Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-08-03
SHOOTING IN THE NILE DELTA.

Driving Waterfowl in a Boat and
!. killing Them by Thousands.
Bordering the coast of Egypt, IN the
broad alluvlal delta, are several inland
lakes, three at least Of these being each
as large as a good-sized English county,
says London Field. In very few parts
are they more than six feet deep. These
lakes are all salt to a greater or less
degree, but abound in fish of various
species and afford plenteous keep for
the vast focks Of Wild low which visit
therl In winter.
During the autumn months, from
September onward, these birds include
several varieties Of duck, widgeon and
teal, also enormous quantities of large
blacls coot, as well as a fair number
of wild geese. All these congregate on
the lakes. The natives hold organized
| these wild fowl. Each party is called
q "sed."
The plan Of campaign at a sed Is
most novel and remarkable, n it Is In
the number Of guns more than the sum
| totalof the bag that the record consists.
On the given morning at sunrise, some
| twenty natives, all armed with guns,
breo,h or muzZle leaders, meet at some
prearranged place On the bank Of the
lake. The small party of Europeans, of
! which I have more than nee been a
member, turn up in small punts, each
capable of accommodating two gums.
Each punt is ably piloted by a fellah,
who pushes from behind as he wades
along in the water. There are usually
a few natives out In similar craft, but
these they navigate by means Of thin
bamtoo rods, which they work, one in
each hand.
When all are ready thIsehuge regi-
ment spreads out in the form OF a long
chain across an arm Of the lake. There
Is no attempt to keep at regular spaced
distances Of say, fifty yards, for IL this
were done the gun would often sweep
a stretch Of nearly six miles. This,
however, Is quite unnecessary, for every
man has, as a rule, as much shooting as
he can well manage when the guns are
much more concentrated. The awful
army covers a width OF about two
miles and the drive is ,?sually about
three miles long, occupying some four
hours. During this time firing Is prac-
tically continuous.
The natives do not mind the water in
the least, but wade along quite COM
fortably for hours together III water
| varying In depth from the knees to the
chest. h Is more, they In
der these conditions to keep their cart
ridges or powder dry, and those with
muzzle-loaders seem to experience lit
tie difficulty. Needless to say, these |
do not fire unless there Is every proba-
bility of an addition to the bag, but
those with cartridges are surprisingly
lavish with them and do not hesitate
to take very sporty shots. Here one
can see shooting of every class.
The drive consists In merely nd
vaneing In line down the selected arm
OF the lake. All along i n front the
surface of the lake is seen black with ,
waterfowl. They do not seem to re-
treat as the line advances. Presently.
however, they begin to realize that they
are being inclosed, and then they rise
IN small detachments. They might now
easily escape by making a circuit over
the land, for the banks arc as \ rule
quite unguarded, but this they seldom
to do.
They SEEM, like the stag ans otter.
to rely mainly upoI The water for safe.
sorry safeguard, indeed. Neither
do they seem to learn wisdom by ex-
perience, for the natives have a shoot
OF the kind twice weekly, end yet when
pressed the BIRDS arrays rise and come
straight back over the guns. A. soon !,