418 WILD SPAIN. 



knee-deep if you are lucky; the tussocks afford no foot- 

 hold, the slime no stability— you cannot stand still, yet 

 hardly dare advance. Before you, behind you, to the right 

 and left, rise snipe in scores — in clouds : the air resounds 

 with petulant, tantalizing cries. But you cannot steady 

 yourself for an instant to shoot : to halt on • hummock or 

 balance on mire is equally impossible — not that it matters 

 much, for hardly a snipe has sprung within fifty yards ; the 

 majority at over one hundred. At length one rises close at 

 hand — a jack, probably — and in a supreme effort to avenge 

 outraged dignity by his death, equilibrium is hopelessly 

 lost, and the snipe-shooter slowly sinks to a sitting 

 posture amidst mire and mud that reaches to his waistcoat- 

 pockets. 



So extremely flat and naked are these marshes that not 

 a snipe, one would imagine, could manage to hide thereon. 

 Yet even with a powerful field-glass not a single snipe can 

 be detected where hundreds are squatting. Their power of 

 concealment is marvellous, and is recognized in the Spanish 

 name, " agacliar " meaning to hide, or " lie low." 



Where the flight of the birds is known, or where two or 

 three well-frequented marshes lie adjacent, excellent sport 

 may be had by lying in wait at one bog whilst the others 

 are being shot over. This is a matter of local knowledge. 

 A driven snipe, or string of snipes, high overhead, or a 

 jack pitching in to alight, like a butterfly in a breeze, 

 offer shots as varied and difficult as even our modern 

 masters of legerdemain in the arts of gunnery can well 

 desire. 



Broadly speaking, all the best snipe-grounds in acces- 

 sible districts — aye, and some fairly inaccessible ones too 

 — may be said to be preserved. There may, probably do, 

 exist unknown and unpreserved spots which would abun- 

 dantly reward the explorer ; but, in a general way, the 

 casual sportsman on the unpreserved wilds of Spain 

 or Portugal should not reckon on more than ten, 

 twelve, or perhaps fifteen brace of snipe per day. On 

 preserved grounds, the following figures, selected at 

 random from records of over twenty years, will best show 



