GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 
21 
that : but she sits on the eggs, reeds and all, and the eggs 
are then of a dmgy brown. 
A very fine specimen of the Imber, or Great North- 
ern Dtver, was shot a few years back, on Old Pond : its 
power of diving, and the length of time it stayed under 
water, were wonderful ; for this purpose I find it is fur- 
nished with an immense bladder, extending the whole 
length of its neck, w^hich it can inflate at pleasure, and, this 
being connected with the windpipe, is of course available \ 
as a reservoir of air. The capture of this bird, after a 
residence of about a fortnight, was quite an event in the 
annals of Old Pond. The bird was admirably stuffed by 
Waring Kidd, and solemnly installed in a conspicuous 
situation at Mr. Moline's residence at Godalming.* 
* I may perhaps venture to add a note touching the boating* on Okl Pond, a 
pursuit, which, at the time the Letters of Rusticus were written, was milch in 
vogue. The boating was not always without risk of accidents, as I can bear 
ample testimony. 
quEeque ipse miserrima vidi, 
Et quorum pars magna fui. 
We always selected the most windy days for a sail, because the more wind the 
more fun. One day early in March a tremendous east wind invited us to have 
a sail: it was one of those winds that seem to come through one's clothes as 
though it despised such slight impediments. For some time we went careering 
through the ripple at a spanking rate ; the little craft bent beautifully to the 
breeze, the sails were skilfully handled, and the tacks made to perfection : but 
the spirit of mischief was afoot, and he who worked the mainsail had the teme- 
rity to make it fast : the rate increased and we were in full glee, when an irre- 
sistible gust capsized us in an instant : one moment we were calmly seated 
admiring our skill, and the very next we were scrambling for an awkward and 
precarious footing upon any part of the boat above water, our clothes drenched 
and the bitter east wind penetrating — as it seemed — to the very bones and 
marrow. To right the boat was impossible in such a gale ; and to stand or 
sit in our drenched clothes perfectly imendurable: and how were we ever to get 
ashore! In this emergency, having first secured a rope, I jumped overboard 
and found I could touch the bottom, the water just coming up to my neck : 
cool, certainly, but warmer than the air. I began walking towards the nearest 
