its form and working; for we need scarcely state that it bears no resemblance to water, drain, or gas pipes. In shape it is not unlike the long horn of one of that ancient breed of beasts still patronised by a few agriculturists in Oxfordshire and in some of the adjacent counties. The pipes at Abbotsbury appear to have been in use for centuries, though the materials composing them have doubtless been renewed from time to time. A trench, not straight, but curved, about fifty yards long, six feet wide at the entrance and three at the extreme end, has been dug some two or three feet deep. Pliant ash or willow poles, such as are used in making hurdles, are then stretched over the trench, which takes the shape of a bow, and contracts towards the further end. The arch at the entrance may be eight feet high, while at its termination it is scarcely two feet. Over this arched roof is stretched a net, having a mesh of four inches, and thoroughly secured to the framework of wattles; but its termination is not unlike the tail of a trammel-net, and this last portion of the contrivance rests on the ground, for reasons which will presently be stated. Upright stakes, intertwined with rods and backed with a thorough padding of spear-grass, somewhat artistically placed, completely screen the keepers from the sight of the wild fowl; but at intervals of every eight or ten yards there are openings in the sconce, which enable the operator in charge to look along the trench towards its extremity, but not seaward, for then the birds would discover him and fly away. The decoy ducks have been bred here, and are regularly fed by the keepers, who have taught them to follow them up the pipe at a given signal. There were three or four of these birds swimming about when we visited the place, chiefly drakes of large size and beautiful plumage. They hovered around us in close proximity, evidently expecting to be fed, and had a look of their own which seemed to say, We are not common horse-pond birds; we are the aristocracy of our race-we are decoys! And we could not help thinking, at the moment, of the thousands of their own species which they had in their time lured into the pipes where they were seized and killed. We shall suppose that it is the depth of winter. Thousands of ducks, teal, and widgeon may be seen in the East and West Fleets, the waters of which are generally free from ice except during the hardest weather. A small stream from the neighbouring hills empties itself into the waters of the decoy, which are fringed by bushes and spear grass, and are comparatively still and sheltered, even in the stormiest times. When, then, hundreds of birds are within a stone's throw of a "pipe," the keeper creeps stealthily behind his fence, and calls upon his feathered accomplices to perform their part in the strategical manœuvres, which they willingly do. "Oh whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad," is faithfully obeyed by these thoroughly-trained decoys. No sooner do they hear the well-known call of the keeper than they hasten to that particular "pipe" whence the sound comes, in expectation of a good feed of hemp-seed or oats, and dozens of the wild birds instantly follow them. The movements of the leaders are so free, bold, and unsuspecting, that the strangers from afar, who have fraternised with them, are thrown off their guard; and at last find themselves in a cul de sac, from which there is no escape. The moment the decoys have led their foreign friends sufficiently far into the pipe for the keeper to interpose between them and the entrance, they swim leisurely back as if they had done a meritorious deed; and he having no sentimental notions about the rights of ducks, such as once disturbed the mind of Burns when he scared some waterfowl on Loch Turit, shows him self at the openings in the spear grass to the birds, embarrassed by the narrow space into which they have been led. The result is that they rush in a frantic manner towards the other end of the pipe, thinking to escape there, when they are caught in that fatal purse-net already mentioned, which the keeper instantly secures by drawing a string, when the game is bagged. The early morning or dusk of the evening is considered the most favourable time for successfully practising the stratagem of the decay, as the birds are then on the look-out for food. Awall-net," made of rope, and having meshes several feet wide, weighted at the bottom, and attached to tall poles, is sometimes used in narrow portions of waters for taking wildfowl. The net is placed in a perpendicular position, hence its name. On the side at which the birds are, a very fine net, made of silk, is suspended close to the other one. The object aimed at is to get the fowl to move towards the net. To alarm them would cause them to fly away. This must be avoided. By means of a boat, gently moved behind them, and halting occasionally,—or, if practicable, by persons on the banks of the estuary, lake, or river where the plan may be tried, the birds are rendered just sufficiently uneasy as to make them swim further away, and in the direction of the "wall-net;" on approaching which many of them will bolt through the large openings, when they carry along with them a portion of the almost invisible silk contrivance, in which they become entangled as in a purse, and are afterwards captured. The Thousands of wildfowl may sometimes be seen on the waters of the East and West Fleets, but the whole are the property of the Earl of Ilchester. A good many ducks build among the long grass, reeds, and rushes frequented by the swans. great majority, however, of the prodigious numbers seen here during the winter have evidently migrated from the far north. The hills immediately adjoining the Fleet are rather bare of wood, and it struck us that if a few acres were enclosed and planted with furze and shrubs, after the manner of a fox cover, and not far from the water, they would have the effect of