In our marismas of the Guadalquivir they appear during the last days of September, but it is a month later ere their full numbers are made up, and from that date until the end of February their defiant mult.i.tudes and the splendid difficulties of their pursuit afford a unique form and degree of wild sport perhaps unknown outside of Spain.

Ride through the marisma in November; it is mostly dry, and autumn rains have merely refreshed the sun-baked alluvia and formed sporadic shallows, or _lucios_ as they are here termed. That _lucio_ straight ahead is a mile across, yet it is literally tessellated with a sonorous crowd. With binoculars one distinguishes similar scenes beyond; the intervening s.p.a.ce--and indeed the whole marisma--is crowded with geese as thickly as it is on our immediate front. To right and left rise fresh armies. .h.i.therto concealed among the _armajo_, till the very earth seems in process of upheaval, while the air resounds with a volume of voices--gabblings, croaks, and shrill bi-tones mingled with the rumble of beating wings.

Amid the islands of the Norwegian Skaargaard one can see geese in bulk, but there their numbers are distributed over a thousand miles of coast.

Here we have them all--or a large proportion--concentrated in what is by comparison but a narrow s.p.a.ce.

In their life-habits these geese are strictly diurnal, that is, they feed by day--chiefly in the early morning and again towards afternoon, with a mid-day interval of rest. The night they spend asleep on some broad _lucio_ or other bare open s.p.a.ce. That habit, however, is subject to modification during the periods of full moon, when many geese avail themselves of her brilliant light to feed in even greater security than they can enjoy by day. Their food consists exclusively of vegetable substances--at first of the remnants of the summer's herbage, such as green ribbon-gra.s.s (_ca.n.a.liza_), and other semi-aquatic plants; their main sustenance in mid-winter consists of the tuber-bearing roots of spear-gra.s.s (_Cyperus longus_ and _C. rotundus_) which they dig up from the ground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROOT OF SPEAR-GRa.s.s]

When autumn rains are long delayed, their voracious armies will already have consumed every green thing that remains in the parched marismas long before the "new water" from the heavens shall have furnished new feeding-grounds. In such cases the geese are forced to depart, and do so--so far as our observation goes--in the direction of Morocco; returning thence (within a few hours) immediately after rain has fallen.

Their entry, on this second arrival, is invariably from the south and south-west--that is, from the sea.

There are three methods of shooting wild-geese in the Spanish marismas which may here be specified, to wit:--

(1) Morning-flight, when the geese habitually come to "take sand" at the dawn. See next chapter.

(2) "Driving" during the day (available only in dry years).

(3) Awaiting their arrival at dusk at their _dormideros_, or sleeping-places, see pp. 97, 98.

An all-important factor in their pursuit arises from an economic necessity with wild-geese constantly to possess, and frequently to renew, a store of sand or grit in their gizzards. To obtain this they resort every morning to certain sandy spots in the marismas (hereinafter described, and which are known as _vetas_); or failing that, when the said _vetas_ are submerged, to the sand-dunes outside. Although great numbers of geese resort each morning to these spots, yet those numbers are but a small proportion of their entire aggregate, for no individual goose needs to replenish his supply of sand or grit more often than perhaps once a week, or even less frequently. Hence at each dawn it is a fresh contingent of geese that comes in _para arena.r.s.e_ = to "sand themselves," as our keepers put it.

One other quality in the natural economy of wild-geese requires mention--that is, their sense of scent. This defence wild-geese possess in equal degree with wild-ducks and most other wild creatures; but each cla.s.s differ in their modes of utilising it.

For whereas ducks on detecting human scent will take instant alarm and depart afar on that indication alone; yet geese, on the other hand, though their nostrils have fully advised them of the presence of danger, will not at once take wing, but remain--with necks erect and all eyes concentrated towards the suspect point--awaiting confirmation by sight what they already know by scent.

That such is the case we ascertained in the days (now long past) when we ventured to stalk geese with no more covert than the low fringe of rush that borders the marisma. "_Gatiando_" = cat-crouching, our keepers term the method--laborious work, creeping flat for, it may be, 200 yards, through sloppy mud with less than two-foot of cover. Should it become necessary during the stalk to go directly to windward of the fowl, one's presence (though quite unseen) would be instantly detected. The geese, ceasing to feed or rest, all stood to attention, while low, rumbling alarm-signals resounded along their lines. But they did not take wing.

Presently, however, one reached a gap in the thickly growing rushes--it might not extend to a yard in width, yet no sooner was but a glimpse available to the keen eyes beyond, than the whole pack rose in simultaneous clatter of throats and wings. They had merely waited that scintilla of ocular confirmation of a known danger.

"DRIVING" (IN A DRY SEASON)

For four months no rain had fallen. The parched earth gaped with cavernous cracks; vegetation was dried up; starving cattle stood about listless, and every day one saw the a.s.sembled vultures devouring the carcases of those already dead.

