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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
 '*! 
 

 
 5, 
 
 aJv 
 
INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 TO 
 
 YOUNG SPORTSMEN 
 
 IN- 
 
 ALL THAT RELATES TO 
 
 GUNS AND SHOOTING, 
 
 . P. 
 
 LT COL. P/ HAWKER, 
 
 SIXTH EDITION, 
 
 CORRECTED, ENLARGED, AND IMPROVED: 
 WITH EXPLANATORY PLATES AND WOOD CUTS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN. 
 
 1830. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PH1NTE1) BY THOMAS DAVISON, WillTEFRlAUS. 
 
TO 
 
 HIS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY 
 
 WILLIAM THE FOURTH 
 
 THIS ATTEMPT 
 
 TO INSTRUCT THE RISING GENERATION IN AN ART FOR WHICH WE HAVE LONG BEEN THE 
 FIRST NATION IN THE WORLD, AND AN EXERCISE ACKNOWLEDGED AS BEING CAL- 
 CULATED TO INVIGORATE US FOR THE SERVICE OF OUR KING AND COUNTRY, 
 
 IS 
 
 WITH GRACIOUS PERMISSION 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 HIS MAJESTY'S EVER DUTIFUL SERVANT 
 
 AND 
 
 LOYAL SUBJECT 
 PETER HAWKER. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE original edition, which led to the pub- 
 lication of the following pages, was hastily 
 written, at the particular request of some 
 sporting friends of the Author, who had re- 
 course to the press, in order to present each 
 of them with a legible copy. A few supple- 
 mentary impressions also were provided, for 
 the amusement and instruction of the inex- 
 perienced sportsman, to whom, alone, he still 
 presumes to offer so humble a production. 
 
 To prevent enlarging this work to an ex- 
 pensive publication, all needless embellish- 
 ments have been studiously avoided. By thus 
 omitting ornamental plates on the worn-out 
 subjects of common shooting, useless anec- 
 dotes, and other extraneous matter, there is a 
 saving of time to many, who would be better 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 employed than in reading superfluous volumes, 
 on a mere subject of recreation ; as well as of 
 expense to those who could not conveniently 
 afford to purchase them. 
 
 Every thing here asserted has been the re- 
 sult of many years' trial and experience ; and, 
 therefore, all reference to other publications 
 has been as much declined, as have statements 
 from report; and it has been attempted to 
 dilate most, on what has been the least explained 
 by other authors. 
 
 So much, indeed, has been published, by 
 more able writers, on field sports of every de- 
 scription, that little remains to be said on the 
 subject. The pursuit of game is already too 
 well known to require much instruction. The 
 author has, therefore, thought it far better, in- 
 stead of treating too copiously on that head, 
 to give particular directions for (what gentlemen 
 least understand) GETTING ACCESS TO WILD 
 
 BERDS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. 
 
 With regard also to guns, and the various 
 other subjects that form the remainder of the 
 
PllEFACE. 
 
 book, he has taken up his pen with the deter- 
 mination of neither borrowing, without proper 
 acknowledgment, from other works, nor trust- 
 ing to any thing from the experiments of 
 other persons. 
 
 From having thus declined all assistance, 
 and wholly confined himself to the limits of 
 his own humble experience, he will have to 
 apologize perhaps for some errors, and no 
 doubt for many deficiencies. But even this, 
 it is hoped, will make the work less objec- 
 tionable than swelling its dimensions to an 
 unreasonable size, by relating incidents that 
 possibly never occurred, or commencing a 
 system of piracy on other authors, which no- 
 thing should induce him to do, after the very 
 flattering manner in which his former editions 
 have been received by the Reviewers and the 
 Public. 
 
 He now offers to their notice the sixth 
 edition of this work, which has, of late, been 
 in many parts materially altered and en- 
 larged. The improvements here added have 
 
Vi PREFACE. 
 
 been the result of still further experience ; and, 
 therefore, may be considered, in some degree, 
 as finishing lessons to those young sportsmen, 
 who have before done him the honour to 
 attend to his earlier instructions. 
 
 The original matter, however, on which no 
 improvement happened to present itself, will, 
 of course, remain as before, for the benefit of 
 younger pupils in shooting. But every thing, 
 which was written previously to the year 1816 
 that could be improved, up to the present 
 year, has been introduced on a different, and, 
 he trusts, a more perfect system. 
 
 All the new directions, which this work 
 contains, have been first experimentally tried, 
 and taken down, from time to time, in a 
 pocket book ; then detailed, as soon after as 
 possible, in the most specific manner; and, 
 before they were entered among these pages, 
 abridged to about a tenth part of their original 
 bulk, through consideration for the patience 
 of the reader. 
 
 Some apology may, perhaps, be requisite for 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 the abrupt style which this very abridgment 
 occasions, as well as for the author having 
 been so generally obliged to write in the first 
 person. Dictatorial, however, as may appear 
 the one, and egotistical as may be thought the 
 other, yet it is presumed, that his colloquial 
 style may not be objected to, when all circum- 
 stances are considered, by those persons who 
 are most able to criticise, and who are inva- 
 riably the most liberal judges. 
 
 Some apology too may be necessary for 
 neglect of that ceremony, which the public 
 have a right to expect from every author. 
 But, while occupied in forming this work, it 
 must candidly be confessed, that the writer 
 could not divest himself of feeling rather as 
 one conversing, without reserve, among his 
 brother sportsmen, than as an author, whose 
 work was going before a public tribunal. 
 
 The summit of his ambition, therefore, will 
 be, to give some little additional knowledge 
 to those for whom the work is intended ; and 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 his earnest hopes are, that these his further, 
 and most probably his last, efforts on the sub- 
 ject, will meet with that indulgence, which he 
 has experienced on all former occasions. 
 
* # * As there will appear in this book some recipes which might 
 fail, if the articles required for them should not be of the best qua- 
 lity, it has been thought necessary to give the names of a few trades- 
 men, whom the author has reason to hope may be depended on. 
 
 In a work of this kind, it requires more ingenuity than the writer 
 can boast of, to avoid entirely those inimical appendages to reading 
 notes and parentheses. The frequent use of Italics, also, he is 
 aware has an ugly appearance. But, nevertheless, they have before 
 answered his object, which is to impress as strongly as possible on 
 the memory of his young readers, those directions which require to 
 be read with particular attention. 
 
P. S. The three following Memorandums were overlooked in com- 
 piling the latter part of this edition : I therefore add them, just as 
 they stand pencilled in a pocket book : 
 
 The West-end Agent for Mr. Lockyer's Magnesia is Mr. Tebbs- 
 the well known and excellent chemist, in Bond Street. 
 
 Mr. Hunt's Water-proof Composition, for Shoes, &c. answers ex- 
 tremely well. 
 
 No sportsman who is subject to severe rheumatism, or pain in the 
 chest, should ever be without the u Poor Man's Plaster," which is 
 sold by Mr. Sterry and Sons, oilmen, 156, High Street, Southwark. 
 
 [I went there in order to ascertain if they had any agent in the 
 more fashionable part of the town. But, it appears that Messrs. 
 Sterry have as much custom as they want in their own district, with- 
 out taking further trouble . They told me, however, that if a shilling 
 was inclosed in a letter, post paid, eight sheets of this plaster should 
 come back, by return of the twopenny or general post: or, of course, 
 four sheets for sixpence. I have well tried this admirable recipe ; 
 and let those who use it, say whether or not I am right for re- 
 commending it.] 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 
 In first line of page 3G7, for " row," read 
 
. 
 - /& 3 -V - 
 
 LIST OF PLATES, &c. 
 
 ARRIVAL, from the Longparish hills, into the valley, for the last 
 hour's shooting on the 1st of September; with double-mounted 
 Markers, and other Assistants. (Taken on the spot by Mr. 
 
 Childe.) FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 Page 
 
 Portrait of the Author, from a painting by A. E. Chalon, Esq., 
 
 R.A viii 
 
 Sections of original Gun Breechings 35, 37, 38 
 
 Copied Sketch of Mr. Wilkinson's Breeching 69 
 
 Sections of other modern Detonating Breechings 74 
 
 Check Collar, for Breaking Pointers or Setters ; and Iron Puzzle 
 
 for ditto 246 
 
 Hampshire Punt-paddle, and "set-pole"..... 311 
 
 Hampshire Launching-punt j and newly rigged mudboard .... 312 
 
 Mud-Launchers on the Oozes, off Lymington, shoving their 
 
 Punts up to Wigeon 320 
 
 Poole Canoe 321 
 
 Ditto, foreshortened ; Setting-pole; and Poole Mudboards 322 
 
 Approaching Wildfowl, with Canoe and Stanchion-gun, pre- 
 parative to the flowing tide 331 
 
 Explanatory Wood-cuts for the Spring Swivel from 347 to 351 
 
 Ditto, for making Cartridges 355,357, 358 
 
 Punt and Gear for a 2001b. Gun. With " Truck;" Tra- 
 velling Carriage j and all other Appendages complete. (By 
 Messrs. Cornelius Varley and Adlard) . 371 
 
Xii LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 Page 
 
 Commencement of a Cripple-chase, after firing 2lbs. of Shot into 
 a Skein of Brent Geese, and two Wild Swans; with Boats, 
 Dogs, wounded Curlew, dead Coot, &c. (From the original 
 Aqua-tintaof Wm. Daniell, Esq. R.A.) 373 
 
 Wildfowl Artillery ; or Carriage for using a Stanchion-Gun 
 
 on Land 391 
 
 Invisible Approach, for Shooting Wild Birds on Land, in three 
 different positions; and a Small Approach, for using Little* 
 Guns. (Taken by Mr. Varley, with his Graphic Tele- 
 scope) 394 
 
 Hut Shooting, on the French System. (The principal birds 
 here shown are fastened to the lines, the Decoy Ducks 
 and Mallards: In the killed and wounded, the Pintail, 
 the Cock Wigeon, a Duck and Mallard, and a Tufted 
 Duck ; and, flying up from the water, the Dunbird and 
 the Scaup Drake) 402 
 
 Boat-Cart, or Canoe-Carriage, to convey Punts, &c. over Land 413 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 GUNS AND GUNMAKERS 1 
 
 (Chief London Barrel-maker * ) 
 
 Mr. Lancaster's self-acting machine for turning the out- 
 sides of barrels 4 
 
 Barrels, some of the best shot, and then gauged, in order 
 
 to show how they were bored 7 
 
 Table of a Trial to prove that long barrels kill further 
 
 than the short ones, which are now made 18 
 
 Damascus Barrels 22 
 
 Elevation 25 
 
 Sight 28 
 
 Ramrod 28 
 
 Directions for trying Barrels 29 
 
 Stock 30 
 
 Recipe for polishing Gunstocks 33 
 
 Breeching 33 
 
 IMPLEMENTS FOR FLINT-GUNS 39 
 
 Touchhole 39 
 
 Lock fc 39 
 
 Springs 41 
 
 Cocks and Hammers 41 
 
 Pan 44 
 
 Trigger 45 
 
 To take a Lock to pieces 46 
 
 To put it together again 47 
 
 Alphabetical List of the names of the principal parts of a 
 
 Gun 49 
 
 Directions for Cleaning Guns, and precautions against 
 
 their hanging fire 51 
 
 Gravitating Stops 55 
 
 * For his address, see under the head of " Duck Guns." Page 274. 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 DETONATING SYSTEM 56 
 
 Trials of Flint Locks against Detonaters , 60 
 
 Gun 64 
 
 Barrel 68 
 
 Breeching 68 
 
 Venthole 70 
 
 Nipple, or Pivot 70 
 
 Cock, or Striker 71 
 
 Copper Caps 72 
 
 Copper Primers 75 
 
 Side-Nail 76 
 
 Dissection 76 
 
 Cleaning 76 
 
 Directions for using Detonating Guns 77 
 
 Loading 78 
 
 Recipe for making Detonating Powder 80 
 
 Mr. Joyce's Anti-corrosive Percussion Powder 81 
 
 Shooting 84 
 
 Observations (from experiments) on the difference in Shoot- 
 ing between a Flint Gun and a Detonater 84 
 
 GUN CASES 89 
 
 POWDER 90 
 
 SHOT 96 
 
 Schedule of Shot, compiled up to the very latest manu- 
 facturing 99 
 
 New Patent Shot 101 
 
 Trial of it since the 4th edition 102 
 
 Eleys Patent Shot-cartridges 102 
 
 FLINTS . , 106 
 
 WADDING 107 
 
 New prepared Wadding for Percussion-guns 109 
 
 LOADING 112 
 
 POWDER FLASK.. 115 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Page 
 SHOT BELT 1 18 
 
 DRESS FOR A SHOOTER 120 
 
 APPARATUS 124 
 
 SHO TING 125 
 
 Finishing Lessons in, (with a disclosure to the unfinished 
 shooter, of how to manoeuvre wild covies, &c. #c. and to 
 know how to cope with a crafty old Sportsman) 137 
 
 Partridge Shooting 147 
 
 Grouse Shooting 152 
 
 (With recipe for keeping Grouse ; so as to send them 
 any distance, within the United Kingdoms, in the 
 hottest weather} 154 
 
 Shooting Pheasants, #c. (with a few directions to the inex- 
 perienced, for recovering their own Game, if unhand- 
 somely driven from them; Shooting in Covert, be.) . . 154 
 
 Cock Shooting 159 
 
 Snipe Shooting, with observations, that Snipe Shooting 
 and Fly Fishing may be followed on the same day .... 159 
 
 Letter with information to Mr. Martin on these two sub- 
 jects ; after which are introduced, new Directions for 
 Fly Fishing, Trolling, and other matter relative to 
 Trout Fishing 162 
 
 Trout Fishing 1 64 
 
 A LIST of BIRDS, be. $c., which are most commonly 
 followed by Shooting Sportsmen; alphabetically ar- 
 ranged, with their proper names, as selected by Bewick 
 their Latin and French names as given by Linnteus and 
 Buff on, with general directions for getting access to them 181 
 In the foregoing list is introduced 
 
 BLACK-GAME SHOOTING ON THE BORDERS 
 OF HANTS AND DORSET. : 204 
 
 Directions as to what birds are proper for the Table ; how 
 to choose them at Market; how to keep them, fyc. &c.. . 239 
 
 Recipe for Sauce to Wildfowl 244 
 
 DOGS (^concise directions for breaking and managing} 245 
 
 Newfoundland Dogs ; how to choose them, fyc 248 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 DISEASES IN DOGS 251 
 
 Distemper 25 1 
 
 Letter, and Experiment on Vaccination for this Disease. . 253 
 
 Mange 254 
 
 Sore Feet 255 
 
 Thorns 256 
 
 Physic 256 
 
 Strains or Bruises 256 
 
 Poison 257 
 
 Bites of Vipers 258 
 
 Bite of a Mad Dog 258 
 
 Observations on Mad Dogs 260 
 
 To physic moderately, and give a fine coat to, Dogs 262 
 
 PRESERVATION OF GAME, exposing various tricks of 
 
 Poachers and Trespassers 264 
 
 DUCK GUNS. Address, be. of the best London Barrel-maker. 
 
