often have I seen my friends caught, or oftener, perhaps, 

 have I assisted in extracting some unfortunate bullock that 

 has been bemired in its slimy embrace. Through the centre 

 of this bog runs a narrow pathway of firm ground, which 

 enables the artful joker to lure his less cautious friends into 

 the very rottenest places before they are even aware of the 

 existence of the mud trap. 



Besides this our poor's marsh is rich in flora, arid the 

 botanist comes miles to be able to splash about in the sur- 

 rounding fleets and shallows. Nor are we free from the 

 entomologist, who chases the swallow-tail butterfly with a 

 rashness which he afterwards regrets, as I did in the case of 

 the Calamophilus biarmicus. 



If the beaming faces of the -scientific gentlemen (whom 

 I often wished further) are any guide to the satisfaction they 

 derive from their frequent visits to our poor's marsh, that 

 little plot of land, despised by the many, should be preserved 

 from the ruthless hand of the drain digger, who sweeps away 

 its glories once and for ever. So water-bound is our 

 marsh that little good can come from draining, which 

 destroys its shooting value, but every year sees a new lessee 

 attracted by the fame of the locality, and every spring sees 

 him looking out for some other marsh not quite so frequented 

 by the public. 



Yes ! our poor's marsh is a place to be proud of. It keeps 

 the parish alive to its importance, although it does not add 