From the turrets of our shooting-lodge one's eye surveyed--no longer an inland sea, but a monotone of sun-baked mud; inspection through binoculars revealed the fact that this whole s.p.a.ce was dotted with troops of ... well, a friend who was with us thought they were sheep; but which, in fact, were bands of greylag geese.

The fluctuations of Spanish seasons--varying from Noachian deluge to Saharan drought--necessarily react upon the habits of wildfowl. These changes are one of the charms of the country; at any rate, they "stretch out" the fowler to devise some new thing.

Those battalions of greylags posted out there on a vantage-ground where a mouse might be a prominent object at 100 yards, how can they be reduced to possession? Our friend aforesaid replies that the undertaking appears humanly impossible. We have, nevertheless, elaborated a system of driving, by which in dry years the greylag geese may be obtained with some degree of certainty.

This morning (the last of January) we rode forth, four guns and four keepers, across that plain. Upon approaching the pack of geese selected, one keeper rides to a position rather above the "half-wind" line, and there halts as a "stop." The remaining seven ride on till, at a silent signal, No. 1 gun, without checking his horse, pa.s.ses the bridle forward and rolls out of the saddle with gun and gear, lying at once flat as a flounder on the bare dry mud. At intervals of eighty yards each successive gun does the same, the four being now extended in a half-moon that commands nearly a quarter-mile of s.p.a.ce. The three keepers (leading the other horses) continue riding forward in circular course till a second "stop" is placed in the right flank corresponding with the one already posted on the left. The last pair now complete the circuit by riding round to windward of the game, separating by 200 yards as that position is attained. (See diagram.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

How are these four guns to conceal themselves on perfectly bare ground from the telescopic sight of wild-geese? Occasionally, some small natural advantage may be found--such as tufts of rushes--and these are at once availed of. But this morning there is no such aid. Not a rush nor a mole-hill breaks that dead-level monotone for miles; and in such condition a human being, however flat he may lie, is bound to be detected by the keen-eyed geese long ere they arrive within shot.[21] A dozen twigs of tree-heath, dipped in wet mud and then allowed to dry, so as to harmonise in colour with the surroundings, may be utilised; but the annexed sketch shows better than words a portable screen we have devised and which fulfils this purpose. It consists of four bamboo sticks two feet long, sharpened at the point, and connected by four or five strings with one-foot intervals. This when rolled up forms a bundle no thicker than an umbrella. On reaching one's post the bundle unrolls of itself, the sharpened points are stuck into the ground at an angle sloping towards the prostrate gun, a few tufts of dead gra.s.s (carried in one's pocket) are woven through the strings and the shelter is complete.

Needless to say, these preparations must be carried out with the minimum of movement in face of such vigilant foes. Some a.s.sistance, however, accrues from the geese continuing to watch the moving file of hors.e.m.e.n while the prostrate gunner erects his screen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHELTERS FOR DRIVING WILD-GEESE]

Well, the circle being complete, all four drivers (distant now, say, 1000 yards) converge on the common centre. The watchful geese have ceased grubbing up the spear-gra.s.s, and now stand alert with a forest of necks erect, while an increasing volume of gabbling attests their growing suspicion. Presently, with redoubled outcry, they rise on wing, and now commences the real science of our Spanish fowlers. The guns, after all, command but a small segment of the circle--anywhere else the geese can break out scathless--and this mischance it is the object of our drivers and flankers to avert. No sooner does the gaggling band shift its course to port or starboard than the "stop" on that side is seen to be urging his horse in full career to intercept their flight, yet using such judgment as will neither deflect their course too much or turn them back altogether. Sometimes both flankers and drivers are seen to be engaged at once, and a pretty sight it is to the prostrate gunners to watch the equestrian manoeuvres.

Presently the whole band head away for what appears the only available outlet, and should they then pa.s.s directly over one or other of the guns, are seldom so high but that a pair should be secured right-and-left.

In strong gales of wind the geese, on being driven, are apt, instead of taking a direct course, to circle around in revolving flight, gaining alt.i.tude at each revolution; and in such case not only come in very high but at incredible speed--_mas lejeros que zarcetas_--swifter than teal, as Vasquez puts it.

The first essential of success in driving wild-geese (and the same applies to great bustard and all large winged game) is to instal the firing-line as near as may be without disturbing the fowl. The more remote the guns the greater the difficulty in forcing the game through the crucial pa.s.s.

To manoeuvre single bands of geese as above, three or four guns at most, with the same number of drivers, are best. A great crowd of hors.e.m.e.n (such being never seen in these wilds) unduly arouses suspicions already acute enough. With any greater number of guns, it is advisable to extend the field of operations to, say, two or three miles, thereby enclosing several troops of geese--this requiring a large force of drivers. It does not, however, follow that each of these enclosed troops will "enter" to the guns; for should one pack come in advance, the firing will turn back the others. This mischance--or rather bungle--may be averted (or may not) by the leading driver firing a blank shot behind so soon as the first geese are seen to have taken wing.