 General Directions for Duck Guns 272 
 
 Table of Trial between Duck Guns and Double Guns 277 
 
 Ditto between a Double Gun, common Shoulder Duck 
 
 Guns, and a Swivel Gun 28 1 
 
 Loading 278 
 
 Cleaning 281 
 
 TO MAKE AN OLD GUN SHOOT WELL 283 
 
 DUCK SHOT 286 
 
 Table to show which answers best, according to the dif- 
 ferent sizes of the Guns that are used 286 
 
 DUCK-GUN WADDING 288 
 
 WATER BOOTS 289 
 
 WATER-PROOF DRESSING FOR SHOES, be 292 
 
 CORNS 294 
 
 DRESSES PROPER FOR WILDFOWL SHOOTING 295 
 
 TO PRESERVE GUNNING CLOTHES FROM THE 
 
 MOTH . . 302 
 
CONTENTS. Xvii 
 
 Page 
 
 TO PRESERVE GUNS FROM RUSTING WITH SALT 
 
 WATER . 303 
 
 WILDFOWL SHOOTING 305 
 
 LAUNCHING, AND CANOE SHOOTING.. 311 
 
 Hampshire Launching -punt 311 
 
 Different kinds of newly invented Sledges for traversing 
 
 the Oozes 313 
 
 Expulsion of the Old System of Shooting on the Hamp- 
 shire coast, as described by Mr- Gilpin, and given in 
 
 " Rural Sports" 320 
 
 Poole Canoe, with Lessons in every way for Wigeon Shoot- 
 ing, by night and day, at low water, and half flood, &c. 321 
 
 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS for Sea-coast Wildfowl Shoot- 
 ing, when afloat 328 
 
 STANCHION OR PUNT- GUN....... 339 
 
 New plan for firing 2lb. (or 2^lb.} of Shot to the best ad- 
 vantage, and, at the same time, easing the recoil of a 
 Swivel-gun 343 
 
 EXPLANATION OF MY PLAN for easing the Recoil of a 
 Punt-gun ; or, a Ship's Swivel* (as used in Merchant- 
 men ; in Boats ; in the " tops" of Men of War ; #c.) 347 
 
 Best mode of Ignition for a Punt-gun 353 
 
 Night Cartridges and Loading 354 
 
 Candle Cartridges 360 
 
 Firing... , 361 
 
 GUNNING-PUNT, safe and proper for the use of a Stanchion- 
 gun 363 
 
 New plan for a Gunning-punt 366 
 
 Shooting with a Stanchion-gun from a Punt-, its Elevation 
 by day or night 374 
 
 * In writing on this subject, 1 have applied the word " carronade ;" and, if im- 
 properly, it was, no doubt, through my " land-lubber" -like misunderstanding, of 
 naval friends to whom I submitted the invention. For ships' swivels, the mode of 
 easing the recoil, I think, may be adapted as here shown ; but for carronades^ it 
 would, I pretfdrne, requite a somewhat different construction. 
 
 b 
 
xviii CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Manoeuvring Curres, and other small Wildfowl; also Geese, 
 wild Swans, #c., with a disclosure of all the secrets for 
 getting at them in every way 375 
 
 BOAT SHOOTING UNDER SAIL outside of Harbour 382 
 
 Caution how to avoid the Accidents that too frequently 
 
 happen in Sailing , 384 
 
 Observations on Shooters, &c., in the Southampton River 386 
 
 ARTIFICIAL ISLAND FOR CURLEWS, &>c 388 
 
 WILDFOWL ARTILLERY, or Carriage for using a Stanchion- 
 gun on Land 391 
 
 Invisible Approach : 392 
 
 METHOD OF SHOOTING WILDFOWL IN FRANCE . . 395 
 French Hut Shooting ( Specific Instructions for every thing 
 
 concerning) 397 
 
 Italian Method of making Call Birds clamorous 398 
 
 General Directions in using the Hut for each sort of 
 
 ' Wildfowl . . , . . 400 
 
 Anecdote to prove the Superiority of the French Ducks as 
 Decoy Birds, in comparison to those which are bred in 
 England 401 
 
 PUNTS, GUNS, *c., USED FOR SHOOTING IN THE 
 FENS '. 404 
 
 Recent Information relative to the Fen Country in Norfolk 406 
 Mode of Working a Punt to Birds over a Sheet of Ice . . 407 
 
 SHOOTING WILDFOWL ON VIRGINIA WATER 408 
 
 DRESSING FOR PUNTS AND CANOES 410 
 
 New Directions for Preserving and Painting them 410 
 
 How to give Temporary Changes to their Colour for 
 different Weather 411 
 
 BEST MEANS OF CONVEYING PUNTS, &. OVER 
 LAND 412 
 
 SHOOTING WITH A SMALL GUN ON A RIVER, 8tc. 414 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 GAME LAWS 417 
 
 Qualification 4 1 8 
 
 Certificate 419 
 
 Gamekeepers 420 
 
 Form of a Deputation 420 
 
 Refusing to give Names 42 1 
 
 Game 421 
 
 Eggs of Game 422 
 
 Game found in Possession of unqualified Persons, and 
 
 Penalty for Buying and Selling Game 423 
 
 Officers and Soldiers killing Game 4-23 
 
 Tame Pigeons, or House Doves 424 
 
 Dogs 424 
 
 Dogs exempted from Duty 425 
 
 Penalty for Stealing Dogs 425 
 
 Trespass 429 
 
 Exemptions from Trespass before and after Notice .... 430 
 
 Notices 430 
 
 Specific Instructions how to warn off a Trespasser 430 
 
 Form of a General Notice 432 
 
 Dogs, Trespass of 433 
 
 Waste Land 435 
 
 Rabbits, Woodcocks, Snipes, Sfc 435 
 
 Free Warrens and Decoys 435 
 
 Wildfowl 436 
 
 Time within which Informations and Actions must be brought 436 
 
 Lords of Manors 438 
 
 ACT passed since the fifth Edition : 
 
 Persons found at night armed with Intent to kill Game 438 
 
 Observations on the Game Laws 439 
 
 Suggestions for a New Code of Game Laws 441 
 
 GENERAL ADVICE FOR THE HEALTH AND COM- 
 FORT OF A YOUNG SPORTSMAN ".-. . . 452 
 
 How to provide for himself at the last stage on his route, 
 previously to the banishment of a Sporting Exile 453 
 
 Precautions against taking Cold on his entering Bad 
 Quarters 454 
 
 How to cater, and make palatable Bad Provisions .... 454 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 How to Jar e tolerably, while a bad Caterer would be starved 
 out of the place 455 
 
 What few Medicines to make choice of, as being most useful 
 when confined to a small quantity of Baggage 461 
 
 Best Precautions against Cold, Rheumatism, Tooth-ache, 
 Ague, be.. 467 
 
 List of the very few Articles that he could take in his Port- 
 manteau, with which he or his Servant might have the 
 means of making a tolerable dish out of the most humble 
 materials 468 
 
 Interspersed occasionally with a little Advice to the very 
 Young Sportsman, on more General Subjects. 
 
 ALPHABETICAL LIST of London Gunmakers 477 
 
 PRESERVERS OF BIRDS, $c. . . 479 
 
THE great demand for this work having exhausted 
 the third and fourth editions in so short a space of time, 
 I was resolved that the printer's devil and I should have 
 absolution from sporting subjects for at least a year or 
 two, and therefore inflicted on my publishers a treble 
 dose of copies ; or, seriously speaking, I gave a very 
 large impression of the fifth edition. About three years 
 and a half have elapsed since that was in the press ; and 
 in this little time what a complete revolution has taken 
 place in the sporting world! or at all events among 
 the gunmakers ! ! Joe Manton, the life and soul of the 
 trade, obliged to dispose of all his valuable machinery, 
 and sell off every thing in Hanover-square ; then rallied 
 at Marylebone Park-house, where all was again soon 
 wreck and confusion ; and the best workmen in the 
 world left wandering about like a disbanded army! 
 Poor old Asell, the father of the working-trade, died in 
 Marylebone hospital his son started off as a regimental 
 armourer John Hussey, the flash borer of the age, 
 obliged to fly, with his lathe, from the Philistines, and 
 get a crust for his family where he could the prince 
 of lock-finishers, Penn, driven to do bye-jobs for tem- 
 porary subsistence, and others condescending to go 
 
2 GUNS AND GUNMAKERS. 
 
 and work for masters who knew not half so much as 
 themselves ! 
 
 So much for the establishment of the only man whom 
 any first-rate judge of work could consider as qualified 
 for a leader, or king, among the gunmakers ! Such was 
 the esprit de corps among his men, that they rallied 
 round him till the very last, rather than serve under 
 any artist in whose abilities they had less confidence. 
 
 [It may perhaps be thought bad taste to speak about 
 common journeymen. But I like to do justice to the 
 subs as well as to the commander.] 
 
 The London gunmakers are now like the frogs with- 
 out a king ; and they complain bitterly about the flatness 
 of trade. But for this they have to thank their intro- 
 duction of the detonating system, by which they got 
 caught themselves in the very trap that was laid for 
 their customers. When flint-guns were the order of 
 the day, few sporting gentlemen of distinction ever 
 thought of using any thing but the gun of a first-rate 
 maker, for the simple reason that on the goodness of 
 the work depended the quickness in firing, and conse- 
 quently the filling of the bag. But, now-a-days, every 
 common fellow in a market town can detonate an old 
 musket, and make it shoot as quick as can be wished ; 
 insomuch that all scientific calculations in shooting, at 
 moderate distances, are now so simplified that we, every 
 day, meet with jackanapes-apprentice-boys who can 
 shoot flying, and knock down their eight birds out of 
 ten. Formerly shooting required art and nerve now, 
 for tolerable shooting (at all events for the use of one 
 barrel) nerve alone is sufficient. Formerly a first-rate 
 gun was a sine qua noti ; now, the most that we can 
 call it is a desideratum ; since all guns are now made 
 
GUNS AND GUNMAKERS. 3 
 
 to fire with nearly equal velocity. Still, however, for- 
 tunately for the leading gunmakers, there are yet left 
 many requisites which induce good sportsmen, though 
 a much smaller number than formerly, to go to the 
 heads of the trade: viz. 1. soundness and perfect safety 
 in guns ; 2. the barrels being correctly put together for 
 accurate shooting ; 3. the elevation being mathema- 
 tically true, and raised strictly in proportion to the 
 length of barrel; and 4. the stock being properly cast 
 off to the eye, and well fitted to the hand and shoulder. 
 I say nothing of the balance, because any good car- 
 penter, with some lead and a centre-bit, can regulate 
 this to the shooter's fancy. 
 
 Who is now to be called the leading gunmaker I 
 hardly know, and there are so many competitors for the 
 title that it would be an unthankful office to name any 
 one in particular. Mr. Manton and Son, in partnership 
 with Mr. Hudson, carry on the old-established house, 
 at No. 6, Dover-street, in the best possible manner. 
 Mr. Purdey has, at this moment, perhaps the first 
 business in London, and no man better deserves it I 
 once asked Joe Manton whom he considered the best 
 maker in town (of course excepting himself) ; and his 
 answer was, " Purdey gets up the best work, next to 
 mine." This was when Purdey occupied a small shop 
 in Princes-street. 
 
 Lancaster, who has raised many gunmakers to the 
 head of the trade by allowing them to put their names 
 to what was his work in all the essential part of barrels, 
 has some time since started for himself. This I advised 
 him to^ do if ever Joe retired ; and I anticipate that he 
 will, sooner or later, be entitled to the name of leader, 
 vice Joseph Manton. I recommended to him, for an 
 
 B 2 
 
4 GUNS AND GUNMAKERS. 
 
 assistant, Mr. Long, who was formerly a master at 
 Andover, and who has a head little inferior to that of 
 Joseph himself. Mr. Wilkinson, jun., an artist of great 
 mechanical talent, has bid adieu to the smoke of the 
 city, and started, with his father, in great force at the 
 west end, where he appears to have every thing in the 
 first style. Mr. Nock, Mr. Charles Moore, Mr. Smith, 
 and it would be endless to say how many others, are 
 now quite au fait in the detonating system of gun- 
 making. Also Mr. William Moore, who was an old 
 hand at Joe's, and knew, to a hair, how to fit a man's 
 shoulder with a gun. I have often stood over him 
 when a journeyman, and no man better pleased me with 
 a job. Depend on it he will do well, and get to the top 
 of the tree ; though, like a wise fellow, he starts carefully 
 at first, by feeling his way at a small place, instead of 
 jumping into a " swell" residence, and from that into 
 gaol ; as many people, both in and out of trade, are 
 now-a-days so frequently doing. " Billy Moore" is a 
 right-hand man with the " knobs," or crack pigeon- 
 shooters, and their patronage is a host in itself towards 
 a good lift in business. Though I have said this of 
 Moore, I never dealt with him, because, for my own 
 part, I prefer Lancaster's guns to any others in town. 
 
 Westley Richards is quite the star of Birmingham, 
 with more business than ever ; and his Bond-street agent, 
 Uncle Bishop, is now perhaps the first man in London 
 to serve all gentlemen who want a good gun at a few 
 hours' notice. Buying a ready-made gun, at a respect- 
 able shop, is cheaper and better than going to an inferior 
 maker, by reason that, instead of waiting six months 
 for one, which, after all, you might not be pleased with, 
 you may here at once suit yourself, and, sometimes, full 
 
GUNS AND GUNMAKERS. 5 
 
 as well as if you had spared no expense. You should, 
 however, first try and examine it, as the gunmakers 
 themselves, as well as the broken-down gentry, are fre- 
 quently obliged to have a little commerce with pawn- 
 brokers. 
 
 Parsons, of Salisbury, stands as high as ever in the 
 west of England, and many of the country makers are 
 giving great satisfaction. So much for the detonating 
 sys'tem. What a change from the time of Joe when he 
 lived in Davies-street ! In those days we had but one 
 gunmaker now they are " all ALL" gunmakers !!! 
 
 Within these very few years the detonaters have been 
 much improved in shooting, in consequence of their 
 being bored differently from flint-guns. They now de- 
 tain the shot longer in the barrel, in order that the 
 powder may have time to kindle, which is done to such 
 a degree as to occasion an increase of recoil, and a 
 liability to become " leaded" with much firing. Many 
 waddings have been invented to counteract this, arid I 
 shall hereafter speak of them in another part of the 
 book, as they have their merits ; but still none of them 
 will make a detonater, of equal weight with, shoot quite 
 so strong and regular as a flint-gun. Though, like the 
 rest of the sporting world, I have long been kidnapped 
 into the constant use of detonaters, still I have no reason 
 to alter the opinion I gave in 1822 ; and, were my time 
 to come over again, I might probably be content with 
 the flint ; though I have of course, as every one does, 
 shot more accurately, and missed fewer quick shots, 
 with the detonater. But, to return more generally to 
 the subject of all guns, let me observe, as before, in an- 
 swer to those who deprecate the idea of giving a good 
 price for a gun, that the workmen employed by the first 
 
GUNS AND GUNMAKERS. 
 
 makers require wages and indulgence, in proportion to 
 their skill in the respective branches of the business ; 
 and it thereby becomes necessary to charge for the guns 
 accordingly. 
 
 Many wiseacres abuse all the heads of the trade, and 
 swear that they can always ensure having the best of 
 guns, at a quarter the price, from Birmingham ! This 
 may be, provided a person has such good judgment, or 
 interest there, as to get picked workmen for the whole 
 process of his order; but, in general, the immense 
 business carried on at this place is for the ivholesale line, 
 and only requires to be in the rough; from which cir- 
 cumstance the workmen are not so much in the habit 
 of finishing as those employed daily for that purpose. 
 Moreover, if there is a first-rate and enterprising work- 
 man, he hears of the high wages, and contrives to get 
 off to London. I should, however, except those who 
 work for Westley Richards. 
 
 But, as far as the judgment of some people goes, it 
 would certainly be a wanton extravagance to give more 
 than fifteen pounds for a double, or eight for a single 
 gun. I allude to those who, on being shown a superior 
 one, would view it like a fossil or a picture ; and, on 
 being requested to " feel how fine the lock is/' thrust 
 their forefingers as far as they can into the guard, 
 sticking up their thumbs as if going to be dressed for a 
 wound, and often finish their inspection, by breaking 
 one of your locks, and abusing the man who made 
 them. 
 
 N. B. Since writing thus far, who should I meet but 
 Joe Manton? and what should he announce to me, but 
 that he had set up again ? (at Burwood Place in the 
 Edgeware Road) and was coming out with a new patent, 
 
BARRELS. 7 
 
 that would " take the shine out of every thing hitherto 
 invented, and show what fools all the gunmakers have 
 been ! !" But, as this remains to be proved, and as Joe 
 will have to recruit his fine army of workmen again 
 before his promise can be carried into execution, I cer- 
 tainly shall not throw into the fire what I have thus 
 far written on guns and gunmakers. 
 
 BARRELS. 
 
 I shall now proceed to the particulars of what a gun 
 should be, and begin with the barrels. 
 
 The usual method of trying a barrel is to fire at a t 
 single sheet of paper 9 and pronounce, at once, that the 
 one which puts in the most shot is the best, without f 
 
 I / l f 
 
 considering any other circumstance. 
 
 Such a mistake is excusable in those, who merely 
 take up a gun for exercise, or, at times, when they can- 
 not hunt ; but, that a person, who wishes to excel in 
 shooting, and even a London gunmaker, should fall into 
 the same error, argues as much against the judgment 
 of the one, as the qualification for his business of the 
 other. 
 
 In throwing shot from a barrel, closeness and strength 
 cannot be combined beyond a certain proportion of each ; 
 and as, in either extreme, the one is incompatible with 
 the other, the desideratum is for a gun to partake as 
 much as possible of both advantages. 
 
 For example : how is the barrel made to throw shot 
 very close ? By a too long continued relief forward, 
 without a proportional opening behind : this (from a 
 want of that impetus, or friction, which the shot receive 
 while passing through the cylindrical part of the caliber) 
 
8 BARRELS. 
 
 makes the gun shoot so slow, that the sportsman often 
 fires behind his game ; and, of course, so weak, though 
 well directed, that, instead of his birds dying in the air, 
 they are brought down in a slovenly manner, and half 
 of them escape being bagged, although their skins may 
 be filled with shot enough to make a brilliant display 
 at a single sheet of paper. 
 
 Many are apt to suppose, that, if a bird, killed by a 
 long shot, has been struck with four or five pellets, 
 their gun will always be certain of doing execution at 
 the same distance, if properly directed. But so far 
 is this from being the case, that it may proceed from 
 the barrel throwing the grains in patches, and therefore 
 being liable to let even fair shots escape through an 
 interval. 
 
