G 
SMFE. 
migrants from the north of Euro|)e, the date at wliich they may appear is so uncertain, and their 
departure for the most part so sudden, tliat it usually happens, unless one is on the spot at the time of 
their arrival, that the chance is lost. Moods or a rise in the tides will in some parts draw immense 
numbers, while in most localities the fens and marshes are alive Avith longbills for twenty-four or thirty 
hours previous to the setting-in of severe frost or snow. In flat districts, where little running water is to he 
found or few springs exist, scarcely a Snipe will be seen during the continuation of the frost, though the 
storms of westerly Avind and rain that usually accompany the breaking-up of the ice Avill be safe to bring 
back several stragglers to their old haunts. Without some previous knoAvledge of the localities as AA'ell 
as of the resident natives, it is, hoAvever, improbable that the Avandering sportsman aaIU meet Avith any 
great success. The accommodation to be procured at several of the Avayside inns in the more remote parts 
of the eastern counties, as Avell as in many other districts, is exceedingly scanty. There are, of course, 
exceptions, and passable though humble quarters may noAV and then be secured at even a lowly beer-shop ; 
the dirt and diseomfort, hoAvever, experienced on more than one Snipe-shooting expedition are still strongly 
impressed on my memory. Tramps, drovers, or itinerant pony-dealers appear to be the only class of 
wayfarers Avhose custom is anticipated. A single instance Avill sufiice to shoAV the reception accorded to 
visitors at some of these establishments. Having received Avord late one night in the end of February 1871 , 
from a marshinan at East Huston, that sevmral Snipes had arrived on the eominon, I started before 
daybreak and after a tAvelve miles’ drive found myself, as soon as it AA'as fairly light, in the midst of a 
country that seemed to have been fashioned by nature simply and solely for the convenience and comfort 
of the Snipe tribe. Full birds and Jacks AAcre in sufficient numbers to satisfy even the most exacting of 
shooters, and a heavy bag might have been obtained had not a small bunch of fowl claimed my attention 
for at least a eouple of hours during the best part of the day. After circling round a few times the 
strangers settled doAvn in a broad Avater-dyke, and a long and circuitous tramp had to be undertaken 
before I Avas able to identify the unknoAvn as a couple of pair of Gadwall. After seAXral hours’ sport, as 
squalls of Avind and ram Avere folloAviug one another in rapid succession and rendering the birds 
excessively AAild, a move Avas made toAvard the inn to Avhich the conveyance had previously been des2)atched. 
A glance at the exterior ot the dilapidated building Avas by no means assuring, Avhile an inspection of the 
interior proved still less inviting. In answer to a demand for refreshment Ave Avere informed that beer 
alone could lie supplied on the premises. In consequence of a Avariiiiig as to the unhospitable nature of 
the country towards which we Avere bound, our conveyance luckily contained a supply of eatables and 
drinkables, and the inquiry had simply been made in order to do sometbing for the good of the house. 
Plates and tumblers had, however, been omitted or forgotten, and the loan of these aiTicles was politely 
solicited. Three or four half-pint glasses, foul and dirty as lifted from the tap-room, where a iiartv of sots 
were boosing, having been placed in the parlour, the grimy attendant declared it Avas utterly impossible 
to provide us with plates. At length, after considerable delay and not till borrowing from a neighbourinn- 
cottage had been resoiTed to, the landlady was induced to ferret out a suflieient amount of crockeiy 
Luckily the driver had discovered a pump in the yard, as the plates Aihen produeed and placed on 
he table bore strong evidence that the last meal at which they were employed had eonsisted of 
leiiings. An unlimited supply of water soon put plates and glasses into working order, and being well 
able to Avait on ourselves no further difficulties Avere encountered. 
Every sportsman retains his own ideas as to wlueh breed of dog is most servieeahle tor Snipe-shootin.. 
Two animals, as peifcct as any I ever met with, wore a lemon-aud-white setter and a liver-coloured nointer 
boti itclies In their looks there was little to eomniend them; hut their work in the fens and marshei 
was undeniable. Neither was the oecupant of a well-kept or fashionable kennel, nor had the lash of keepeJ 
whip ever descended on their unbrnshed coats. The setter found what shelter she could in the cornr of 