Needless to remark, once a shot has been fired ahead, it becomes tenfold harder to force the remaining geese to the guns.

Each gun should hold his fire till the main bodies of geese are well on wing and seen to be heading in towards the shooting-line. The "best possible" chances are thus secured, and not for one gun only, but quite possibly for all, as several hundred geese pa.s.s down the line. A premature shot, on the contrary, will ruin the best-planned drive, and bring down merited abuse from the rest of the party with scathing contempt from the drivers.

Taking single troops at a time, as many as six or eight separate drives may be worked into a long day. Our first drive to-day produced three geese, the second was blank, while five greylags rewarded the third attempt. In the last instance three of the guns received welcome aid from a string of _ojos_, or land-springs, around which grew a fringe of green rushes, affording excellent cover.

By four o'clock we had secured, in five drives, eleven geese and a wigeon. We then, on information received, changing our plan, rode off to a point which the keeper of that district had noted was being used by the geese as a _dormidero_, or sleeping-place; and here, as dusk fell, an hour's "flighting" added six more greylags to that day's total.

The above may be put down as a fair average day's results in a dry season. From a dozen to a score of driven geese (and occasionally many more) represent, with such game as greylags, a degree and a quality of sport that is ill-represented by cold numerals.

There are spots in the marisma where the configuration of the sh.o.r.e-line enables the flight of the geese, when disturbed, to be foretold with certainty. For geese will not cross dry land: their retreat is always to the open waters. In such situations excellent results accrue from placing the gun-line at a _right angle_ to the expected line of flight, while all the "beaters," save one or two to flush the fowl, are stationed as "stops" between the geese and their objective. On rising, the birds thus find themselves confronted by a long line of hors.e.m.e.n who intercept their natural retreat, and, in effect, force them back towards the land. Should the operation be well executed, the landmost gun will probably be the first to fire; while the geese thereafter pa.s.s down the entire line of guns, possibly affording shots to each in turn.

Two guns can then be effectively brought into action. Needless to add, the second must be handled with the utmost rapidity.

In wet winters, when the marisma is submerged, "driving" is not available. Obviously you cannot place a line of guns, however keen, in six inches of water, much less in half-a-yard.

My first impression of wild-goose driving (writes J.) was one of wonder that such intensely astute and wide-awake fowl would ever fly near, much less over so obvious a danger as the little loose semicircle of rosemary twigs behind which I lay p.r.o.ne on the barest of bare mud. Peering through between their naked stalks, I could plainly see the geese some half-mile away, and it seemed incredible that I should not be equally visible to them. Possibly the brown leaves on top of the twigs may have concealed me from the loftier anserine point of view, and the equestrian manoeuvres beyond no doubt greatly aided the object. Anyway, the whole pack--three or four hundred, and proportionally noisy--_did_ come right over me, and a wildly exciting moment it was, I can a.s.sure you! We had six or seven drives that day, and bagged twenty-eight splendid great grey geese, of which eight fell to my lot.

I may perhaps be allowed to add (since such details are taken for granted, or regarded as unworthy of note by regular gunners of the _marisma_) that to-day we had no less than six times to cross and recross a broad marsh-channel called the _Madre_--floundering, splashing, slithering, and stumbling through 100 yards of mud and water full three-foot deep. It may be nothing (if you're used to it), yet twice I've seen horses go down, and their riders take a cold bath, lucky if they didn't broach their barrels! To follow Vasquez about the _marisma_ is a job that requires special qualities that not all of us possess or (perchance fortunately?) require to possess.

The following instructions may be worth the attention of new beginners:--

(1) Never fire till you are fairly certain to kill at least one.

(2) Never rise or even move in your "hide" till the beat is entirely finished.

(3) Reload at once; when big lots are being moved, two, three, or more chances may offer quite unexpectedly.

(4) Wear suitably coloured clothes and head-gear, and never let the sun glint on the gun-barrels.

(5) After firing, watch the departing geese till nearly out of sight.

Though apparently unhurt, one of their company may turn over, stone-dead, in the distance.

"FLIGHTING"--AN INCIDENT OF A DRY SEASON

The day above described was selected, not only because it affords a typical ill.u.s.tration of our theme, but also because there had occurred during its course an extraneous incident which serves to amplify this exposition of the pursuit of the greylag goose.

Riding across the marisma, certain signs at once filled both our minds with fresh ideas. All around the ground was littered with cast feathers and other evidence proclaiming that this special spot was a regular resort of geese. We were crossing one of those slightly raised ridges of sand and grit which here and there intersect the otherwise universal dead-level of alluvial mud, and which ridges are known locally as _vetas_--tongues.