 Indeed, the effect of this mode of boring might be 
 equally well produced by wetting the shot, or loading 
 with very little pow r der, and elevating so as for nearly 
 all the shot to drop into the mark (a common trick, 
 when an old hand wishes to sell a gun to a cockney, or 
 win the Christmas prize at an alehouse by shooting at 
 a mark). But enough of imperfections ; and now for 
 what a barrel ought to be 
 
 With the common-sized guns, which are now made 
 for the sports of the field, the usual mode of boring is, 
 to leave a cylinder for about three-fourths of the barrel 
 (always taking care, in a FLINT-^WW, but not in a de- 
 tonater, to preserve a tightness for a little friction just 
 where the shot first moves], and let the remaining part 
 be gradually relieved to the muzzle. For instance, 
 suppose a barrel to be two feet eight inches long, we 
 would say (beginning at the breech end) about six 
 
BARRELS. 9 
 
 inches tight (if for &flin) ; twenty-one inches a cylin- 
 der; and the remaining five inches relieved to the 
 muzzle. All this must be done with the most delicate 
 possible gradation, and in so small a degree, that even 
 some gunmakers can scarcely discover it. How natural 
 then is it, that many sporting authors should be so far 
 deceived, as to fancy the best guns are bored a true 
 cylinder to the very muzzle, and, therefore, argue in 
 its favour ! This relief has the effect of making the 
 gun shoot as close as it can do, compatibly with the 
 strength and quickness required : which should, how- 
 ever, be increased as much as possible by the best-con- 
 structed breechings. But, with the new alteration, for 
 short detonaters, a mere cylinder, or nearly so, with a 
 few inches' relief forward, is now found to answer best ; 
 and therefore we require more weight of metal, in order 
 to ease the recoil of a charge that is longer detained in 
 the barrel. Thus the detonating system simplifies the 
 boring to the whole trade, as well as the art of killing 
 to the shooter. With longer and heavier guns, we 
 may take still further advantage, and have a little 
 opening behind. All this relief must be given in a 
 very trifling degree ; because, should the barrel be too 
 much opened in any part, it would admit of the powder 
 escaping between the wadding and the sides of the 
 caliber, by which the shooting of the gun would be 
 rendered weak. For this reason, I should object to 
 having a hole through the wadding that covers the 
 powder, which many do to prevent the confined air 
 from resisting the ramrod. 
 
 A barrel with flaws has the same disadvantage of not 
 keeping the powder air-tight from the shot. If, how- 
 ever, a barrel is very shorty you are almost obliged to 
 
10 BARRELS. 
 
 reverse the mode of boring in order to get strength by 
 friction ; consequently it recoils, and never answers so 
 well. 
 
 For a duck-gun, or piece of any considerable length, 
 the barrel should be bored so as to feel more and more 
 tight on ramming down the wadding, particularly on 
 coming just above where the shot lies ; and with a very 
 little opening, from where the shot lies, down to the 
 breeching. This you will perceive, by a relief to the 
 ramrod, just before the wadding reaches the powder. 
 If, however, the gun is very long, you may then, of 
 course, have the barrel further opened behind, in pro- 
 portion to the length; and, thereby, give more force 
 to the powder, which will enable you, with propriety, 
 to extend the relief forward, and, by that means, get 
 close shooting combined with strength. This is the 
 reason why long barrels may be made to shoot further 
 than short ones. Thus the shot has friction by being 
 forced through the cylinder, and is then gradually re- 
 lieved all the way in going out; and this more in pro- 
 portion again as the shot leaves the muzzle. In a word, 
 the shot should receive all the force of the powder 
 while tight in the barrel, and then, as before observed, 
 go easier and easier all the way out of it. This mode 
 of boring is the best calculated for large wild-fowl guns, 
 because the first friction makes them shoot strong (by 
 means of giving due time to burn the powder), and yet 
 with as much ease, as any caliber that can be made to 
 answer that purpose. 
 
 In answer to many absurd arguments in favour of 
 short guns, and observations about " lateral pressure," 
 I shall here subjoin a schedule, in order to show how 
 were bored the five best guns I ever saw fired, exempli- 
 
BARRELS. 11 
 
 fying how far they were from being bored a perfect 
 cylinder, and therefore proving the absurdity of those 
 arguments which are all grounded upon this mistake. 
 Were a gun-barrel bored a true cylinder from end to 
 end, it might shoot nearly, or quite, as well if two 
 feet long as one of greater length, because a superfluity 
 of what may be strictly called lateral pressure would do 
 more harm than good, by checking, instead of assisting, 
 the force of the charge. But to these two feet of 
 cylinder let me add some more caliber, and that to con- 
 sist of proper opening and relief, and then shoot the 
 guns for a wager, and see how those new-discovery 
 gentlemen would come off who have been holding forth 
 to the public such nonsense in favour of short guns. 
 
 Cannons are bored a cylinder, because they are 
 generally used for firing ball, and therefore may be 
 short : but how have they always thrown loose shot ? 
 Why, most miserably, till General Shrapnell invented 
 his admirable shells that keep the charge together for 
 a second explosion, which takes place a little before the 
 shot has reached the object. It is one thing to speak 
 of things plausibly, another to state them correctly. 
 
 In the following schedule I have taken three of the 
 largest-sized guns, because a little sporting-gun is on 
 so small a scale, that although the relief may be felt 
 in a moment by passing a proper gauge through the 
 caliber, yet the barrel is so diminutive, that it would 
 be difficult to measure, and specify ', the exact depth of 
 this relief. 
 
 N. B. If any gunmaker had candidly informed me 
 as to his mode of boring barrels, I should have felt 
 myself bound in honour never to divulge, much less 
 
12 BARRELS. 
 
 to publish, the secret. But as the little knowledge I 
 possess has been acquired by my own discovery, and 
 proved by experiments to be correct, it becomes my 
 own property ; and as such therefore I have no further 
 hesitation in presenting it to my readers. 
 
 A SINGLE SWIVEL-GUN. 
 
 Barrel made by Fullerd : average of bore, an inch 
 and \ : weight of barrel 621bs. 
 
 Feet. Inches. 
 
 Cylinder . .28 
 
 Relief . . .41 
 
 Opened behind . . 6| 
 
 Total (exclusive of plug) 7 3J 
 
 DEPTH OF CUT. Relieved to the 20th of an inch : 
 opened behind to the 24th of an inch. 
 
 MY NEW DOUBLE SWIVEL-GUN (weight 193 Ibs.). 
 
 Barrels by Fullerd. 
 
 Feet Inches. 
 
 Cylinder . .29 
 
 Relief . '- .' .42 
 
 Opened behind . .13 
 
 Total (exclusive of plugs) 8 2 
 
 DEPTH OF CUT. The bore, in cylinder, an inch 
 and -J all but a S2d : relief forward an inch and \ and 
 a 32d (a 16th difference), and cut rather less deep be- 
 hind than at the muzzle. 
 
BARRELS. 13 
 
 A SINGLE STANCHION-GUN. 
 
 Barrel 691bs. (made in Birmingham.) 
 
 Feet Inches. 
 
 Cylinder . . .27 
 
 Relief . . .44 
 
 Opened behind . . 10 
 
 Total 
 
 DEPTH OF CUT. 
 
 Cylinder ^ f barely. 
 
 Relief J inch and ^ < and a 16th. 
 
 Opened behind ) { and a 32d. 
 
 A SINGLE GUN. 
 
 (Musket bore and the average weight of a musket.) 
 
 Feet. Inches. 
 
 Cylinder . . 1 10^ 
 
 Relief . . .10 
 
 Opened behind . . 1\ 
 
 Total ;-, . .36 
 
 A COMMON FOURTEEN GAUGE DOUBLE GUN. 
 
 (Weight altogether S^lbs. : barrels by Lancaster.) 
 
 Cylinder ; 
 
 Relief . 
 TIGHT behind . 
 
 Total .... 
 
 Q. Why is the common sporting-gun tight behind, 
 when the other guns are opened behind ? 
 
 A. Because a sporting-gun requires to be fired so 
 many times in a day, that we must adopt an inferior 
 
14 BAHRELS. 
 
 mode of getting friction, in order to prevent the barrel 
 from becoming leaded; and therefore to make it shoot, 
 through the whole day, nearly as well as when clean, 
 and without recoil to the shoulder. Again, a sporting- 
 gun must, of necessity, be short, for the convenience of 
 covert, and snap-shooting ; and therefore the length that 
 would properly suit that relief which must follow an 
 opening behind (in order to prevent recoil, and preserve 
 close shooting) would be generally objected to as an 
 inconvenience. 
 
 [Here I allude only to flint-guns ; as a detonater 
 must, in a great degree, be debarred from this ad- 
 vantage; because, if too tight behind, without any 
 subsequent check, the powder would be blown away so 
 quick as not to be half kindled. This is the new dis- 
 covery in boring for detonaters, which I before alluded 
 to, and which has probably saved them from being 
 wholly abandoned.] 
 
 Q. Suppose, then, you were to have your fourteen 
 gauge barrels two feet ten inches, how would you dis- 
 pose of the extra length ? 
 
 A. I would have seven inches of relief instead of 
 five, by which my shot would be thrown equally strong, 
 and decidedly closer. 
 
 [On this proportion I ordered a gun for a friend, 
 who writes to inform me that he has hitherto beat every 
 gun he shot against. It is but justice to say that the 
 maker was Mr. Westley Richards, who is considered, 
 by many of our best sportsmen, as " Joe Manton the 
 second;' 9 and I should say deservedly so, from what I 
 have lately seen of him and his work. Mr. Richards 
 is really a scientific man ; instead of having more tongue 
 than brains, like many of our gunmaking charlatans. 
 
BARRELS. 15 
 
 His barrels are as good as any in the world, being 
 made of pure Holland stubs, and twisted in a manner best 
 suited for service and for safety. Within these last two 
 years Mr. Richards has run some of the best London 
 makers so hard that they begin to wish him and his prime 
 minister Bishop in " another and a better world !"] 
 
 Gunmakers, who know their business, form their 
 calibers more or less, according to circumstances, on 
 the plans already stated ; except those of rifles, and 
 guns for firing ball, which must be regularly tighter all 
 the way out, as with these we have no reason to fear 
 the want of strength, or the risk of a recoil, and the 
 only object is to keep the ball in the straightest pos~ 
 sible direction, and regulate the barrel to the most ac- 
 curate line of aim. This should be done by having the 
 gun of the utmost length that can be used, and steadied 
 by immense substance and weight of metal. 
 
 While speaking of rifles, I must not omit to mention 
 two of the finest pieces of mechanism of the present 
 age Mr. Purdey's double rifles, and Mr. Lancaster's 
 new-invented machine for rifling barrels. But to say 
 what is here due to these excellent artists might lead 
 me into a detail that would exceed my intended limits. 
 
 The farther the sight at the breech is placed from 
 that near the muzzle, the more accurate, of course, 
 must be the line of aim ; and the heavier the gun, the 
 more likely you will be to preserve it in firing. 
 
 With regard to having a barrel too far opened for- 
 ward, when left with mere cylinder behind, and the 
 various tricks that are played to ease the explosion, for 
 the sole purpose of throwing the shot as close as possible, 
 it will be needless to trespass on the reader's patience. 
 
 Though a barrel, bored as before mentioned, will not 
 
16 BARRELS. 
 
 shoot quite so close as it might be made to do, yet, 
 taking every thing into consideration, it has the ten- 
 fold advantage of doing justice to a good shot, and even 
 assisting a bad one, by the irresistible force given, not 
 only to the body of the charge, but also to the pellets, 
 which fly wide of the mark. Let the sportsman, there- 
 fore, rest assured, that a gun, which will shoot sufficiently 
 close a surface to ensure two or three shot (of No. 7, at 
 forty yards) taking the body of a bird, and, at the same 
 time, distribute them in a regular manner, is better 
 than a very close shooting gun. It was formerly the 
 custom to make barrels, although so small as fourteen, 
 sixteen, or even two-and-twenty in the gauge, of three 
 or four feet in length ; and now, since it has been ascer- 
 tained that two feet six inches will shoot equally well, 
 at the short distance of a gunmaker's confined premises, 
 many have gone too much to the other extreme, and 
 cut them to two feet four inches, and less. The dis- 
 advantage of this is, that even the best shots are more 
 liable to miss ; for, although we allow, that a short gun, 
 at a short distance, will kill as well as a long one, yet 
 the latter gives you a more accurate aim, and consi- 
 derably lessens the recoil, by which you shoot to a 
 greater nicety, and with more steadiness. To avoid 
 all extremes, I should recommend small barrels, never 
 less than two feet eight, nor more than three feet in 
 length. My readers will observe that my remarks here 
 have been altered since publishing my earlier editions. 
 Mr. Joseph Manton, who knows, at all events, as much 
 as, if not more than, any man in Europe about a gun, 
 assured me, after innumerable experiments, he has 
 proved that two feet eight for a twenty-two gauge 
 barrel is the best proportion for a sporting-gun. Take 
 
BARRELS* 17 
 
 therefore & four teen gauge barrel, and see whether or 
 not I am right for recommending one of two feet ten 
 inches, and three feet, where it can be used without 
 inconvenience ! But mind one grand point have plenty 
 of metal near the breech-end ; not only for strong 
 shooting, but for good elevation. Let all barrels be 
 tapered like a bulrush: no hollowing out, as this 
 ruins their shooting. 
 
 It may be thought a bold assertion, but I have every 
 reason to believe that we have all, to this very day, 
 been completely in the dark about the length of guns. 
 Mr. Daniel (speaking of a duck-gun) said that a barrel, 
 three feet eight inches, is " as capable, or more so, of 
 throwing shot sharp and distant, as a barrel two feet 
 longer." In my second edition (deceived in the same 
 manner that all the gunmakers have been, by not having 
 made their trials on a sufficiently large scale) I gave it 
 as an opinion, that, except the aim being better, and 
 the recoil less, a long gun had no advantage over a short 
 one. On the contrary, I have now proved that a short 
 gun has no chance with a long one, in keeping the shot 
 well together at long distances. 
 
 The experiment must not be tried with little pop- 
 guns that are used for pigeons and partridges, but by 
 guns on a gigantic scale, by which we can make every 
 observation in the clearest possible manner, with the 
 same advantage that an astronomer, with his large tele- 
 scope, has over the naked eye, or diminutive glass, in 
 discovering a planet. 
 
 I had once made up my mind, that a barrel, of what- 
 ever size it might be, would kill the farthest if made 
 forty-eight times the diameter of the intended caliber, 
 and entered in the MSS. for my third edition some 
 
 c 
 
18 BARRELS. 
 
 observations to that effect. But had they gone to the 
 press, I should have been open to the criticism of every 
 good experimentalist : for I have since discovered, that 
 the larger the gun, the longer it must l)e in proportion; 
 because the further the shot has to travel, the greater 
 the resistance of the atmosphere. In addition to my 
 own experiments I am indebted for the perusal of several 
 observations (which corroborate my opinion on them) 
 to that excellent engineer, General Shrapnell, of the 
 Royal Artillery. I shall, therefore, say no more by way 
 of argument, but lay before my readers one of the clearest 
 proofs, selected from the number I have made : 
 
 TRIAL, taking the average of several shots, at twenty 
 sheets of thickest brown paper, at a target, placed in 
 the middle of a sheet of water, in order that all by- 
 standers may see fair play, as to correct shooting : 
 
 Distance, 90 yards : shot BB. 
 
 A best finished London duck-gun : weight of the 
 barrel, 591bs. : bore, 1 inch : length, 5 feet 8 inches. 
 
 No. of grains in Ditto through Ditto through 
 
 1st sheet. 12th sheet. 20th sheet. 
 
 26 10 8 
 
 A Birmingham gun : weight of barrel, 691bs. : bore, 
 14 inch : length 7 feet 9 inches. 
 
 1st sheet. 12th sheet. 20th sheet. 
 
 50 35 22 
 
 I then sent my gun to Mr. Durs Egg, desiring him 
 to get the same barrel forged, by Fullerd, one foot ten 
 inches longer, making it seven feet six inches ; and by 
 means of unavoidably being obliged to reduce the metal 
 after joining it, the barrel, when sent home, was scarcely 
 
BARRELS. 19 
 
 heavier than before. I then shot the gun about 
 twenty rounds, and the average was 
 
 1st sheet. 12th sheet. 20th sheet. 
 
 46 30 20 
 
 by which it evidently appeared to me, that if the metal 
 is disposed of in length, it has the advantage over a 
 short thick gun. 
 
 From having lOlbs. more weight of metal, however, 
 the Birmingham gun still had rather the advantage, 
 because it carried seventeen ounces pleasanter than the 
 other carried fifteen. 
 
 Substance and length, therefore, are what we want in 
 as great a degree as can be used without inconvenience. 
 
 For instance: Fire a fourteen gauge sporting-gun, two 
 feet eight inches, or forty-four diameters, at a gun- 
 maker's iron door, against one of three feet, and there 
 will probably be no difference. But go out in an open 
 field, and particularly on a windy day, with the two feet 
 eight inch barrel, and try it at sixty yards, and after the 
 shot have gone about two- thirds of the distance, they 
 will begin to open in oblique directions, where the three 
 feet barrel keeps the shot together. For instance : Take 
 a funnel (or a paper cut triangularly like one) four 
 inches in diameter : pin up a sheet of brown paper, 
 and stand at three or four yards from it. Then look 
 along either edge of the funnel, and you will see how 
 very wide a cylinder thus relieved carries the outer parts 
 of its circle beyond the paper. Then take a funnel of 
 the same diameter eight inches deep, and you will see 
 how much more of the funnel is filled with the paper. 
 
 Now, as guns must be relieved in order to shoot 
 well, I take all this in the extreme, the more clearly 
 
20 BARRELS. 
 
 to demonstrate why length has the advantage at long 
 distances. But, on the other hand, go almost close to 
 the paper, the short funnel will lay the whole of its 
 circle within it ; and the long one can do no more, and, 
 therefore, at this distance you give no trial. So it is 
 with barrels that are tried in a gunmaker's yard, and at 
 the usual distances. Moreover, the extreme friction 
 that is absolutely required to send a charge strong has 
 the effect of scattering and recoiling so much in a short 
 barrel, that a certain sacrifice of power must be made. 
 But in a long barrel, which admits of greatly increasing 
 the relief, the shot are kept without any sudden check 
 so long together, after this violent concussion, that we 
 are enabled to combine both strength and closeness in 
 the most powerful degree ; and this, together with less 
 recoil, and a better aim. We have, therefore, been half 
 a century making, as it were, the tour of the world in 
 guns, and at last come home again to discover, that, 
 in regard to the length of barrels, we were not so near 
 the mark as our grandfathers ! 
 
