A Canvas Canoe 293 



winds sluggishly along from side to side of the 

 plain. Its banks are fringed with a dense jungle 

 of dwarf willow, through which it is almost im- 

 possible to force one's way. On previous journeys 

 up the valley I had seen flights of duck follow 

 the course of the river and go down somewhere 

 out of sight, but owing to the jungle aforesaid it 

 was an impossibility to get a shot at them. With 

 the help of the " Alys " these duck were now to 

 be circumvented. A screen of reeds was arranged 

 round the bows, through which peeped the long 

 barrel of TopJchana. I sat behind the big gun, 

 the twelve-bore handy, Gul Sher behind me 

 there was just room for two wielding the paddle. 

 And so we started. 



Considering this was the first time the shikari 

 had ever sat in anything nearer akin to a boat 

 than an Indus raft of inflated skins, and this was 

 a canoe that wobbled, he managed well. We 

 shipped a little water when we stuck on a sand- 

 bank in the middle of a small rapid, but finding 

 no harm resulted, he quickly gained confidence 

 and became almost skilful. The current soon 

 brought us among the jungle, where we hoped 

 to find a gathering of duck. Silence was essential, 

 and we floated slowly down, only keeping the 

 canoe's head straight with an occasional stroke 

 of the paddle. As we rounded a corner some 