inducing large numbers of the winter visitors to settle permanently in this locality. As the tides ebb and flow in this estuary, flounders, eels, and grey mullets are met with in considerable numbers: and between Ferry Bridge and the recently erected railway bridge, where this arm of the sea may be said to commence, very good bass fishing may be had with a large gaudy fly bright with tinsel, as shoals of these fish are constantly seen moving up towards the Fleet with the advancing tide; and when hooked, they show good sport, and are almost as game as salmon. At the gate through which the visitor passes to the Swannery there is a tall pole fixed in the ground, with a board nailed to its top, on which is the following notice :-"November 25th, 1824, High Tide, Depth of Water 22 feet 8 inches." This pole stands on dry land, and records the remarkable fact that there was a depth of water, as above mentioned, at this spot, caused by the spring tides of November, 1824, which, coupled with a strong gale from the south-east, forced the sea over Chesil Beach. The village and church of Fleet were much injured, and had to be removed further inland. One vessel was carried over the immense ridge of shingle from West Bay to Portland Roads; great pits were scooped out of the northern side of the bank; and hundreds of hares, rabbits, and pheasants were drowned in the shrubberies adjoining the decoy. A hare, perfectly white, has been observed in the meadows near the Swannery during the last eighteen months, and is looked upon as a great curiosity. In the north of Scotland, during severe weather, it is not unusual to meet with hares having their hindquarters white, and in the Arctic regions, they, as well as other furred animals, change their colour completely on the approach of winter; but we never before heard of a perfectly white hare being found so far west as this one at Abbotsbury, and continuing to remain so throughout the year. J. M'DOWELL. VIII-14 HYMNS. BY THE DEAN OF CANTERBURY. L-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. "Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live." "SET thine house in order, Thou shalt die, not live:" May the voice to each one Where the blow may strike? Set thine house in order, All its bulwarks tell; Founded on the rock. Set thine house in order, Thoughts and plans unholy, For thy Captain's wars: Taith, and Hope, and Love. II. SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. Thou didst, O Lord, Thy glory show. Spoke forth Thy love and grace divine. We none the less Thy wonders trace: Unwearied are Thy calls of love, Unspent Thy miracles of grace. Thou who didst make the water wine, Our earthly with Thy heavenly fill: Our scant obedience change to Thine, Our passions, to Thy heavenly will. V.-QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY, TAKE, O Lord, my faithless heart, Make its choice the better part, Break its chains and set it free, Take and seal it, Lord, to Thee. Though Thou turn my joy to tears, Should'st Thou bid me lay aside Seal then, Lord, my heart to Thee, Whether we wait expectant Above the whirl of traffic, Above the stir of life, Amidst the songs of pleasure, And o'er the din of strife, May never cease within us Thy whispers soft and clear, Nor ready hearts, replying, "Speak, Lord, Thy servants hear." And in the latest conflict, When strength and faith are low, Yet nearer and more near VI-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. SINCE We kept the Saviour's birth, We have followed Him on earth, Thou who lovedst us on high, Of Thy Spirit, Lord, impart, To the brethren evermore, To the neighbour dwelling by, To the outcast at our door, As Thy Church hath learned of Thee. VII-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. "Speak: for Thy servant heareth." VIII-ST. JOHN BAPTIST'S DAY. HERALD, in the wilderness, Breaking up the road, Sinking mountains, raising plains, In the way of righteousness Messenger, God's chosen One Captive, for the word of truth Martyr, sacrificed to sin At that feast of shame, As his life fore-shewed the Lord, In his death the same : Holy Jesus, when He heard, Went apart to pray: 1 IX.-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. "We have toiled all the night, and taken nothing; nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net." "ALL the night, and nothing taken,”— "All the night, and nothing taken,”- Nought is found among the band Still, though night may pass in sorrow, "Ye shall find"-then hopeful yet X-SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. "Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of man." BOWED with the guilt of sin, O God, Then need we fear, with Thee for judge, O prayer of little faith and trust! Yet, as the child may shrink with fright And thus, as prayed, with shame low-bent, Into Thy hands, Lord, let us fall: XI.-ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY "God be merciful to me, the sinner." To me a sinner, chief of all, O God, be merciful! Though guilt for judgment on me call, My God, be merciful! O Father, from whose house I strayed, To me be merciful! O Christ, on whom my sins were laid, Do Thou be merciful! O Spirit, pleading oft in vain, Thou too be merciful! O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, To me, of sinners sinning most, "Why will ye die?" O WHY on death so bent? Hast thou not heard a voice that cries "I joy not in the death of him that dies ?" Then turn thee, and repent. Or is the heart yet hard, And all too deep the guilty stain? And seems it that the golden gates remain To thee for ever barred? That voice still sounds within ; The Spirit and the Bride say "Come: Return, poor outcast, to thy Father's home, And leave the husks of sin." Or wouldst thou yet awhile Speeds on thy brief reprieve : XIV. TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. "Having done all, to stand." TEN thousand times ten thousand In sparkling raiment bright, Their fight with death and sin : |