 Mr. Durs Egg, in opposition to the whole trade, and 
 all the sportsmen, weathered the storm, and always 
 maintained the same opinion. We all laughed at him, 
 and now it is his turn to laugh at us, as he may, with 
 justice, say that on this point he knew more than all of 
 us put together ! 
 
 Be cautious, therefore, of shortening an old barrel 
 that shoots well ; and recollect, also, that, if much of 
 the length is taken off, you alter the relief. 
 
 As a gun, which is topheavy, is inimical to quick 
 shooting, the usual plan, unless the barrels are very 
 short, is to make them " light forward ;" that is, thin 
 towards the muzzle. This I conceive to be bad ; as a 
 
BARRELS. 21 
 
 barrel, which is everywhere tolerably stout, is not so 
 liable to expansion, and, consequently, will shoot stronger, 
 and last many more years, than one which is rendered 
 so by being in any part too thin. A gun, thus sub- 
 stantial, can always be made to mount well, by being 
 properly balanced with lead under the heel-plate,, which 
 will be far more convenient and neat in appearance than 
 a huge piece of wood for the but, and will thus admit 
 of the stock being made light and elegant. 
 
 In choosing the size of a caliber, it may be con- 
 sidered, that a fourteen gauge is at all events the best 
 for a bungler, and, on the whole, the most destructive 
 gun. But, with a very accurate shot, the size is not of 
 so much consequence for killing game, as the necessary 
 substance to prevent the recoil of a large bore cannot 
 be brought to bear so quick as a somewhat lighter gun ; 
 and, therefore, what is gained by weight of metal might 
 be lost in time. 
 
 The original and celebrated London barrel-maker is 
 Mr. Fullerd. Mr. Lancaster no longer serves the trade 
 in barrels: now he is established as a gunmaker. 
 Mr. Lancaster receives his barrels, in the rough, from 
 Birmingham ; and then uses a self-acting machine for 
 turning the outsides of them from encTtcTen'd, and pro- 
 ducing, mathematically true, the proper shape and curve 
 from the muzzle to the breeching. This apparatus has 
 cost him immense pains and expense, and is, no ques- 
 tion, the best invention that has ever been adopted ; as 
 regular shooting must, in a great degree, depend on 
 the regular thickness and regular tapering of the barrel. 
 While only known as a barrel-finisher, Mr. Lancaster 
 was in the habit of " ribbing," " breeching," and putting 
 together the barrels ; then " boring" them " for shoot- 
 
22 DAMASCUS BARRELS. 
 
 ing ;" and, in short, completing them for the field, all 
 but the browning and engraving. 
 
 There are very few gunmakers who are well versed 
 in putting their barrels together. For instance, barrels 
 of 2 feet 10, require to be somewhat differently set from 
 those of 2 feet 8, and also require more elevation. The 
 recoil of all double guns makes each barrel swerve out- 
 wards in firing ; and, in order to counteract this, each 
 barrel must be set rather inwards, insomuch that, if the 
 gun was fixed in a vice, the left barrel ought to shoot a 
 little too much to the right, and vice versa. Then take 
 the gun out of the vice, and fire each barrel from the 
 shoulder, and the swerve or kick would just bring the 
 centre of the shot into the bull's eye. There is not one 
 maker in fifty who knows much about this ; but the 
 masters get out of many difficulties by deputing Tom 
 Fullerd, or some other clever fellow, to do all the essen- 
 tials for them ; otherwise, what would their guns be 
 worth ? 
 
 DAMASCUS BARRELS. 
 
 Most sportsmen are aware, that a twisted barrel is 
 formed by horse nails, or other tough iron, being beat 
 out to a long bar, and then twisted round a kind of 
 anvil, much in the same manner as leather is put round 
 the handle of a whip-crop. The Damascus is a mixture 
 of iron and steel, and has its grain directly crossways 
 when beat out; so that the bar of Damascus, when 
 twisted, forms a continuation of small grains running 
 longitudinally, which must be more liable to open, if 
 not to burst, than a continued round of solid well-beat 
 iron. It may be compared to a piece of wood cut across, 
 
DAMASCUS BARRELS. 23 
 
 instead of with, the grain. All this may be easily de- 
 monstrated, by putting some acid to eat away the iron. 
 I should not have ventured to pronounce my feeble 
 judgment on a point of this kind, was it not that I am 
 of the same opinion as Mr. Joseph Manton, and some 
 other first-rate gunmakers. 
 
 I shall now conclude under the head of " Barrels," 
 with a copy, verbatim, from a part of my journal when 
 last at Birmingham. 
 
 " Saw the process of making Damascus barrels, the 
 mixture of iron and steel for which is beat out in long 
 bars, and then, previously to being wound round the 
 anvil, twisted by a kind of turning-lathe (similar to 
 wringing cloths when wet), and then beat flat again. 
 Although these are by far the dearest barrels that are 
 made, yet the price of one in Birmingham is very 
 trifling : viz. 
 
 . s. d. 
 
 Forging . . . . 1 10 
 
 Boring and grinding - . . . 050 
 Filing and patent breech . . 11 
 
 Proof 1 6 
 
 276 
 
 " The stub barrels, which are generally used for best 
 guns, cost about sixteen shillings each. 
 
 " Went to the proof-house, and was present at the 
 proving of an immense number of barrels. The proof, 
 as ordered by act of parliament, is to one ounce ball, 
 thirteen drams and a half of best cartridge powder, with 
 a very stiff wadding of paper on each ; and so on, more 
 or less, according to whatever ball will tightly fit the 
 caliber. It has been observed to me here, that the 
 London gunmakers do not go the cheapest way to work, 
 
24 DAMASCUS BARRELS. 
 
 as they commonly employ the tradesmen of the town, 
 instead of the master workmen, who actually do the 
 business, and consequently, they have to pay an extra 
 price, beyond prime cost, for the article with which 
 their country agent supplies them. Their reason, how- 
 ever, may be much to their credit : a wish to secure the 
 best barrels. Were I a gunmaker, however, I should 
 prefer keeping at Birmingham a first-rate foreman, or 
 agent of my own, who could pick and choose, and supply 
 me direct from the factories." 
 
 Formerly the Birmingham proof-masters would prove 
 a barrel in the rough, when it might stand very well : 
 but, after being filed and finished, it became so reduced, 
 as frequently to fly all to pieces with the common charge. 
 Now, however, they refuse to prove a barrel till after 
 this reduction of the metal has been completed, and 
 consequently the Birmingham barrels are much more 
 to be depended on than they were. Formerly the rogues 
 got all the rubbish proved at Birmingham, and sent the 
 good barrels for the London proof-mark ; but now both 
 proofs are alike. This is a sad blow to the London 
 trade. In reply to a letter of inquiry that I lately sent 
 to Mr. Westley Richards, he says, " The barrels at our 
 proof-house are proved singly or together, as the parties 
 desire. I prove mine singly, as this is a greater trial 
 to a barrel." 
 
 Westley Richards told me, in 1828, that, for a small 
 barrel, you should go to the Birmingham forgers ; but 
 that, for a large one, Fullerd could beat them. Joe 
 Manton also made the same observation. This was 
 just the reverse of what I then supposed. 
 
 All shooting articles in Birmingham are usually sold, 
 or to use the term of trade " put in," by the dozen, at a 
 
ELEVATION. 25 
 
 mere nothing in comparison with the retail price. Many 
 of the gunmakers are here supplied with all kinds of 
 turnscrews, brushes, tools, &c. Here are sold also 
 fishing-rods, reels, and almost every thing that can be 
 required in the sporting way, at about one-fifth of the 
 price that you pay in London. 
 
 ELEVATION. 
 
 As a proof of my original argument in favour of Joe 
 Manton's elevation, my readers need only observe how 
 universal it has now become with almost every gunmaker 
 in, and even out of, the kingdom. It would therefore 
 be a waste of time to reprint my former arguments in 
 support of it, particularly as I may substitute, in place 
 of them, something new on the subject. 
 
 By further discoveries, I have pretty well proved 
 that all of us sportsmen, the whole trade, and even Joe 
 himself, have been somewhat in the dark about the 
 precise degree for this elevation ; and this is perhaps 
 the reason why many quacks have fancied that short 
 guns will kill the furthest. They talk nonsense ; but 
 still the short guns have often shown off best in the 
 field. Why is it? because the gunmakers regulate 
 their elevations to shoot well to the bull's eye ; whereas 
 they ought to shoot above the bull's eye ; and THE 
 
 LONGER THE GUN, THE HIGHER MUST BE THE ELE- 
 VATION ! Let this be placarded as a golden rule for 
 every sportsman and every gunmaker in the kingdom. 
 Let me state a proof of this : I ordered a gun some 
 time ago, fourteen gauge and two feet ten barrels, and 
 selected Charles Lancaster as indisputably one of the 
 
26 ELEVATION. 
 
 best makers (I should give offence perhaps if I said 
 the best maker) now in London. This gun shot beau- 
 tifully ; but no better than my 2 feet 8 barrels ! 
 " Now then, sir," said many in the trade, " won't you be 
 convinced that your extra two inches are superfluous ?" 
 At first I began to, what is vulgarly called, " draw in 
 my horns ;" but I soon discovered what was the matter. 
 A 2 feet 10 gun, with the rib no more elevated than 
 a 2 feet 8 gun, invariably puts the body of the charge 
 under the mark at all distances beyond about 35 yards. 
 I therefore had this gun botched up, for mere experi- 
 ment, with more elevation : and then there was not a 
 detonater in my possession that stood any chance with 
 it. This was merely giving enough elevation, supposing 
 the object to be within point-blank range, and stationary, 
 or going straight on. But, when we consider that all 
 objects above 40 yards are so far beyond point-blank 
 range, that, if the gun is not kept well up, the shot 
 will fall from its own gravity; that a long snap-shot is 
 always at a rising, and not at a straight-forward-going 
 bird; and that if a good shot misses through being 
 nervous, it is almost always because his left hand drops 
 as he flinches i we should rarely err by somewhat over- 
 elevating our guns. I never perhaps should have proved 
 this, but from experiments with large coast-guns, which, 
 as I before observed, like large telescopes, bring things 
 to light ; and, by means of being fired sometimes on 
 water as smooth as a looking-glass, give a decided evi- 
 dence of all the effects that are produced in, gunnery. 
 With regard to elevation in proportion to length, my 
 friend General Shrapnell will tell you what has here 
 been said; and so will the Baron de Berenger, who 
 showed me a very clever scale on elevations, and there- 
 
ELEVATION. 27 
 
 fore it would not be fair in me to publish one ; as, by 
 so doing, I should more or less have to copy the sketches 
 of the baron. Enough of this dry subject ; so now let 
 the gunmakers, and many sportsmen, recollect that up 
 to 1830 there has still been something for them to 
 learn ! How contemptible therefore is it for any man to 
 fancy himself or his works perfection ! Now I dare say 
 the gunmakers will tell you they knew all this before ! 
 If so, then, why have they not profited by it ? 
 
 N.B. To try not only the elevation, but more par- 
 ticularly the putting together of your barrels, and the 
 casting off of your stock, fire at a stump, or any other 
 object, in SMOOTH WATER ; because you may fill a 
 quire of paper with shot, without the body of the charge 
 going precisely to the centre. But water will demon- 
 strate every thing if you are attended by competent 
 persons to take observation. 
 
 If the body of the charge goes to the same wrong 
 point several times In succession, you may conclude 
 that there is something about the gun not quite right. 
 But you may shoot at paper, away from water, for 
 seven years, and not be able to find this out so well. 
 Give me quires of paper to try the strength and close- 
 ness, but a stump, or cork, in still water, to try the 
 accurate shooting of a gun. It need scarcely be ob- 
 served that there should not be a breath of wind when 
 you do this. The water should be like a mirror. No 
 better time than one of those fine butterfly-days that 
 usually follow a night's pinching white frost; and 
 which, by the way, are almost always the prelude to 
 miserably wet \veather. 
 
 I have, by the foregoing plan, found out many a 
 gunmaker's blunders; and I am therefore serving all 
 
28 THE RAMROD. 
 
 who know their trade by publishing it, because it may 
 be the means of proving first-rate from inferior work in 
 the most essential parts of gunmaking. 
 
 THE SIGHT 
 
 Is little used, except for beginners, and slow poking 
 shots, who dandle their guns after a bird for ten or 
 fifteen yards ; and, therefore, the less it is the better : 
 one scarcely bigger than a pin's head will be more out 
 of the way if not wanted ; and for those who require 
 it, the smaller it is the more readily it will help them 
 to the centre. But you may preach this doctrine till 
 you are hoarse, and the gunmakers will still persist in 
 putting sights three times as large as they ought to be ! 
 
 THE RAMROD, 
 
 Which has a worm, on the same principle as the solid 
 corkscrew, is the best to take hold of all kinds of wad- 
 ding, and admits of a brass cap as well as any. The 
 one made like a screw, after a little wear, is of scarcely 
 any more use than the end of a stick, and the common 
 worm is apt to flatten and become troublesome. 
 
 Many young sportsmen have been puzzled by shot 
 falling into the barrel when the ramrod was there ; but 
 if, instead of trying to pull it out by force, they would 
 turn the gun upside down, and press the ramrod into 
 the barrel, the shot would immediately become 'disen- 
 gaged, and fall out. 
 
 Some of the old school, who still keep to the use of 
 paper, have been obliged to leave the field from having 
 wedged in the ramrod, through a neglect to disengage 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR TRYING BARRELS. 29 
 
 it in time from this sort of wadding. In such a case, 
 I conceive, that putting something wet into the barrel, 
 and softening the paper, by using a little friction with 
 the ramrod, would, most probably, disengage it ; and, 
 by holding the gun with the muzzle downwards, after 
 the paper had sufficiently absorbed the moisture, the 
 shooter would have less risk of wetting his powder. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR TRYING BARRELS. 
 
 A MAN may be taken in with a horse, or a dog, but 
 never with a gun, after being simply told how to try it. 
 
 Having taken out the breeching, and ascertained 
 thai the barrel is free from flaws, or unsound places, 
 let him fire about a dozen or twenty shots at a quire 
 of the thickest brown paper, by which he will know, to 
 a certainty, both the strength and closeness with which 
 the shot is driven ; and he should remember, that the 
 strongest and most regular shooting gun is the best, 
 provided it does not throw the shot so thin as for a 
 bird to escape between them. 
 
 The same quire of paper might do for all, if one 
 fresh sheet is put in front of, and another behind it, 
 every time the gun is fired. 
 
 Before concluding on the examination of barrels, it 
 may be proper to|observe, that a barrel may be pretty 
 good and perfectly safe, and yet not able to bear the 
 scientific inspection of a first-rate maker or judge. That 
 is, to hold the barrel up to the window, and gra- 
 dually raise it till the shade, from above the window, 
 runs along its surface, by which inspection you will 
 easily discover the most trifling want of finish. For 
 
30 STOCK. 
 
 instance, examine a barrel of Mr. Lancaster, in this 
 manner, and the shade will run along it like the even 
 surface on a flow of smooth water. But take a barrel 
 of an inferior finisher, and you will perceive the iron 
 all in bumps, as if that flow of water was agitated by 
 wind. To the many, however, who fancy themselves 
 good judges of a gun, the one might appear as perfect 
 as the other ; and so indeed it would, to every person 
 who examined it in the ordinary way. To inspect the 
 inside of a barrel, raise it in like manner, and if the 
 stream of shade, as it were, flows true and steady, the 
 boring may be considered straight, and free from any 
 palpable defect. 
 
 THE STOCK, 
 
 To be neat in appearance, should be cut away, as close 
 as strength and safety will admit of, and well tapered 
 off at the locks. The but may be rather full. A 
 cheekpiece, however, is not only as frightful as its 
 usual companion, the scrollguard, but is sometimes apt 
 to give the very blow it is intended to save. 
 
 The stocks of single guns are generally tipped, or 
 capped, with horn ; but some makers have discarded 
 this, through fear of its being split by the recoil, and 
 either leave a clumsy continuation of the wood, or tip 
 the stock with a gingerbread-looking piece of silver ; 
 whereas, if they would only leave a space about the 
 thickness of a shilling between the end of the rib and 
 the horn, the recoil, however great, could have no in- 
 fluence on that part. 
 
 The length, betid, and casting off ot a stock, must, of 
 course, be fitted to the shooter, who should have his 
 
STOCK. 31 
 
 measure for them as carefully entered on a gunmaker's 
 books, as that for a suit of clothes on those of his tailor. 
 He has then only to direct, that his guns may be well 
 balanced; to do which, the maker will put lead, in pro- 
 portion to their weight ; so that, on holding each of them 
 flat on the left hand, with the end of the lock opposite 
 the little finger, he will find a sufficient equilibrium to 
 make the gun rest perfectly steady ON the hand. 
 
 I have proved, that this degree of balance answers 
 best, as a but too much loaded is apt to hang on the 
 right hand in bringing it up, and vice versa, on the 
 left, with a gun which is topheavy. 
 
 N.B. The lower down the but the lead is let in, 
 the steadier the gun will keep to the shoulder; as it 
 then acts like ballast to a rolling vessel. 
 
