as well as the Rice Birds, are excessively fond.
The eloquent Wilson, than whom no one could more enjoy the pleasures
of Rail-shooting, thus speaks of the sport: "As you walk along the
bank of the river at this period, you hear them squeaking in every
direction like young puppies. If a stone be thrown among the reeds,
there is a general outcry and reiterated kuk, kuk, kuk, something like
that of a Guinea-fowl. Any sudden noise, or the discharge of a gun,
produces the same effect. In the meantime none are to be seen, unless
it be at or near high water; for, when the tide is low, they
universally secrete themselves among the interstices of the reeds, and
you may walk past, and even over them, where there are hundreds,
without seeing a single individual. On their first arrival they are
generally lean, and unfit for the table, but as the reeds ripen they
rapidly fatten, and from the twentieth of September to the middle of
October, are excellent, and eagerly sought after. The usual method of
shooting them in this quarter of the country is as follows: The
sportsman furnishes himself with a light batteau, and a stout,
experienced boatman, with a pole of twelve or fifteen feet long,
thickened at the lower end to prevent it from sinking too deep into
the mud. About two hours or so before high-water they enter the reeds,
and each takes his post, the sportsman standing in the bow ready for
action, the boatman on the stern-seat pushing her steadily through the
reeds. The Rail generally spring singly, as the boat advances, and at
a short distance ahead, are instantly shot down, while the boatman,
keeping his eye on the spot where the bird fell, directs the boat
forward and picks it up as the gunner is loading. It is also the
boatman's business to keep a sharp look-out, and give the word 'Mark!'
when a Rail springs on either side without being observed by the
sportsman, and to note the exact spot where it falls until he has
picked it up; for this, once lost sight of, owing to the sameness in
the appearance of the reeds, is seldom found again. In this manner the
boat moves steadily through and over the reeds, the birds flushing and
falling, the gunner loading and firing, while the boatman is pushing
and picking up. The sport continues till an hour or two after
high-water, when the shallowness of the water, and the strength and
weight of the floating reeds, and also the backwardness of the game to
spring as the tide decreases, oblige th