COMMON PARTRIDGE. 
9 
firth towards the bar, without meeting any signs of fowl or seal, it was decided to put the boats asliore, 
and having left one man in charge, we proceeded inland. After passing the flats above the tideway and 
reaching the sand-hills, a view was obtained of the farm and the surrounding country, and several shots 
were heard further south, two or three guns shortly after being observed obtaining good sport on the 
other side of our boundary. In the course of half an hour, during which we watched their proceedings 
from the cover of the bent-grass on the hills, three or four coveys were seen to drop on our ground. 
As the party drew otf and were working away out of sight, an individual carrying a gun and followed by 
a dog, who seemed somewhat doubtful as to the direction he should take, was observed to leave the farm 
and slowly make his Avay towards the potato-fields, though keeping under the shelter of a ridge of hilly 
ground thickly covered with furze. Ilis appearance on the scene added interest to the proceedings, as 
the Highlander from whom I hired the shootings had dropped a gentle bint that his younger brother, 
who lived with his mother at the farm, was, in his estimation, a “ ne’er-do-well,” who, if he could get 
possession of powder and shot, might prove a nuisance if we did not keep a constant watch. His own 
occupation as factor to one of the largest sheep-farmers in the Highlands kept him almost constantly 
employed, but he nevertheless promised to do his best to have the delinquent kept in order. It was 
soon evident that this character had by some means ascertained our presence, as he speedily disappeared 
from sight among the furze bushes ; after waiting a short time we started to walk over the ground, much 
regretting that the setters had been left at home. On reaching the cultivated land at the foot of the 
sand-hills, a covey of a dozen or more rose at once, and three birds fell, luckily without a kicker amongst 
them, the heavy ten-bore I carried having, as usual, done its work effectively. On starting again after 
collecting the slain, I discovered we had been joined by a liver-coloured pointer, that made her way 
towards us from the furze when the shots were fired. It w\is soon evident that she was but half broken ; 
still on our moving on she commenced to hunt round on her own account, without receiving a word, and in 
rapid succession she pointed three or four coveys, all of which were satisfactorily accounted for. A 
brace of birds wounded by the shooting-party that had made their way to our grounds were also 
picked up when we went over the cover on which they had been marked down; nest a hare she 
made an attempt to chase was rolled over before she had gone many yards in pursuit; and just as we 
had finished the potatoes and were considering towards which point we should next make our way, a 
second hare was started, and away went the new comer in chase regardless of rating. There happened to be 
a small gap in the turf wall thrown up round the piece, and for this I saw the hare was making, and 
as she sprang through the aperture over the fallen blocks of eartb, I fired, being anxious to avoid 
any injury to the pointer, though it was evident from the sudden turn she made that some of the charo-e 
must have taken effect. On arriving at the spot the hare lay stretched out as dead as a stone, and 
the poacher’s assistant was still in view going her best pace, holding a straight course for the farm, having 
doubtless received a reminder that might possibly teach her better manners, if it did not make her gun-shy. 
Shortly after, while on our way towards the boats, we again fell in with the young farmer who had 
been so fortunately checked in his attempts to make a raid on our birds; he was now without the 
gun, which had doubtless been hidden away in the furze, and as no remarks were made as to what had 
been observed, all went well, and he showed no reluctance to join us at lunch in the punts on the 
shore. On future occasions he usually accompanied us on our rounds, and pointed out some of the best 
parts of the marshes for Snipe, as well as for fowl at flight-time, and, as far as I could see, the Partridges 
and hares remained entirely unmolested. 
Partridge-shooting with a punt-gun is a sport seldom indulged in; accidentally, however, I met with 
a couple of chances for shots, both of which proved successful beyond expectation. Before daybreak one 
morning early in the winter of 1868, the weather at the time being fine and calm, without a breath 