 All stocks should have a good Jail in the handle, and 
 not be, as some are, nearly horizontal in that part. 
 This has nothing to do with the general bend or 
 mounting of the stock, but is merely to keep the hand 
 to the natural position, instead of having, as it were, 
 the handle wrenched from the fingers, while grasping 
 it. This is the only point on which we are beat 
 by those execrable gingerbread guns, which some 
 of the foreigners have the effrontery to compare with 
 ours. 
 
 If a stock, in every respect, suits you as to coming 
 up to the eye, &c. &c., the way to have one precisely 
 like it is to leave with your gunmaker a thin piece of 
 board, made to fit with the greatest accuracy to the 
 profile of the bend, all the way from the upper part of 
 the but to the breeching. By later experience, I should 
 say even farther still. Let the profile extend at least a 
 
32 STOCK. 
 
 foot beyond the breeching. Why? because you may 
 have two stocks as much alike as if cast in the same 
 mould all the way to the breeching, and yet the 
 barrels, by being sunk deeper in the wood, may point 
 so much downwards as to give the line of aim more 
 bend ; or, on the other hand, by not being let in so 
 deep, they would mount straighter than the profile. 
 But if you continue the profile for a foot along the 
 gun, you will then be pretty sure of keeping precisely 
 to the bend you want. By being made to fit into this, 
 your new stock must be like the old one. But if you 
 trust to a set of memorandums that are often mistaken, 
 or, in the hurry of business, not half attended to, you 
 may have as many new stocks as would almost amount 
 to the price of a gun, before you would get two precisely 
 alike. 
 
 A stock that is deep, and comes out well at the toe, 
 or bottom of the heelplate, is the most steady when 
 pitched on the object. 
 
 Many a journey to town would be saved to a sports- 
 man if all these trifles were properly attended to by the 
 makers. 
 
 For those who take a pride in the appearance of their 
 stocks, and select handsome pieces of wood, I know of 
 nothing better, to keep them polished, than a little lin- 
 seed oil, and plenty of, what is vulgarly called, elbow- 
 grease ; unless sportsmen choose to take the additional 
 trouble of adopting the following recipe ; which I shall 
 here give, under the idea, that, if considered too trouble- 
 some to apply to gunstocks, it may still be found worth 
 inserting, from its excellence in giving a dark polish 
 to tables, or any kind of furniture. 
 
BREECHING. 33 
 
 RECIPE FOR KEEPING THE POLISH ON GUNSTOCKS. 
 
 Cold drawn linseed oil V . .1 quart. 
 
 Gum arabic (dissolved in warm water) ; | ounce. 
 
 Alkanet root .< v V , v . 2 ounces. 
 
 Rose pink . '_,' . . . -. f ounce. 
 
 Vinegar . . . ,.- . ^ pint. 
 
 Boil these together, and put them in an earthen pan 
 to stand for a day or two, after which the mixture will 
 be fit for use. 
 
 To apply it, rub a small quantity on the wood : let 
 it lie on all night, and rub it off clean in the morning. 
 With a few such dressings, you will bring out a superior 
 polish. 
 
 If a stock, which, in other respects, suits you, is, in 
 a trifling degree, too straight or too much bent, the 
 maker could rectify it by means of boiling it in hot 
 water, instead of persuading you to have a new one. 
 
 BREECHING. 
 
 A gun-breeching, till of late years, was simply a plug, 
 screwed into the end of the barrel, so as to reach to the 
 touchhole. 
 
 The first improvement was to bore a hole down the 
 centre of this plug, and bring the touchhole to it in a 
 right angle, thereby having the communication directly 
 through both the male and female screws. How far 
 this may be safe, I leave to the more experienced to 
 judge; but it certainly shoots so well, that I never 
 could find any solid breeching to beat it, until Mr. 
 Joseph Man ton brought out his, which, like the rest of 
 his work, has been abused and imitated by most of his 
 filing fraternity ! 
 
 D 
 
34 BREECHING. 
 
 To treat on the various kinds of solid breechings, 
 that have been made since the original invention of 
 Mr. Nock, would be wasting time, and consuming a 
 volume, when we can at once warrant, that there are 
 none superior to the one above-mentioned. 
 
 For example, a breeching on Mr. Manton's construc- 
 tion places the touchhole literally to the chamber, and 
 thereby not only cuts off all superfluous angles, which 
 impede quick firing, and collect dirt, but the narrowness 
 of this chamber admits of the outside metal being filed 
 away, with the most perfect safety, and lets in the lock 
 so far, that the pan is brought close to the charge of 
 powder, by which means the discharge of the gun be- 
 comes as instantaneous as possible. All this, however, 
 may be more clearly demonstrated by a reference to the 
 sections of all the different gun breechings, of which 
 there are now published so many engravings, and in 
 comparing which the other decided advantages of this 
 improvement are fully manifested. 
 
 Should it be suggested, that the narrowness of this 
 tube renders it difficult to be ' cleaned, let it be re- 
 membered, that the rod, when it goes to the bottom of 
 the breech, forces the air through the centre tube with 
 such violence, that neither oil nor damp can be left 
 behind ; and, in the event of any dirt falling in, there 
 is a probe, which you screw on the ramrod : and this 
 little appendage is, or should be, attached to your flint- 
 case. 
 
 It may be well, however, to observe, that many of 
 the gunmakers, who now adopt this breeching, commit 
 a sad fault, by making the centre tube too small; they 
 are led into this error by knowing, that the narrower 
 the tube the stronger the gun will fire, and are satisfied 
 
BREECHING. 
 
 35 
 
 with the result of &few shots. But were they to take 
 their guns out for a whole day's work, they would find, 
 that, by thus attempting to improve on a ne plus ultra, 
 they had rendered their breechings liable to repeated 
 flashes in the pan, as well as more difficult to see 
 through (for ascertaining that all is clean and safe), 
 when held to the light. 
 
 Let me now conclude my observations on the fore- 
 going gun breechings by recapitulating on each, in 
 reference to the following wood-cuts, 
 
 Letters of Reference, which apply to all the following Sketches. 
 
 A Calibres. 
 
 B Male screws as they go into them. 
 
 C Chambers which fill with powder. 
 
 D Screws for getting at and countersinking touchholes. 
 
 E Touchholes. 
 
 F Solid iron, which, in Mr. M.'s breeching, admits of being 
 
 cut away. 
 
 N. B. My attempt to give a clear conception of each breeching, in 
 one sketch, makes it necessary to deviate, in some degree, from 
 perspective, which would not fully admit of showing every part. 
 
 No. 1. 
 Common Plug. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Chamber Plug. 
 
36 BREECHING. 
 
 The common plug, No. 1, is adopted as the cheapest 
 and best calculated breeching for rough usage, dirt, and 
 neglect; and is, for this reason, generally put to all 
 fire-arms that are merely used for personal protection, 
 the service of the army, &c. Some make the common 
 plug, with a little notch at the end, which is filed, to 
 hold a greater depth of powder at the touchhole ; others 
 think that this collects the dirt, and leave the surface 
 quite plain. I have heard many sportsmen say, " After 
 all, give me the old common plug ; it fires as well as 
 any, and can never be stopped up." But, on taking 
 out their breechings, their " old common plug" has 
 proved to be the chamber plug, which is precisely the 
 same to all outward appearance. See the Sketch. 
 
 The chamber plug, No. 2, has the advantage, not 
 only of the common, but most of the patent breechings, 
 by means of the small perforation leading to a concave, 
 or cup, at the top ; where the powder is suddenly 
 ignited from the centre. But, as the touchhole goes 
 through the threads of the female screw in the barrel, 
 it must be met by a hole nearly as large as the tube 
 itself, which comes from the tube in a right angle, 
 through the male screw or plug. This perforation is 
 apt to wear, and sometimes to get damp from the oil 
 which is used for screwing in the breech-plug. It is 
 also liable to become corroded, and, therefore, sometimes 
 difficult to be taken out. Excepting for these defects, 
 the chamber plug is much to be recommended ; and 
 having recourse to it is almost the only way that an 
 old gun can be improved with that economy, which 
 should be observed in all expenditures on a worthless 
 foundation. 
 
BItEECHING. 37 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 H. Nock's 
 
 Original Patent Breeching. 
 
 The solid breeching of the late Mr. Nock, No. 3, is 
 a discovery of great merit ; and, as we have to thank 
 him for this foundation to all our improvements, it 
 would be an injustice to his memory not to give him 
 every credit for the original invention. The objection, 
 however, to the solid breeching, as first made (when 
 compared with the improvements that have since been 
 adopted), is, that it shoots too weak, from the powder 
 in the chamber not being in a sufficiently narrow com- 
 pass to ignite suddenly and forcibly in the centre; and 
 too slow, in consequence of the great length, which 
 there is through the whole communication, from the 
 touchhole upwards; add to which the superfluous angles, 
 and the difficulty of probing the antechamber. Mr. 
 Grierson's patent came the nearest of any to the original. 
 His plan was to cut off the angle by shortening the 
 
38 BREECHING. 
 
 antechamber and bringing it to the other chamber in 
 an oblique direction. There was certainly a degree of 
 ingenuity in his improvement ; but yet there remained 
 the objection of the centre hole, or chamber, not being 
 so narrow as to ignite the body of the charge so sud- 
 denly, in the centre, as in the breeching of Mr. Joseph 
 Man ton. 
 
 NO. 4. MH. JOSEPH MANTON'S BREECHING. 
 
 A left hand Breeching. J. M.'s ditto for double gun. 
 
 G the hole which he used to cut for a water-drain. 
 
 Asa proof, that this is by far the best of any, I need 
 only observe, that it is now adopted by almost every 
 gunmaker in the trade. [For its adaptation to per- 
 cussion guns I shall give some new sketches under the 
 more modern head of " detonating system"~\ 
 
 The first three breechirigs may be put, as they here 
 stand, to a common lock ; but, with those of Mr. Joseph 
 Man ton, the lock must be constructed on purpose 9 un- 
 less you have an antechamber long enough for the touch- 
 
TOUCHHOLE. LOCK. 39 
 
 hole to reach to the pan without filing away any of the 
 metal. I should prefer this to having any other sort of 
 breeching (provided the barrel was worth something 
 better than a chamber plug), as I have proved, that it 
 answers remarkably well. It then becomes like the 
 chamber plug, shoots about as well, and will be safer 
 and much more durable. 
 
 IMPLEMENTS FOR FLINT-GUNS. 
 
 *#* As I may be called " out of date" if I now show 
 forth my pages too conspicuously on what relates only 
 to the flint-gun, I shall present all on that subject in 
 the smallest possible compass. I had before done this to 
 the best of my abilities, and therefore I can only reduce 
 it more now by having recourse to smaller print. 
 
 TOUCHHOLE. Nothing contributes more to Jilting the bag than 
 the disposal of this apparently trifling concern; insomuch, that an 
 old musket, with a touchhole put in by a clever mechanic, would 
 beat a gun, with all the new improvements, if this important part of 
 it were left to tliejob of a bungler. 
 
 Touchholes of plalina are considered the best, as those of steel are 
 apt to collect rust, and one of gold is more liable to blow out, and, 
 therefore, will not admit of being made so thin ; consequently (from 
 requiring to be thick], does not shoot so sharp; for the thinner it is, 
 the quicker will be thejiring of the gun. 
 
 The touchhole should be countersunk; and, to get at it for this 
 purpose, the solid breechings have a screw directly opposite, which 
 (although in those of Mr. Manton scarcely visible) is easily taken out 
 and put in again. Fide Sketches. 
 
 LOCK. Any comment on the perfection to which this part of a 
 gun is now brought would be quite redundant. Notwithstanding, 
 however, that almost every country maker can turn out a tolerably 
 well-filed lock, yet few, even in town, have the knack of making the 
 springs to go so pleasant to the touch, and (if I may use the expres- 
 sion) feel so oily, as those made by the two Mr. Maiitous, Mr. D. 
 
40 LOCK. 
 
 Egg, Mr. Nock, Mr. Smith, Mr. Purdey, Mr. Lancaster, aud some 
 few others. I mean, that many, even of the best finished locks, have 
 an unpleasant harshness, which is not only disagreeable to feel; but, 
 by reason, not so ready to action. 
 
 The plate of a lock should be so far substantial as to be insured 
 from bending, which, if it occurred, would be the means of injuring 
 all its movements. 
 
 Although, for large breechings, a long plate is required, yet it is 
 not necessary to put such very clumsy locks as we sometimes see, on 
 even highly finished wildfowl guns. 
 
 As remarked at the time when I wrote my former editions, many 
 attempts were then in vogue for making the locks water-proof, and 
 all of them equally ridiculous. That they might avert a few drops 
 from an immediate entrance to the pan, there could be no doubt, and 
 they might keep the powder dry somewhat longer than locks with 
 the hammers on the common construction ; but, that they could so 
 completely resist the effect of a damp atmosphere on the nitre, as 
 always to keep their priming dry throughout a rainy day, / denied; 
 although it might be very easy, by way of showing off the lock in a 
 shop, to pour water over it without wetting the powder. For quick 
 firing in a damp atmosphere, the best of all the flint-locks I have yet 
 tried is one of Mr. D. Egg's, on the hammer of which he puts an 
 oval of platina, and, into that, dovetails a sharp edge of the pan. 
 This, with coarse powder and a lock-cover, I have used on salt water, 
 for several winters, and it scarcely ever failed, while the detonaters 
 (at least those with caps) were repeatedly missing fire ! This hap- 
 pens to be a self-primer, and the only one that I have ever yet seen 
 that does not go slow. Two other kinds of self-primers were brought 
 out by two great makers, and, as a third observed, if " you owe a 
 man a grudge, advise him to have one of them." 
 
 Since the short time ago when the foregoing observations were 
 made, it appears that almost every gunmaker has been studying to 
 complete some water-proof lock or other, at the expense of sacrificing 
 quick shooting, and many other advantages, that are of more con- 
 sequence than a guard against rain. For, after all, what is the ob- 
 ject to be gained ? If you shoot in the rain, neither partridges nor 
 snipes will, in general, lie well; and if you shoot in covert, your dogs 
 are soon cowed by the wet, and the sport is any thing but pleasure ; 
 and if you go after wildfowl you cannot choose a worse time for your 
 sport or your health, than in wet weather. 
 
SPRINGS. COCKS AND HAMMERS. 41 
 
 I formerly observed, that if a man was so destitute of resources 
 within himself as to be miserable unless he was shooting, he had only 
 to provide himself with one of Mr. Forsyth's fulminating locks, which 
 certainly defied the weather longer than any others at that time in- 
 vented ; though, perhaps, from the effect of the atmosphere on the 
 oxygen, they might not be proof against a continual pour of rain. 
 The invention is certainly of infinite merit, and has, of late years, 
 been so much improved on> that scarcely any thing is now thought 
 of but detonating guns. I have, in consequence, been making trials 
 in every way that appeared necessary, in order to be able to give a 
 few directions solely dictated by the result of experiment. 
 
 After dismissing every thing concerning the flint-lock, which I 
 find must ever predominate for one kind of fire-arms very large 
 single wildfowl-guns I shall treat exclusively on " detonaters." 
 
 SPRINGS. If the mainspring be too strong, in proportion to that 
 of the hammer, the cock is often broken for want of resistance ; and, 
 if the hammer or feather-spring be too stiff, or should shut down 
 with too much force, it becomes difficult to throw it, even with a 
 strong mainspring. Here, till some years ago, most of the gun- 
 makers were in the dark; as nothing was more admired in a lock, 
 than the hammer shutting down with great velocity. This is not only, 
 for the reason already mentioned, a sad fault ; but the hammer by 
 thus coming down escapes, in a certain degree, from the influence 
 of the spring; and, consequently, loses its pressure on the pan j by 
 which the priming is not so closely covered, and the hammer is apt 
 to react, instead of obeying the mainspring. In a word, let your 
 hammer shut down dull, and^ back smart. The mainspring, to 
 be well regulated, should atjirst pull up very hard, and then draw 
 progressively easier : because it requires an accession of force after 
 it has recovered the first sudden escape from the scear-spring, other- 
 wise it will go slow with a flint, and be liable either to cause a snap, 
 or allow the cock to be blown back, with a detonater. 
 
 COCKS AND HAMMERS. If the sportsman has no objection to its 
 clumsy appearance, I should be inclined to recommend the solid 
 cock which falls on its end, instead of being stopped in the middle 
 by the lock-plate. It will therefore admit of mainsprings as strong 
 as you please ; and, by this means, add considerably to quickness in 
 firing. But if you have very strong mainsprings, with the common 
 
4.2 COCKS AND HAMMERS. 
 
 cock, the resistance from the hammer-spring, to prevent its breaking, 
 must be so great, that you would soon wear out your hammers, by 
 being obliged to use an immoderate quantity of flints. With this 
 another part of the lock also is safer, because the solid cock is re- 
 ceived on a firm support annexed to the pan; while the one on the 
 other construction suddenly catches the lock-plate, and is therefore 
 liable to jar, and break either the tumbler itself, or the pin of the 
 tumbler. A solid cock has many other advantages, from its dura- 
 bility and strength : it is proof against all awkward hands, and par- 
 ticularly desirable on guns which are liable to meet with rough 
 usage in a boat. 
 
