42 SPORT IN BENGAL. 



through wet grass and weeds round a marsh. As duck and 

 teal also abound on those " bunds " in Manbhoom, a mixed bag 

 can be always secured by first shooting the water before 

 taking the snipe grounds below the embankments. In the 

 best parts of Manbhoom for this description of sport I have 

 bagged thirty to fifty brace of birds teal, pochards, gadwals, 

 and snipe, with perhaps a few grey partridges and a hare or 

 two, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in January or February, walk- 

 ing or riding from " bund " to " bund " and shooting leisurely 

 at each, according to the humour of the moment. 



For snipe-shooting alone I know of no better place than 

 Calcutta itself for a man really fond of this sport, and willing 

 to range twenty to forty miles up the railway lines on either 

 side of the Hooghly river ; September and October being, I 

 think, the two best months. 



Wild fowl-shooting may be obtained in the months of 

 December, January and February at its best, and in March in 

 its decline, just prior to the migration of the birds to the 

 North. The choicest districts are Furreedpoor, Jepore, Pubna 

 Moorshedabad, Raj shy e, Maldah, Purneah, and Pooree; and 

 early in the season the sea-coast of Balasore, from the mouth 

 of the Darnra river northwards ; but nowhere can this sport 

 be enjoyed in such perfection vast numbers combined with 

 endless varieties and species as in the great salt-water lake 

 of Pooree, called the " Chilka." 



