1 82 SPORTS AND ANECDOTES. 



would carry from an ounce and a half to two ounces 

 of No. 3 shot. Having chosen our different posts, 

 which were generally in one of the gutters, and 

 having made things as snug as circumstances would 

 admit of, with our backs to the wind, a pipe 

 of shag tobacco there were no fancy or gaudy 

 mixtures in those days was generally the next 

 move, and a mighty consolation it was. Thus we 

 waited patiently till it pleased the geese to be on 

 the move. I have sat thus for hours without hearing 

 a sound, and though we knew that there were many 

 hundreds on the marsh, all would remain as still as 

 death, till perhaps a spark would be seen in the distance, 

 which proclaimed that some one had got a shot, and 

 soon after geese would be heard. They seldom came 

 in any great number, but in little lots of eight or 

 ten, and when once they began to feed they used 

 to separate from the main flock and fly pretty much 

 all over the marsh, and when once settled and feeding 

 you might have fancied that there was not a goose 

 of any kind in the country. The distance that you 

 could hear them coming on a really still evening was 

 almost incredible, and it was most exciting, after 

 having sat half the night in a wet ditch, smoking 

 till your tongue was as hot as tinder and as dry as 



