248 



Unexplored Spain 



observing, at close (juarters and still unsuspicious, these glorious 

 game-birds at home on their private i)lains. The local idea is 

 to fire through a slit previousl}-made in the i'steras; but some- 

 how, when the cart stops and the game instantly rises, you find 

 (despite care and practice) that the birds always fly in a direc- 

 tion you cannot command or where the narrow slit forl)ids your 

 covering them. Hence we adopted the plan of sliding ofl" 

 behind as the cart pulled up, thus firing the two barrels with 

 perfect freedom. We have succeeded by this means in bringing 

 to bag many pairs of bustard during a day's manoeuvring. 



SPANISH THISTLE AND STONECHAT 



We now come to the system of bustard-driving, which we 

 regard as practically the only really legitimate method of dealing 

 with this grand game. From the end of August onwards the 

 young bustards are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. 

 The country is then cleared of crops, and while this precludes 

 the birds being " done to death " as in the weeks immediately 

 preceding, yet the ubiquitous thistles (often of gigantic size, ten 

 or twelve feet in height), charlock, and viznagas provide welcome 

 covert for concealing the guns, while the heat still renders the 

 game somewhat more susceptible to the artifices of the fowler. 

 This is the easiest period. 