 The reason why some gunmakers object to it is, that it is not so 
 easily regulated to strike higher or lower with new hammers as the 
 other. New hammers! for which most of them have had some 
 patent or fancy of their own j and with this they took care to ac- 
 commodate you on every favourable opportunity. Add to this, the 
 solid cock is not apt to break like the other, and is therefore not so 
 good for trade. With due submission, however, to the superior 
 judgment of those in the business, I must beg to observe, that I have 
 always found an old hammer new steeled to fire belter than a new 
 hammer j insomuch, that I have had new hammers new steeled be- 
 fore I ever used them ; and surely an old hammer, if sound, must 
 go pleasanter than a new one, which has scarcely been used enough 
 to get rid of its harshness. The reason why new facing does best is 
 this : in making new hammers, the steel is welded and incorporated 
 with the iron ; the process of which requires so much heat, that it 
 softens and reduces the quality of the steel; whereas, by putting 
 only new faces, this evil is avoided, and the steel may be kept in 
 the best possible temper. Gunmakers know this perfectly well ; but 
 whatever may be their abuse of one another, to customers in their 
 shops, yet they have the sense to agree on one point, namely, to keep 
 among themselves this, and other little secrets belonging to the 
 trade. 
 
 On the other hand, I shall now recommend something to their 
 advantage ; which is, that every sportsman be at first equipped with 
 extra hammers and extra springs to his gun ; so that, by being 
 provided with a spring cramp, and shown how to use it, he may be 
 able to remedy an accident with his own hands, which might other- 
 wise oblige him, from the midst of good shooting, to send away his 
 fowling-piece, to be left at the mercy of a gunmaker's punctuality, 
 
COCKS AND HAMMERS. 43 
 
 or endangered by the unrelenting hands and tools of an awkward 
 country blacksmith. Hammers, like crockery-ware, are none the 
 rvor se for age, though liable to be broken. 
 
 There are two ways of putting a hammer in motion ; one with a 
 wheel in the feather-spring, and the other with a bridge there, over 
 which a wheel in the hammer is made to run. We may give to both 
 of these trivial concerns their separate merits ; the former, that of 
 being the neatest, and the latter, the least likely to react, and leave 
 the choice of them to the gunmaker. 
 
 Mr. D. Egg and Mr. Manton usually made the first mentioned; 
 and Mr. Joseph Manton the other. With this he was enabled to have 
 a long neck, which, immediately on being put in motion, raises the 
 hammer so high, that it cannot prevent any of the sparks from falling 
 into the pan. No locks, however, could go pleasanter than those 
 made by Mr. John Manton and Mr. D. Egg, which proves, that 
 the difference between the two modes of construction is very imma- 
 terial. 
 
 It may be as well to make a few observations on another point ; 
 viz. the improvement of passing a current of air through the priming 
 without suffering the powder to escape; by which it is kept dry, 
 and not liable to cake and stick to the bottom of the hammer. 
 This has been completely effected, both by Messrs. Manton and Mr. 
 D. Egg; but, as credit for the original invention is due to Mr. 
 Joseph Manton, I shall chiefly confine my description to the hammer 
 for which he got the patent. The object attained by this is, that 
 when you ram down the wadding, the air passes through the small 
 perforation at the lip of the hammer, and goes out through a groove 
 in the bottom of the pan : yet this hole in the lip is so small as not 
 to admit the powder. This, although apparently a trifling altera- 
 tion from what had been before adopted, is a very great advantage, 
 and thejirst attempt that ever had the desired effect. That some 
 air, in all locks, must pass, it stands to reason ; but, if the powder 
 also passes, it must be recollected, that, in coming from the chamber 
 of breechings on Mr. Joseph Mantou's construction, it leaves a 
 vacuum; whereas, with this improvement, the chamber is always 
 kept so full of dry powder, that not a grain can be lost, or even out 
 of its place, and thus there is produced a sudden and instantaneous 
 Jire. The forcible passing of this current of air also effectually 
 dries the powder in the touchhole 
 
 N.I*. Whatever new hammers may have since been brought out, 
 
44 PAN. 
 
 for new fashion, or, in other words, for the good of trade, yet, after 
 all, I find that this hammer is decidedly the best, and produces by 
 far the quickest ignition. 1830! 
 
 In this improvement of a gun-lock, Mr. John Manton so far 
 imitated his brother, that a trial, which took place in the court of 
 common pleas, was chiefly relating to his alleged infringement on 
 the patent. He there, however, gained his cause by producing 
 some hammers with perforated lips; as well as on the other point 
 (concerning the elevation), by bringing forward an old double gun, 
 which it has been generally understood was in the possession of the 
 late Lord Berkeley. It appears, however, that in this statement 
 there was some mistake, as the gun in question was made for, and 
 expressly to the order of, the late Evelyn Medows, Esq., by Mr. 
 John Manton, when foreman at Twig's; and it was from this gen- 
 tleman that he borrowed the gun, which he produced in court, in 
 order to show that that for which his brother had obtained a patent 
 was not an original invention. (I was favoured with this state- 
 ment by Mr. Medows himself.) But, query, if Mr. Joseph Manton 
 had not made the discovery, that this elevation, and this hammer 
 might, with a trifling a'teration, be adopted as the greatest im- 
 provements, would the one at this moment have been universally 
 known? Or, might not the other have been for ever buried in the 
 Jilings of Birmingham? Or, would not both (to use a lawyer's 
 expression) have become obsolete from non usage? 
 
 If a hammer is too hard, the flint will make scarcely any im- 
 pression on it ; and, if too soft, it soon becomes dented, like lead ; 
 but when in good temper, the impression is moderate, and the 
 sparks, before they are extinguished, pause in the pan and occasion 
 a whizzing noise. 
 
 You will seldom get a London maker to temper, or even face a 
 hammer, if he can persuade you to have a new one ; and it is as 
 common a trick to construct hammers so, that the flints may soon 
 cut them to pieces, as it is to set a fellow to work with unmerciful 
 relays of scouring paper, to help to wear out the barrels, under the 
 old plea, that the trade must live. 
 
 PAN. If the pan is not placed considerably below the touchhole 
 (that is, with its edge just under the touchhole) the gun will always 
 fire slow, because instead of catching the first flash, which invariably 
 rises, the charge is not ignited till the priming has burnt down to 
 
TRIGGER. 45 
 
 below the touchhole, and consequently the discharge is prolonged 
 into two motions. If a pan is placed too high, therefore, the remedy 
 is, to put a very little depth of priming. 
 
 If, on the other hand, the pan is placed too low, the gun will of 
 course be liable to flash, instead of going off. 
 
 TRIGGER. 
 
 Let the triggers of all your guns be made to go nearly 
 alike ; for, if one requires too hard a pull, it is a sad 
 check to shooting; and, if it goes too easy, you are liable 
 to the accident of firing the gun before it is fairly 
 brought to the shoulder. Any tolerable mechanic may 
 rectify these extremes, by filing, more or less, the part 
 where the scear catches the tumbler. The most ac- 
 curate way to regulate the pull of a trigger, as well as 
 that of a cock, is by a small stilliard, which will draw 
 out and regulate those of twenty guns to the same 
 focus. 
 
 The triggers are now kept well in their places, by 
 the constant pressure of little springs, and you must 
 therefore push them back before you can let in your 
 locks. 
 
 In cleaning locks, the best places to put a little oil 
 are, 
 
 1st. (For &flint-g\m). In front of the pan, imme- 
 diately under the neck of the hammer, from whence the 
 oil will find its way through to the wheel and spring. 
 
 2d. (For ALL GUNS). On the pivot nail, or centre 
 of the tumbler, on which the whole of the works move : 
 
 3d. On the lockplate, under the works, where a 
 feather may be inserted: 
 
 4th. Where the scear catches the tumbler. 
 
40 HOW TO TAKE 
 
 TO TAKE A LOCK TO PIECES. 
 
 In the event of breaking or weakening a spring, and 
 therefore having to replace it with an extra one ; or, in 
 case the works of a lock should have become damaged 
 by rust and neglect, every sportsman should be provided 
 with a little spring-cramp, which may be carried with 
 his gun-case, and with which he may himself take his 
 locks to pieces, with as much safety as the first work- 
 man in London. I have, therefore, here given specific 
 directions, regularly numbered, by having which before 
 him he will, I trust, find it almost impossible to mis- 
 take, either in taking his locks to pieces, or putting 
 them together. 
 
 TO TAKE OFF THE [HAMMER AND] SPRINGS. 
 
 EN. B. In cramping springs, be sure never to confine them closer 
 than is absolutely necessary, otherwise you will soon weaken and 
 spoil them. 
 
 MAINSPRING. 
 
 To take off: 
 
 1. Put lock to full cock. 
 
 2. Cramp the mainspring. 
 
 3. Let down the cock, and the mainspring will drop off. 
 
 To put it on again : 
 
 (Let cock be left down.) 
 
 1. Hook the end of the mainspring on the swivel, or chain. 
 
 2. Move it up, and into its position on the lock-plate. 
 
 3. Unscrew the cramp, and the mainspring will be replaced 
 
 for action. 
 
 [HAMMER. 
 
 To lake off: 
 
 1. Shut down the hammer. 
 
A LOCK TO PIECES. 47 
 
 2. Keep gradually cramping the spring, till by shaking the 
 
 lock in your hand,, you can just hear the hammer rattle, 
 from being loose. 
 
 3. Take out the screw from behind, and the hammer will fall 
 
 out. 
 
 To put it on . 
 
 1. Put the hammer in its place again. 
 
 2. Turn in the screw. 
 
 3. Set the spring at liberty. 
 
 To take the hammer spring out, you must first take away the 
 hammer, and also the mainspring, to get at the screw behind. 
 The hammer-spring must be then confined till taken out, and put 
 on again to receive the hammer.] 
 
 TO DISSECT THE SMALL WORKS OF A LOCK. 
 
 (In doing which be careful not to mix your small screws.) 
 Having previously taken off your mainspring, 
 
 1 . Unscrew, and take out, the scear. This must be done by 
 
 half cocking, and then pressing the fore-part of the lock 
 against your left breast, by putting the ball of the 
 thumb against the back part of the cock; and, with 
 this, pushing the cock forward, while you squeeze to- 
 gether the scear and scear-spring, with the fore-Jin ger 
 and thumb, for the facility of taking out the scear- 
 screw. 
 
 2. Undo the two screws, and take off the bridle. 
 
 3. Unscrew and take out the scezr-spring. 
 
 4. Unscrew and take off the cock, which will come from the 
 
 tumbler by being gently tapped inwards, with the 
 handle of your turnscrew. 
 
 5. Take out the tumbler. 
 
 TO PUT THEM TOGETHER AGAIN. 
 
 1. Put in the tumbler, and screw on the cock. 
 
 2. Screw on the scear-spring. 
 
 3. Set on the bridle with the two upper screws. 
 
48 HOW TO TAKE A LOCK TO PIECES. 
 
 4. Put in the scear; to open a clear passage for the screw of 
 which, you must observe the same pressure of the fore- 
 finger and thumb on the scear and scear-spring, and 
 the pushing of the cock forward, as before described for 
 taking off the scear. 
 
 The reason for this pressure being required, to put in the scear, 
 is, to get the hole in the scear opposite the hole in the bridle, so 
 as to admit the scear-screw to pass freely. What most frequently 
 puzzles people, who are not used to mechanics, is, that they 
 neglect to keep pressing the cock forward, and by that means the 
 scear is constantly slipping out of the tumbler, and they are plagued 
 to get the holes in a line, to which they would immediately be 
 brought by the pressing forward of the cock, and the pressing in- 
 ward of the scear. 
 
 ( Ha v ing Jin ish ed so fa r) 
 
 LET DOWN the cock, to put on the mainspring, as before 
 directed, and your lock will have every thing in its 
 place. 
 
 Observe well, that except the pressure required to put in the 
 scear, which is the only part in the least difficult, there should be 
 no force whatever used with the works of a gunlock. 
 
 With detonating guns, however, we have but half the trouble, 
 and the only extra dissection that may be required for those which 
 are now most usually made is, to screw out the nipple or pivot 
 with a small wrench or key. 
 
 In doing all this, or indeed any thing to a gun, it is 
 advisable to put on an old pair of gloves, as the warmth 
 of the skin is apt to produce rust, and the hand, with 
 the glove on, has a better purchase for taking out the 
 scear. 
 
 As a key to the foregoing directions, the following is 
 an alphabetical list of the proper names for the principal 
 parts of a gun, which may not be universally known 
 among sportsmen. 
 
NAMES OF THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A GUN. 49 
 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF NAMES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A GUN. 
 
 BOLTS. Pieces of steel, which push through the loops to fasten 
 
 barrel into stock. 
 
 BRIDLE. Polished piece of steel, which caps the tumbler, is then 
 put on with two screws, and afterwards receives the scear-screw. 
 CAP. Tip of stock j or covering for worm of ramrod. 
 CASTING OFF. Inclining outwards of the but, so as to bring the 
 
 line of aim inwards, and more ready to meet the eye. 
 CHAIN, or SWIVEL. A little catch, suspended from the neck of the 
 
 tumbler, to receive the end of the main-spring. 
 CHAMBER. Centre or principal tube in breeching. The Ante- 
 chamber is the smaller tube, leading from this to the touchhole. 
 COCK-SCREW. That which screws in the flint. 
 COVER. The piece of iron which holds, by a spring, the copper 
 
 primer in detonaters. 
 
 CUP. Concave at the top of improved breechings. 
 ESCUTCHEONS. Pieces of silver, to prevent bolts from wearing 
 stock; and also the shield on which the crest and cipher are 
 usually engraved. 
 FACING (of hammer). Part which, by coming in contact with flint, 
 
 strikes fire. 
 FALSE-BREECHING. Part where the ends of the breechings hook in, 
 
 before the barrels can be laid in the stock. 
 FALSE-BREECH-SCREW. That which passes through the stock into 
 
 the trigger-plate, and screws them together. 
 FENCE. Part between cock and pan, on which is received the 
 
 solid cock. 
 
 GUARD. Bow which defends the triggers. 
 HAMMER-SPRING. On which hammer is moved. 
 HAMMER-BRIDLE. Part which the tail of hammer works in. 
 HEEL-PLATE. Plate with which the but is tipped. 
 JAWS. Lips of the cock, which hold the flint. 
 LOCK-PLATE. Plate to which all the lock is formed. 
 LOOPS. Eyes to barrel, which receive the bolts that fasten it into 
 stock. 
 
50 NAMES OF THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A GUN. 
 
 MAIN-SPRING. That by which tumbler is worked with cock. 
 NIPPLE (or, Pivot). Protuberance on which strikes the cock of a 
 
 detonating gun, which is ignited by copper caps. 
 NIPPLE-WRENCH. Pocket-machine, to take out the nipple, if re- 
 quired. 
 
 PIPES. Bands to receive ramrod. 
 RIB. Piece, or strip, on which slides the ramrod. 
 SCROLL-GUARD. An extra bow, continued from the guard, to steady 
 
 the hand. 
 SCEAR. Part which catches the tumbler, for half or whole cock, 
 
 and which, being pushed up by trigger, lets off the gun. 
 SCEAR-SPRING. The spring, which presses the scear against, and 
 
 holds it in, the notches of tumbler, for either the half or whole 
 
 cock. 
 
 SIDE-NAIL. Screw which fastens on the locks, 
 SIGHT. Little bit of gold or silver, to bring up to the object, when 
 
 taking a deliberate aim. 
 
 SPRING-CRAMP. A small instrument for dissecting locks. 
 STRIKER. The moveable head to the best sort of cock, which strikes 
 
 a copper cap. 
 
 TAIL. The arch, shoulder, or neck of a hammer. 
 TOP-PIECE. Groove, or elevation, along which is directed the line 
 
 of aim. 
 
 TRIGGER-PLATE. Plate in which the triggers work. 
 TRIGGER-SPRINGS. Small springs, to keep triggers constantly 
 
 pressing close to scear. (Invented and always used by Mr. Joseph 
 
 Man ton.) 
 TUMBLER. The moveable centre-piece of a lock, which falls with, 
 
 and is subservient to the cock. 
 
 TUMBLER-SCREW. The little screw which fastens on the cock. 
 VENT-HOLE. A small hole at the side of the breeching, in a de- 
 
 tonater, to let out the gas, and lessen the recoil. 
 WORM. Screw, at the end of ramrod, for drawing out the wadding. 
 
 *** When you find a lock rub, or bind, be sure and see that it 
 does not do so in consequence of some little screw or other having 
 worked loose, before you attempt easing the part of the stock where 
 the friction takes place. 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR CLEANING GUNS. 51 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR CLEANING GUNS, 
 
 AND 
 
 PRECAUTIONS AGAINST THEIR HANGING FIRE. 
 
 Let your barrels be first washed perfectly clean with 
 cold, and then Jill each of them with hot water ; which, 
 by the time it has nearly run out at the touchholes, 
 will accelerate their being wiped dry, as much as though 
 boiling water had been used ; and, before they have 
 completely discharged the water, stop the muzzles and 
 touchholes ; and, after shaking it up and down in the 
 barrels, turn it out at the muzzles, by which means you 
 will effectually stir up and expel any extraneous matter, 
 that may have lodged in the bottom of the chambers. 
 To ascertain this, hold them with the touchholes to- 
 wards the window, and (with the breechmgs which I 
 have recommended) you will, by looking into each 
 muzzle, plainly perceive the light in the chamber, ap- 
 pearing like one dot surrounded by two (and sometimes 
 three) rings. 
 
 I have recommended washing guns with cold water, 
 from having found that it always more readily removes 
 the foulness occasioned by the powder, which, from 
 sudden heat, is apt, at first, to dry and adhere more 
 closely to the caliber : whereas, with cold water, it re- 
 mains in a moist state, and immediately mixes. 
 
