Had never been forbidden
to use, since no one had ever thought it possible that I should want
to use such a monster of a gun. But I was desperate, and loading it
for the first (and last) time, I went after those shovellers.
I had once been told that it would be impossible to shoot wild duck or
anything with the blunderbuss unless one could get within a dozen
yards of them, on account of its tremendous scattering power. Well, by
going along the bottom of the moat, which was luckily without water
just then, I could get as near the birds as I liked and kill the whole
flock. When I arrived abreast of the pool I crept up the grassy
crumbling outside bank, and resting the ponderous barrel on the top of
the bank, fired at the shovellers at a distance of about fifteen
yards, and killed nothing, but received a kick which sent me flying to
the bottom of the foss. It was several days before I got over that
pain in my shoulder.
Later on there was a period of trouble and scarcity in the land. There
was war, and the city from which we obtained our supplies was besieged
by an army from the "upper provinces" which had come down to break the
power and humble the pride of Buenos Ayres. Our elders missed their
tea and coffee most, but our anxiety was that we should soon be
without powder and shot. My brother constantly warned me not to be so
wasteful, although he fired half a dozen shots to my one without
getting more birds for the table. At length there came a day when
there was little shot left - just about enough to fill one shot-pouch -
and knowing it was his intention to have a day out, I sneaked into the
gun-room and loaded my fowling-piece just to have one shot more. He
was going to try for upland geese that day, and, as I had expected,
carried off all the shot.
After he had gone I took my gun, and being determined to make the most
of my one shot, refused to be tempted by any of the small parties of
duck I found in the pools near home, even when they appeared quite
tame. At length I encountered a good-sized flock of rosy-bills by the
side of a marshy stream about two miles from home. It was a still,
warm day in mid-winter, and the ducks were dozing on the green bank in
a beautiful crowd, and as the land near them was covered with long
grass, I saw it would be possible to get quite close to them. Leaving
my pony at a good distance, I got down flat on the ground and began my
long laborious crawl, and got within twenty-five yards of the flock.
Never had I had such a chance before! As I peeped through the grass
and herbage I imagined all sorts of delightful things - my brother far
away vainly firing long shots at the wary geese, and his return and
disgust at the sight of my heap of noble rosy-bills, all obtained near
home at one shot!
Then I fired just as the birds, catching sight of my cap, raised their
long necks in alarm. Bang! Up they rose with a noise of wings, leaving
not one behind! Vainly I watched the flock, thinking that some of the
birds I must have hit would soon be seen to waver in their course and
then drop to earth. But none wavered or fell. I went home as much
puzzled as disappointed. Late in the day my brother returned with one
upland goose and three or four ducks, and inquired if I had had any
luck. I told him my sad story, whereupon he burst out laughing and
informed me that he had taken care to draw the shot from my gun before
going out. He was up to my little tricks, he said; he had seen what I
had done, and was not going to allow me to waste the little shot we
had left!
Our duck-shooting was carried on under difficulties during those days.
We searched for ammunition at all the houses for some leagues around,
and at one house we found and purchased a quantity of exceedingly
coarse gunpowder, with grain almost the size of canary-seed. They told
us it was cannon-powder, and to make it fit for use in our fowling-
pieces we ground it fine with glass and stone bottles for rollers on a
tin plate. Shot we could not find, so had to make it for ourselves by
cutting up plates of lead into small square bits with a knife and
hammer.
Eventually the civil war, which had dragged on for a long time,
brought an unexpected danger to our house and caused us to turn our
minds to more important things than ducks. I have said that the city
was besieged by an army from the provinces, but away on the southern
frontier of the province of Buenos Ayres the besieged party, or
faction, had a powerful friend in an estanciero in those parts who was
friendly with the Indians, and who collected an army of Indians hungry
for loot, and gauchos, mostly criminals and deserters, who in those
days were accustomed to come from all parts of the country to put
themselves under the protection of this good man.
This horde of robbers and enthusiasts was now advancing upon the
capital to raise the siege, and each day brought us alarming reports -
whether true or false we could not know - of depredations they were
committing on their march.
