Sporting scenes and country characters . red creation: he flies at thehighest game, and despises the rabbit where the hareabounds. During his occupation in the fields, his mindis bent on his nocturnal rambles. Nothing escapes hisattention: his eye is rivetted to the run, and to the sneuce: his greatest feat is to elude the detectionof the keeper, and to secure a rich booty. During the poachers leisure hours on a Sunday (forhe seldom visits either church or chapel), he may beseen loitering on the roads in the neighbourhood of somewell-stored preserve. He observes at feeding-time, aboutsunset, w
Sporting scenes and country characters . red creation: he flies at thehighest game, and despises the rabbit where the hareabounds. During his occupation in the fields, his mindis bent on his nocturnal rambles. Nothing escapes hisattention: his eye is rivetted to the run, and to the sneuce: his greatest feat is to elude the detectionof the keeper, and to secure a rich booty. During the poachers leisure hours on a Sunday (forhe seldom visits either church or chapel), he may beseen loitering on the roads in the neighbourhood of somewell-stored preserve. He observes at feeding-time, aboutsunset, where the game is most abundant, and formshis plans accordingly ; knowing full well that he has thebest chance of success where game is the most plen-tiful. He uses the net, the snare, and the air-gun—andfrequently the common fowling-piece, which, being made 218 THE POACHER. to miscrew, he can secrete in his capacious pockets;and he often derives much assistance from a well-trainedlurcher, which hunts mute. The snare is set by stealth,. not only in the hedgerows, but in the fields and in thewoods, where the run is visible. His greatest danger isin taking them up; but his sense of hearing is remark-ably acute; he can mark the slightest footfall, and is THE POACHER. 219 never alarmed with the rustle of the beech leaf, or thedeep moan of the Scotch fir. He has all the alertnessof the North American Indian, and is almost as untiringon foot. If he be suddenly pounced upon, the loss oflife is almost inevitable. When the village is hushed in slumber, and the drowsy tinkling is no longer heard, the poacher,having gone to bed early, and therefore refreshed, salliessilently forth—not by the accustomed road, but by bye-paths, across gardens, and over fences — and seldomreturns by the way that he set out. Care is generallytaken by his fellow-poacher, with whom a plan has beenpreviously laid, to secure the presence of the keeper andthe watcher in some other part of the domain, in order
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, booksubjectf, booksubjecthunting
