POACHING JN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 91 



sants perching at one and the same time in a large 

 tree. 



As to the modus operandi of shooting sleeping 



pheasants, my information is derived at first hand 



from a countryman, who admitted to me, after a 



close cross-examination, that in his youth he had 



been, induced by older men to join them in their 



nocturnal forays. He told me that the gang he 



worked with made it their business to watch the 



movements of the keepers, so that they might 



begin their malpractices when the keepers were off 



their beat. The members of the gang decided 



beforehand upon the precise coverts they were to 



visit, and the line of country to be followed. They 



often initiated their adventures by approaching a 



watcher's house, and shooting any hand-reared and 



half-tame pheasants which might be about. After 



firing two or three simultaneous shots, the poachers 



picked up and pouched their victims. They then ran 



across country a mile or so to some other covert, in 



which they resumed operations. When that had been 



rifled they hastened to another and another, until 



they had satisfied their lawless longings, and were 



glad to return home with their long-tailed spoils. 



It is impossible to feel anything but disgust 

 in the contemplation of such villany as that just 



