At the end of an hour the file-firing slackened, but still for another hour it continued fairly fast. The larger ducks and the geese had betaken themselves to the sea, or to the dried marisma respectively; but great numbers of wigeon and the smaller ducks still sought resting-places up and down the long Retuerta. Of the geese but few comparatively had fallen, though thousands were seen in air. Hardly had the firing commenced than these betook themselves to the dry marisma where they made shift to feed on the roots of the castanuela (spear-grass). This circumstance, however, was foreseen, and troubled us little; it is the geese coming in that offer sport, not the geese going out, and we well knew that before night they would be needing a cool draught at the pools of Retuerta.
At the end of two hours, the writer left his battery to collect his spoils; a goodly pile of ducks, besides three geese and two flamingoes, though perhaps not in due proportion to the heap of emptied cartridges. About a quarter-mile away lay the shore, to which, during the mid-day interlude, I made my way through water, mud, and matted tamarisk. The nearer strand, where cattle had cropped the rush, was alive with snipe, while amidst the heavier covert beyond, numbers of teal had sought asylum. With these, and passing ducks, there was plenty of employment, and at the end of an hour, when it was necessary to flounder back to the battery, I had exhausted my cartridges and formed sundry piles of slain—in all nineteen ducks, two geese (right and left) and over twenty snipe, besides a bittern and a few "various."
The sun was now lowering, and the return of the geese might be looked for. I had started none too soon on the return "plodge," for with the heavy walking and yet heavier burden, I had hardly ensconced myself in my battery ere the welcome konk! konk! was audible, and some twenty greylags came gliding in. Straight for the sunken tub they held their course, and not till almost overhead did they descry the lurking gun. Then with redoubled flaps they swerved off, changing the downward gliding flight for an upward movement; but, though for a moment they hung in air, yet, somehow, it took both barrels ere the leader collapsed. Shot after shot at what appeared a fatal range failed to stop them clean, and I decided to let the next come in even nearer. This time only three came drifting down. They passed within shot, but I refrained; wheeled round the pool, and headed straight in; there was no mistake this time—the geese were not twenty yards off, and two of the three fell stone-dead. I breathed more freely now; and let the geese come in to a range that for any other fowl would be too near, holding even then well forward, and sundry heavy thuds on the darkening waters attested the success of these waiting tactics, and registered the death of another greylag or bean-goose. These latter came in singly, or in twos and threes, and are distinguishable by their harsher note and rather smaller size; the greylags average eight pounds, some old ganders turning the scale at ten. Every minute it became more difficult to see; night was closing in apace, but with it came more and more geese. The rattle of gunshots and rustling of strong pinions was incessant—hardly had one gone down than another flight swept in. At last the geese came silently; the call-note which during daylight announced their approach was now no longer uttered, and they drifted so fast on to the water that one only became aware of their arrival by the heavy ploughing splash as they alighted. Presently only those that came low against the dying after-glow in the west could be seen at all, and after a shot one had to listen for the splash that bespoke a kill. Gunshots now became fewer, a mere dropping fire, and in a few minutes more even this shooting at ghosts became no longer possible. Then came the splashing of horses, and I knew that Caraballo was coming to look for me, and a good line he took in the dark and featureless morass.
Half an hour later we were beginning to assemble at the bonfire of blazing samphire-bushes which had been lighted as a beacon to gather around. The day ended with a slight contretemps: one of our party with his servant was missing. No answer could be obtained to our signals: nor on our arrival at the lodge were the lost ones there. Though there could be no danger, yet it would be most unpleasant for our friend to pass the night in the wilds without food or shelter. At ten o'clock keepers were despatched to scour the country, but it was four hours later ere Manuel (at 2 A.M.) returned with the luckless wanderers in charge. They had mistaken our beacon, and had steered for what proved to be a charcoal-burning miles away.
When the tale of slain had been told off, and Vasquez brought in the totals as 81 geese and over 300 ducks (besides sundries) for the day, we were inclined to forget those unresponsive greylags, and to imagine that, for flight-shooting, with 12-bores, at passing fowl, such results were not to be obtained every day, nor in every land.[71]
Three other field-days followed with the wildfowl, besides two interludes with small-game, and a two-days snipe-shoot along the remote Rocina, which produced 353 snipe,[72] a few duck, teal, bitterns, and sundries: and, when these happy days were over, the total score stood:—
| 713 ducks. | 8 quail. |
| 247 wild geese. | 36 rabbits. |
| 402 snipe. | 7 hares. |
| 15 woodcock. | 9 bitterns. |
| 161 partridge. | 44 sundries. |