 In cleaning barrels, a little fine sand or brickdust 
 will remove the lead. If hot water should be required 
 for this purpose, the gun may be scoured with it, after 
 having been washed with cold. 
 
 Some have their guns, occasionally, only dry wiped, 
 which is not so well, as the introduction of the cleaning- 
 
 E 2 
 
52 DIRECTIONS FOR 
 
 rod drives the dirt into the chamber, from whence it 
 becomes difficult to remove it without water. 
 
 The tow proper for cleaning guns is that fine sort, 
 which is called surgeons' tow, and sold by the chemists : 
 but, for cleaning barrels, the breechings of which can- 
 not be readily seen through, and particularly those of 
 DETONATING guns, I should recommend using nothing 
 but cloth, which answers nearly or quite as well, and 
 by which means you are not liable to the serious ac- 
 cident that might happen from having tow left in the 
 chamber ; arid this you cannot always guard against in 
 guns which have not the inverted breeching. 
 
 Cloth is also more portable for travelling, as the 
 same pieces of it may, by being washed, serve for 
 several times. 
 
 Some of our moderns recommend a sponge ! fitted 
 to the end of the cleaning-rod. Let us have a receipt 
 to kill birds without shot, and this will do vastly well ; 
 but unfortunately guns, after being fired, become 
 leaded, and then of what avail is a sponge ? 
 
 We are told, that a barrel should be cleaned after 
 having been fired about twenty rounds ; but, as it is 
 not every manor that will now afford so many shots 
 in a day, it becomes a query, how often we may venture 
 to put away a gun which has been vised. I think, that 
 if eight or ten shots have been fired from each barrel, 
 it will be best to have the gun washed on returning 
 from the field ; and, if not, the way to prevent it hanging 
 fire (if kept loaded) is simply to prick the touchhole, 
 put fresh prime, and give the but a few smart strokes 
 with the hand : or, with a detonater, to prick the hole 
 of the nipple, and lodge therein a few grains of powder, 
 before you put on the cap, which, by the way, should 
 
CLEANING GUNS. 53 
 
 never be left on, when the gun is put by for any length 
 of time. Should the gun have been in the damp, or 
 loaded some time, the more certain way is to fire it off; 
 then put in a fresh charge of powder, while the barrels 
 are warm, and afterwards take off your locks, and 
 wipe them, as well as the outside of the breechirigs and 
 touchholes, which may be warranted free again, by 
 being probed with the clipped end of a stiff feather : 
 and all this done in less time than it requires to ex- 
 plain it. 
 
 When you put away your gun empty, you, of course, 
 always let down the springs of the locks ; and, as their 
 being kept long at the half-cock tends so much to 
 weaken them, it would even be advisable for those who 
 keep their guns loaded to do the same. A piece of tow 
 should be put in the pan (or on the nipple, if a de- 
 tonater) to prevent damp, and the ramrod left in, as a 
 caution to those who might otherwise take up the gun. 
 It is highly improper, however, under any circum- 
 stances, and particularly where there are children in a 
 house, ever to leave fire-arms about charged, unless 
 secured out of reach, or by lock and key. 
 
 A little cleaning ought to be occasionally had recourse 
 to in the field. Were the pans of a flint-gun wiped 
 and the feather inserted in the touchholes after every 
 shot, your gun would scarcely ever be known to hang 
 fire, unless this precaution had been counteracted by 
 your forgetting to load it while warm, or some other 
 circumstance ; and I see nothing to justify your neglect 
 in this, except the incessant rising of birds, in which 
 case you may be permitted to await a leisure oppor- 
 tunity. Nothing is more absurd, if a gun has been 
 washed, than dirtying it, long before there is any occa- 
 sion for so doing, by what is called squibbing, which 
 
54 DIRECTIONS FOR CLEANING GUNS. 
 
 answers the purpose only of alarming women and poul- 
 try, putting your cattle into a gallop, and your kennel 
 full cry ; and, in short, making a general disturbance 
 among your domestic animals ! very excusable in a 
 boy, who would desire no better fun ! 
 
 If a gun, after your having probed the touchhole, should ever 
 flash in the pan, you had better draw the shot ; and, in firing off 
 the powder, hold the gun sideways (that is, with the touchhole 
 uppermost). I have seen shooters plagued for half an hour with 
 their guns, which have gone off immediately on being held in this 
 manner. 
 
 The proper, safest, and most certain way of ascertaining that 
 your gun be perfectly clean, is to hold it to the light, and look 
 through it (as before recommended) ; and to prove that neither oil 
 nor damp be left behind, put your charge of powder into the barrel, 
 and, before you add the wadding, see that the few grains, which you 
 can shake into the pan, are quite dry; and if so, prime, and finish 
 loading ; but observe, that in trying this with Mr. Joseph Manton's 
 original patent hammers (which are the best he ever invented), you- 
 must, for the moment, leave the pans open, or no powder will pass. 
 
 If a 'stupid fellow wedges dry tow into your gun, 
 with the cleaning-rod, pour boiling water on it, and 
 the rod may then be turned round and drawn out. 
 I remember this occurred with a large punt-gun, at 
 which I caught four men 'bawling away most unmer- 
 cifully, but to no effect. I luckily came by and saved 
 the destruction of the cleaning-rod, if not the injury of 
 the barrel, by suggesting this simple contrivance. 
 
 These little remedies, I am aware, must be insipid 
 to the reader; but, when wanted, often prove worth 
 double the price of a book ; so that I have never failed 
 to pencil down, and afterwards insert here, all that I 
 thought had the least chance of being original to the 
 average of sportsmen. 
 
GRAVITATING STOPS. 55 
 
 GRAVITATING STOPS. 
 
 An insurance from accidents, with a double gun, 
 is completely effected by Mr. Joseph Manton's gravi- 
 tating stops, which act of themselves, to remedy the 
 serious danger of loading with a barrel cocked ; and, 
 with these stops, you may, by holding the gun down- 
 wards, carry both barrels cocked, through a hedgerow, 
 with little or no danger, if any circumstance could 
 justify such determined preparation. 
 
 The gravitating stops, I should not omit to mention, 
 require to be kept very clean, as, with rust or dirt 
 under them, they will not fall so readily, and thereby 
 prevent the gun from going off. This I name as a 
 caution to a slovenly shooter, and not as an imperfection 
 in the plan. It is much to be regretted that these 
 gravitating stops have gone out of fashion, when they 
 have been the means of preventing many serious acci- 
 dents to young sportsmen. / should still decidedly 
 recommend them to all beginners in the use of a double 
 gun. How Joe can reconcile himself to putting them 
 forth as indispensable, and then become the first to dis- 
 card them, is to be accounted for no other way, than 
 because they were, of necessity, superseded to admit of 
 a clap-trap-looking thing, called " the cover," which 
 receives and holds copper primers. 
 
Detonating 
 
 Now that every gunmaker and almost every sports- 
 man is so infatuated with the detonating, or percussion, 
 system, I can easily imagine that the whole of this 
 edition, which relates to the flint, will by many be 
 considered an obsolete subject, arid therefore an useless 
 insertion. I fancy that I see a fashionable sportsman 
 opening this little work, catching his eye on the word 
 " flint," " pan," or " hammer," throwing down the 
 book, walking out of the shop, and exclaiming, " a 
 hundred years out of date !" little aware, however, 
 that, for these last ten years, I have made, perhaps, 
 more trials of detonaters than any gunmaker in the 
 kingdom ; and were I to print every schedule that was 
 carefully noted down at the time of trial, I might com- 
 pile a work, which would be formed of pages, more, in 
 appearance, like a book of arithmetic, than a work of 
 sentences. I shall therefore not trouble my readers 
 with a dry detail of evidence, but merely insert one of 
 the schedules, with a copy of an impartial opinion which 
 I sent to Mr. Joseph Manton in 1822 ; as every sub- 
 sequent trial, up to the present time, has only served 
 more strongly to confirm that opinion. 
 
 Were I inclined, however, to make any further ob- 
 servation, it would be to say, that on further arid more 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 57 
 
 general trial, I find, so far from not having done justice 
 to the percussion principle, I have, like all other modern 
 shooters, been rather over-rating its merits than other- 
 wise : for the more shots I fire, the more I am per- 
 suaded that the flint-gun shoots the strongest into the 
 bird, and by far the easiest against the shoulder. 
 
 It seems a paradox that a percussion-gun should fire 
 quicker, and yet not stronger than a flint-gun ; but, 
 most assuredly, this is the case. It may perhaps, in 
 some measure, be accounted for thus : the gas flies 
 instantaneously through the whole charge of powder, 
 and puts it in motion with such rapidity, that one half 
 of the powder is not ignited till the other half and the 
 shot have made some progress up the barrel, and, con- 
 sequently, there takes place (owing, perhaps, to the 
 vacuum which is thus occasioned) a violent concussion 
 or reaction, which, so far from giving strength to the 
 shot, is rather inimical to projectile force, though it 
 causes a severe strain on the barrel, and therefore shakes 
 every other part of the gun. For this reason I find, 
 that instead of almost equal measure of powder and shot 
 (the sure proportion for strong and good shooting), 
 a detonater, in one's own defence, had better be loaded 
 with three quarters in measure of powder, to four 
 quarters of shot ; and that long barrels, which are 
 opened behind, and nip the charge, in the cylinder, 
 till more of the powder is burnt, do more justice to the 
 percussion system than the others. I had ample proof 
 of this by an experiment with a musket of three feet 
 six inches, and a double gun of two feet eight inches. 
 The musket, when made into a detonater, shot very 
 near, if riot quite, as well as when a flint-gun ; but 
 the double gun did not shoot so well, afterwards, by at 
 
58 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 least one-fourth ! which evidently shows that quickness 
 and strength are not always combined. For instance : 
 load one gun with large-grained powder, and another 
 with very fine canister-powder. We are quite sure 
 that the latter will fire the quickest; but I would back 
 the other to fire the strongest if of equally good quality, 
 because the larger powder has the more projectile force. 
 Again, fire a small detonater and a swivel-gun, ay, a 
 twelve-pounder if you please, at a mark only thirty 
 yards off, and see if the little gun does not shoot up 
 to that distance as quick as, or quicker than, the others ! 
 And yet would it not be ridiculous to compare them for 
 strength ? 
 
 Mr. D. Egg made to me a droll, though a good com- 
 parison, on the ignition of detonating guns : he said, 
 " If I were to kick a fellow out of my shop, would he 
 go off so strong on his legs as if I allowed him to walk 
 out?" 
 
 I am not fond of quoting, but nevertheless I must 
 copy a few lines on the percussion principle by Ezekiel 
 Baker, one of the very few master-gunmakers in London 
 who understand barrels. I never saw Mr. Baker, though 
 I have read a few extracts from his work, which prove 
 that he has the ability to discover, and the honesty to 
 publish the real state of the case. He says, " By the 
 detonating, or percussion principle, the whole of* the 
 powder is fired instantaneously; but the very quickness 
 with which the powder is burned, in my opinion, lessens 
 its general effect, and I am satisfied more execution 
 
 * " The whole of!" These are the only three words that I have 
 the least doubt of throughout Mr. Baker's observation: as this 
 question, I conceive, depends on what quantity of powder you put 
 into the gun. 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 59 
 
 will be done at an equal distance with the charge from 
 the common flint. Indeed, I have proved this by many 
 experiments from the same barrel. In rain, or snow, 
 the percussion-lock will act, from its detonating power, 
 more correctly than the common flint-lock ; and this, 
 by sportsmen, is considered its greatest, and, I must 
 confess, it appears to me, its only advantage." This, 
 and I should add (as I observed in 1822) the " won- 
 derful accuracy it gives in so readily obeying the eye :" 
 and (as I observed in 1824) " having scarcely any flash 
 from the lock of the first barrel to intercept the sight of 
 the second." 
 
 Another observation should be made : A well-known 
 gunmaker (not Joe Manton), in presence of a well- 
 known sportsman, offered to bet .me fifty guineas that 
 a detonater of equal size, &c. would beat a flint-gun. 
 I immediately took up the bet, told his clerk to book 
 it, and offered to double it if he chose. He then fought 
 off, and would not stand to what he proposed. Soon 
 after the sportsman left the shop, and the gunmaker 
 then said to me, " You are quite right ; but if you 
 had not taken me up I should have got an order for a 
 brace of detonating guns !" Let this be a lesson, then, 
 to gunmakers, not to be so ready in offering wagers to 
 gentlemen. This was before the late improvements in 
 barrels and the new mode of boring were adopted ; for 
 then every gunmaker knew that he was deceiving his 
 customers when he asserted that a detonater would 
 shoot even equal to a flint-gun. 
 
 In short, it does not require a succession of arguments 
 and anecdotes to prove, that if guns on one principle are 
 sooner shook to pieces, and worn out, than guns on 
 another, it is the interest of the trade not only to Uni- 
 
60 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 versally adopt them, but to employ people, who will 
 write any thing for so much a sheet, to overrate them 
 to the credulous, through the medium of some pub- 
 lication or other. Let the reader, however, put down all 
 that I have said, or that others, in argument against 
 me, may say, as nothing ; and only take a walk to some 
 field with a few flint-guns and detonaters, of equal sizes, 
 and fairly try them at two or three quires of paper, and 
 then let his opinion be guided by facts instead of words. 
 In the mean time, I will proceed to repeat the same 
 trials that I gave in the earlier editions. 
 
 " TRIAL on the 8th of November, 1822, of a 171bs. 
 Joseph Manton duck-gun, at fifty yards, loaded with 
 four ounces of B. B. shot, and rather more than an equal 
 measure of fine cylinder-powder, at a sheet of paste- 
 board, and twelve sheets of thick brown paper, which 
 presented a target of 28 by 22 inches in size. 
 
 " WITH FLINT-LOCK. 
 
 In the first sheet. Through the pasteboard 
 
 and the twrlfth sheet. 
 
 " Round 1 . .54 . .54 
 
 2 . .45 . .41 
 
 3 . .38 . .37 
 
 Total 137 132 
 
 " WITH DETONATING LOCK. 
 
 In the first sheet Through the pasteboard 
 
 and the twelfth sheet. 
 
 " Round 1 . .30 . .34 
 
 2 . .43 . .40 
 
 3 . .30 . . 30 
 
 Total 109 104 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 61 
 
 " Majority in favour of the flint in the aggregate of 
 three rounds. 
 
 In the first sheet. Through the pasteboard 
 
 and the twelfth sheet. 
 
 " With flint-lock .137 132 
 
 Detonating lock . 109 . . - 104 
 
 Majority 28 28 
 
 " One round, as above, with No. 1 shot : 
 "WITH DETONATING LOCK. 
 
 In the first sheet. Through all. 
 
 75 . . .64 
 
 " A round from one of the best fourteen gauge double 
 detonaters in the kingdom, made by Mr. Joseph Manton, 
 with No. 1 shot, as above (with wadding cut by his new 
 dented punch on both powder and shot) ; in order to 
 show, that even the very best small guns will not throw 
 large shot like duck-guns : 
 
 In the first sheet. Through all. 
 
 35 . . v . . ' 30 
 
 " A second round from the same barrel (loaded with 
 wadding cut by a common punch on the powder, and 
 wadding cut by a dented punch on the shot) : 
 
 In the first sheet Through all. 
 
 40 -..- ., . ., . 36 
 
 " From the result of very many experiments, Col. 
 Hawker is of opinion, that for neat shooting in the 
 field, or covert, and also for killing single shots at wild- 
 fowl, rapidly flying, and particularly by night, there is 
 not a question in favour of the detonater, as its trifling 
 inferiority to the flint is tenfold repaid by the wonderful 
 accuracy it gives in so readily obeying the eye. But, 
 in firing a heavy charge among a large flock of birds, 
 
62 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 the flint has the decided advantage ; and, moreover, the 
 sudden, and additional, recoil of a detonater, with the 
 full charge of a duck-gun, is apt, if the shooter be not 
 careful, to strike the hand back, and give him a severe 
 blow on the nose. 
 
 " A detonater that does not light at the side, how- 
 ever, is, he thinks, quite" (I should now, by further ex- 
 perience, rather say " almost") " equal in power to the 
 flint ; but one that does, he should be induced, at a 
 rough calculation, to consider one-fifth inferior; con- 
 sequently he prefers the guns with breechings made 
 expressly for caps, to those fired with tubes, or any 
 other primers, at a side touchhole ; and if this plan 
 was adopted, perhaps the flint might be altogether 
 dispensed with even in duck-guns : besides, this in- 
 vention is more simple, more water-proof, and admits 
 of the gravitating stops. A detonating gun, to be suf- 
 ficiently independent of the muriatic acid which is pro- 
 duced by the ^composition, or detonation of the ful- 
 minating powder, should have no springs, or moveable 
 bodies outside the lock-plate ', that are dependent on 
 cleanliness ; and, in short, a detonating gun can never 
 be so near perfection as when it has no springs what- 
 ever, except the main-spring and scear-spring, which, 
 on the principle last mentioned, being well protected 
 inside of the lock-plate, and free from the smoke that is 
 apt to be driven, even there, by all side communications, 
 no part of the machinery is here dependent in its action 
 on being kept clean from the foulness and rust which is 
 always occasioned by the oxygen gas." (As a more 
 effectual remedy against this, the " back-action" locks are 
 now getting somewhat in vogue. Joe says he discarded 
 them long ago. They may do very well for a hack- 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 63 
 
 gun; but they so disfigure and inconvenience the 
 handle of the stock, that I never desire to see them on 
 any gun of mine, except on a coast " cripple-stopper." 
 But Mr. Bishop has just shown me some new locks of 
 Westley Richards that are equally well protected, and 
 far neater in appearance. 1830.) 
 
