SHOOTING DUCKS ON LAKE MAGGIORE. 141 



with one's toe, but this is not always a certain pro- 

 ceeding, and acts, according to my fancy, better at 

 night than in the daytime. 



There have been many discussions as to the distance 

 that a stanchion, or punt gun, will kill. To this my 

 answer would be, that at birds on the water eighty 

 yards is quite far enough ; on the wing, or if feeding 

 on the shore and you can get a good line, you may 

 kill them pretty satisfactorily up to a hundred, but 

 after that distance the shot flies so thinly that there 

 is not much certainty. Many people fancy that 

 because you have a gun that carries three ounces of 

 powder, and from twelve to sixteen ounces of shot, 

 you may kill birds from the Land's End to Johnny 

 Groat's house. This is a great mistake, and though 

 birds may be killed by a chance shot at an almost 

 incredible distance, if you can get to within sixty 

 yards so much the better ; if you can't get nearer than 

 seventy or eighty, pull, but at the same time remem- 

 ber that " close quarters " is the best recipe for filling 

 the bag. 



There is nothing more deceptive than distance over 

 water, and what appears to be sixty yards is often a 

 hundred. My old boatman Jep, though an honest and 

 worthy man, was as obstinate as my grandmother's 



