BERNACLE SHOOTING ON WHYRILL MARSH. 185 



till they were piled up very high, looking more like 

 vast sheets of glass than anything else, sport might 

 be got by hiding under these ; and the bernacles, 

 being pretty much frozen out, like the London gar- 

 deners, used to be pretty tame, and would fly about 

 to feed all day ; but, unless there was snow falling 

 or a gale of wind blowing, they were very wary, 

 and seemed to know under which icepan your 

 humble servant and his companions were stowed 

 away. 



Such weather doesn't sound very sultry to those 

 who like sitting by their fireside, and I must own 

 it was very cold work at times ; but we were all 

 made of pretty tough material, and with the help of 

 plenty of the old-fashioned shag tobacco we managed 

 to get on pretty fairly well. A certain Messrs. 

 Williams and Jones, of Chester, used to manufacture 

 the best shag tobacco I ever smoked. I really am 

 almost afraid to hint at the quantity we used to 

 smoke, but I have often wished that I had a pipe 

 that would hold a pound, which used to cost four 

 shillings. I had a real good head for smoking shag 

 in those days. There was no such mixture known 

 as Simonds' mixture, of 62, Piccadilly, at fourteen 

 shillings a pound see Down the Road, p. xiii and 