 " The superiority of the foregoing plan may, perhaps, 
 in a great measure, be accounted for thus : every gun 
 that fires at the side, positively must have some of its 
 advantage in shooting sacrificed to a good-shed touch- 
 hole, or it will be for ever liable to miss fire. A gun 
 that fires near the bottom of the breech, by the hole in 
 a nipple or pivot, has that hole, however large it may 
 be, closed up, with the cock, or striker, by the very blow 
 that puts the charge in action ; and consequently no 
 powder can escape, there being no hole then left open, 
 except the very little gas-hole, which lets out the de- 
 tonating flame." 
 
 SUBSEQUENT TRIAL, on the 18th of November 
 (with No. 7 shot), of a fourteen gauge gun (barrels by 
 Lancaster), with flints, and afterwards with cocks and 
 hammers put on, with which was used the detonating 
 powder : 
 
 FLINTS. 
 
 DETONATERS. 
 
 RIGHT 
 
 BARREL. 
 
 LEFT 
 
 BARREL. 
 
 RIGHT BARREL. 
 
 LEFT 
 
 BARREL. 
 
 In 1st 
 
 sheet 
 
 Through 
 12th Do. 
 
 In 1st 
 sheet. 
 
 Through 
 12th Do. 
 
 In 1st 
 sheet. 
 
 Through 
 12th Do. 
 
 In 1st 
 
 sheet. 
 
 Through 
 12th Do. 
 
 Round 1 
 
 81 49 
 
 110 
 
 . 62 
 
 89 
 
 . 31 
 
 91 
 
 . 42 
 
 2 
 
 121 61 
 
 122 
 
 . 54 
 
 69 
 
 . 40 
 
 116 
 
 47 
 
 3 
 
 143 63 
 
 98 
 
 . 40 
 
 80 
 
 . 29 
 
 102 
 
 . 49 
 
 Total . 
 
 345 173 
 
 330 
 
 156 
 
 238 
 
 100 
 
 309 
 
 138 
 
 Majority in favour of the Flint 107 73 
 
 21 18 
 
64 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 A round was then fired from each barrel of a larger 
 and heavier detonating gun of Mr. Joseph Manton's 
 (barrels by Lancaster, and of the same gauge), made 
 expressly to fire with caps, at the bottom of the breech 
 instead of through a side touch-hole : 
 
 RIGHT BARREL. LEFT BARREL. 
 
 In. Through. In. Through. 
 
 120 .... 75 157 ... 78 
 
 Which seems, as far as cursory observation will prove, 
 to confirm the opinion given after the trial on the 8th 
 instant. 
 
 This gun, however, which, from superior weight of 
 metal, had the advantage in the foregoing trial, was 
 afterwards shot against a flint-gun of equal weight ; 
 and then the flint-gun had the advantage, not only 
 both in strength and closeness, but also in regularity 
 of shooting. 
 
 The foregoing trials will show the very great un- 
 certainty of even the best guns at all times throwing 
 the shot alike, arid therefore prove the absurdity of 
 talking about people who " never miss," which every 
 one must often do, who shoots beyond thirty-five or 
 forty yards ; and consequently this trumpery kind of 
 reputation is only to be maintained by picking and 
 choosing every shot, and therefore losing a third, or 
 perhaps the half, of those birds, which might, other- 
 wise, be put in the bag. 
 
 We will now treat on every principal part, of the 
 detonating system, in the same order as the flint ; and, 
 of course, as briefly as possible. 
 
 GUN. 
 
 To fire with detonating powder, the gun requires to 
 be much stronger than that used for a flint ; it must be 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 65 
 
 heavier to stand the recoil ; of a large-sized caliber, in 
 order not to have the powder too narrowly confined, 
 which is absolutely dangerous ; and the London gun- 
 makers will find out sooner or later that the barrel 
 should rather be 2 feet 10, than 2 feet 8, or the dispro- 
 portionate length of 2 feet 4, or 2 feet 6 ; unless abso- 
 lutely required to be short, for the convenience of 
 shooting in covert. The breeching should be made on 
 purpose ; and I therefore fully acquit the gunmaker of 
 any wish to impose on his customers, when he hesitates 
 to alter the average of flint-guns. A good heavy four- 
 teen gauge gun may be altered by means of a new 
 breeching, or (as a very inferior make-shift) with a 
 roller screwed into the touch-hole ; for either of which 
 you must of course alter your lock-plate, so that it can 
 no more be used with a flint. The way, however, to 
 use both flint and detonater on the same lock is very 
 simple, but so apt to break the hammer-bridle, that out 
 of six locks which I had altered, five of them were 
 spoiled by this means. Were the hammer-bridle forged 
 very strong, I have no doubt it would answer perfectly 
 well ; so that if you wished to use either flint or de- 
 tonater, a new lock-plate must be forged on purpose. 
 The hammers which I had put on in town were for ever 
 missing fire ; those by Mr. Parsons of Salisbury, by the 
 trifling alteration that I suggested, of placing the nipple 
 as near as possible to the touch-hole, and lining the pan 
 all through with platina, fired about eight hundred shots 
 with only about three misses fire, and were decidedly 
 the most certain of any detonating guns, or hammers, 
 I had ever used ; till at last, like all the rest, off flew 
 one of the hammers. I am ready to admit, that a nipple 
 
 F 
 
66 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 on the centre of a hammer is less likely to strain 
 the hammer-bridle; but then the communication, by 
 placing it there, is so much longer, that the discharge 
 of the gun can never be depended on. I had my 
 hammers done in this way at first, and when on salt 
 water, the gun, on an average, missed fire every eight 
 or ten shots ; and, in field-shooting, about once in twenty 
 shots. Several sportsmen, however, have assured me, 
 that their guns have gone well for a whole season, after 
 being altered in this way. Far be it from me to doubt 
 their word ; but still it is my duty to the public to 
 speak of this, and every thing else, not as I have heard 
 of, but as I have found it. I afterwards had a double 
 gun "detonated" to my order (with new breechings, 
 &c.) by Mr. Parsons. I then tried sixty shots with it, 
 and part of the time in showers of rain. It did not 
 miss fire once ; and it is but justice to observe too, that 
 the alteration is done in as workmanlike a manner as if 
 it had been turned out of hand at nearly double the 
 price in London. I have occasionally used this gun 
 ever since, and no work can stand better, or do more 
 credit to any tradesman, than this job does to Mr. 
 Parsons of Salisbury. 
 
 A new patent self-priming detonater was completed 
 by Mr. Joseph Man ton, previously to his failure in 
 Hanover-square ; and, what with doing, undoing, new 
 tools, &c., cost him perhaps not less than ^200. He 
 brought it to show me, and I told him it would never 
 answer; and, as some proof that I was right, I need 
 only state, that this gun was bought at the sale for a 
 mere nothing (Lancaster told me ^14), and then I 
 believe was discarded by the purchaser. It is but seldom, 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 6? 
 
 however, that Joe has invented any thing without suc- 
 cess ; and as to his workmanship, as I said in the last 
 edition, was I merely to observe that Mr. Joseph 
 Man ton's guns are so far before those of the gunmakers 
 in general, that those who cannot see this are like in- 
 different judges of a picture, who, for want of profound 
 science, would be as well pleased with the gaudy paint- 
 ing of some young artist as with the picture of a fine 
 old master, I should appear like a hireling of this 
 maker. But I only beg of whoever differs with me 
 in opinion, when he next sees any other first-rate 
 gunmaker or mechanic in town or country, to say to 
 him, " Now tell me, on your honour as a tradesman, 
 whose guns, NEXT TO YOUR OWN," [mind this] " are 
 the best and most scientifically made?" and if they do 
 not say (or think) " Mr. Joseph Manton's," I will resign 
 all claim to judgment of a gun, or to the kind patronage 
 with which my work has been honoured. In short, let 
 any one look (not with the naked eye, but with a mag- 
 nifying glass) at the work in every part of Mr. Joseph 
 Manton's guns, and at those of most other makers, and 
 he will discover about the same difference that there 
 is between one of Leader's or Houlditch's town-built 
 coaches, and that gothic vehicle which among our mo- 
 derns is yclept a " Jarvy" 
 
 But let every man make every part of a gun himself, 
 and then, I believe, Mr. D. Egg would in his younger 
 days have had the laugh against them all. This, how- 
 ever, is no more required than that an architect should 
 handle well a hammer or a trowel ; and a great part of 
 those mechanics who set up and work for themselves 
 consists of those who, from having been journeymen in 
 
 F 2 
 
68 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 only one department of gunmaking, are probably but 
 superficially acquainted with even the theory of the 
 other. 
 
 THE BARREL 
 
 Should be fourteen gauge, to let the powder burn easy ; 
 and (as before observed) at least two feet eight inches ; 
 arid if two feet ten inches, or even three feet, so much 
 the better ; in order not only to keep the shot together 
 at long distances, but to prevent the gas from driving 
 out the powder before it is thoroughly ignited. It has 
 been argued to me (by the way) that many people 
 have cut long barrels shorter, and found that they after- 
 wards killed even better! Very likely: and for why? 
 . because the barrels were improperly bored for a long 
 caliber, and therefore, the length, from this circum- 
 stance, became mere lumber, if not an obstruction, in- 
 stead of being the greatest possible assistance. 
 
 THE BREECHING 
 
 Is cupped similar to that for a flint, though of course 
 with a shorter chamber; and by all means should be 
 forged in one solid piece. Joe Manton's breeching has 
 hitherto proved by far the best for detonating guns ; 
 and I will therefore give the modern sections of it. But 
 I will leave them till we treat of the caps and primers, 
 in order to point out> in a good place, the different 
 modes of ignition. 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 69 
 
 In the mean time, while under this head, let us in- 
 troduce another new, or at all events newly adapted, 
 breeching. 
 
 Mr. Wilkinson's Breeching. 
 
 To show the necessity of retarding the powder, in 
 detonating guns, in order that it may be all ignited, I 
 will only beg the favour of any one, who may doubt 
 this, to call on Mr. Wilkinson, in Pallmall, and look at 
 an ingeniously contrived machine that he has invented 
 for the purpose of proving it. By this experiment you 
 will see the detonating flame pass through a whole 
 charge of even fine powder, the greater part of which 
 he will afterwards pour out on a sheet of paper, and 
 thus prove to you that it has not exploded. This has 
 induced him to invent what he calls a " counter-para- 
 bolic " breeching ; or, as high-flown language on sub- 
 jects of this kind savours too much of the cock-loft 
 style, suppose, by way of variety, we go to the other 
 extreme and say " Jack-boot" breeching. Vide Sketch. 
 
 Contraction, to jj|j retard powder. 
 
 Back-screw. R Ante-chamber. 
 
 This breeching, as will be seen by the annexed re- 
 presentation of it, has a chamber somewhat like that 
 of Mr. Wilkinson's relation, the celebrated old Henrv 
 
70 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 Nock, except being contracted towards the top. He 
 has published a well- written pamphlet, in order to state 
 and explain its advantage, in strength, over other 
 breechings. But further experience will best show 
 whether or not this is more difficult to clean, or gives a 
 more severe blow to the shoulder ; and whether this, or 
 opening the barrels behind, is the best mode of gaining 
 strength by retardation. Perhaps Mr. W. will give 
 the barrels an increased weight of metal, in order to 
 avoid the risk of additional recoil, as the best means of 
 getting his breeching into repute. The other gun- 
 makers say, " This is as old as the hills ! " Well, and 
 what of that ? was it ever tried with detonaters be- 
 fore ? Whenever people abuse any thing, be sure that 
 they have no sinister motive in so doing before you 
 attend to them. 
 
 VENT-HOLE. 
 
 A detonater without a vent-hole, though perhaps it 
 may shoot a little stronger, is very liable to corrode, 
 and recoils most cruelly. The best vent-hole, to my 
 fancy, is a fixed one of platina, similar to a touch-hole ; 
 as vent-screws, I find, are liable to rust in ; and, unless 
 lined with platina, are either soon choked up with rust 
 and dirt, or blown too large by repeated shooting. 
 
 THE NIPPLE, OR PIVOT, 
 
 Is best plain or polished ; the caps, if made well, will 
 always keep on ; but when the pivot is made like a 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 71 
 
 screw it collects rust, always looks bad, and gives ad- 
 ditional trouble in cleaning. The hole in the nipple 
 must not be too small, and well increased in size down- 
 wards, or this deadly poison to all fire-arms (the oxygen 
 gas) will choke up the communication with rust, and 
 repeated missing fire will be the consequence. A very 
 strong main-spring will counteract all the bad effects 
 of a large hole, by firmly closing it with the cock, in 
 striking the very blow, as I before observed, that puts 
 the charge in motion. The nipple (the only article 
 that need be made to separate from the breeching) must, 
 of course, have a square base, so as to be removable at 
 pleasure, by means of a little wrench. 
 
 There are various opinions as to placing the nipple 
 or pivot. The favourite plan appears to be that of 
 having it perpendicular, for the convenience of putting 
 on the copper caps. For my own part, however, I 
 prefer it sloping, because, in the event of the copper 
 flying, the eye is not then parallel with the circle of 
 splinters, should one of them, by accident, escape from 
 the concave head of the cock or striker. 
 
 THE COCK, OR STRIKER, 
 
 Should cover the nipple with a deep concave head, so 
 that scarcely any of the copper can escape, or a man 
 may lose his eye. Several accidents have happened 
 through the neglect of this. If, however, the concave 
 head of the cock is too small in diameter, or strikes 
 the least on one side, so as to cause any friction 
 against the side of the cap, the gun will most probably 
 miss fire. 
 
72 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 Another important observation should be made under 
 this head : people try copper-cap guns in a shop, and 
 fancy they are safe if the copper does not fly about. 
 This is no trial at all; because the way that accidents 
 happen is through the recoil of the gun forcing the 
 cock from the nipple, arid then all security is at an end. 
 Try this by having a heavily loaded gun with a weak 
 main-spring, arid the cock will fly up so far as to catch 
 at the half, if not the full, bent, unless you happen to 
 have a nipple-hole so small that it would be for ever 
 missing fire. To obviate this, be sure that your main- 
 springs are strong, and have their greatest force on the 
 first pull; and, as a still further security, you might 
 have an extra shield or fence round the cock. By far 
 the best striker is the moveable one that Joe Manton 
 always used, and with which I never heard of an acci- 
 dent ; because, with this, the cock may be set mathe- 
 matically true, on the nipple, before the striker is added. 
 But now the trade have no better guide than the mere 
 sweep of a pair of compasses; and " serve you out" 
 with a frightful-looking thing called the " dolphin"- 
 cock. Why is this? because any tolerable workman 
 can make half a dozen of the one, while it requires a 
 first-rate mechanic, with as much time and expense, to 
 complete a pair of the others ! 
 
 COPPER CAPS. 
 
 The copper cap is now in general use for detonaters, 
 and it gives me satisfaction to see it ; because, from 
 the first, I always pronounced it to be the best mode 
 of priming, and even in opposition to Joe Manton 
 himself. I do not mean to say that I was the inventor 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 73 
 
 of it very probably not : but this I must beg leave to 
 state: when Joe first brought out his detonaters, in 
 Davies-street (those which were discarded from giving 
 so much trouble), he made me the most perfect gun I 
 ever saw ; and, doubting whether such another could 
 be got, I set my wits to work in order to simplify the 
 invention. At last the plan of a perforated nipple, 
 and the detonating powder in the crown of a small cap, 
 occurred to me. I made a drawing of it, which I took 
 to Joe. After having this explained, he said he would 
 show me something in a few weeks' time ; when, lo 
 arid behold ! there was a rough gun altered precisely on 
 my own plan ! His factotum, poor old Asell, assured 
 me that the whole job was done from my drawing. 
 Thus Joe, who led the fashion for all the world, sent 
 out ar few copper-cap guns, and I know with some 
 degree of reluctance. The trade, finding that he had 
 then deviated from his own patent, adopted this plan ; 
 and it proved to answer so well, that we now see it in 
 general circulation. So much, and no more, have I to 
 say about the wished-for discovery of the copper-cap 
 inventor. But if Mr. this and Mr. that have any 
 fancy to claim the invention, they may safely fire their 
 ammunition into all the periodicals they please, as I 
 shall not indulge them with any paper-war on the 
 subject. 
 
 The innumerable accidents that have occurred with 
 copper caps have been occasioned by three causes : 
 1st, bad workmanship, in not bringing the blow of the 
 striker to act equally on all parts of the nipple ; 2dly, 
 want of a proper fence to protect the eye; and, 3dly, 
 a want of sufficient strength in thejlrst lifting of the 
 main-spring. I need scarcely add, too, that having the 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 caps of bad quality has perhaps doubled the number of 
 accidents- For instance, French caps, being now to be 
 had for about two francs a thousand, are frequently 
 imported to England, and sold at an immense profit ; 
 and, although these may do very well with weak French 
 powder, yet they are so unfit to be trusted with our 
 powder, that the loss of many sportsmen's eyes has 
 been the consequence. I know one gunmaker who re- 
 commended them for no other purpose than to ruin 
 the copper-cap guns, and thereby improve trade. 
 
 N. B. If the hole of your nipple should become 
 choked up with copper, as is frequently the case, put 
 on another cap and let it off, before you load the gun; 
 and nine times out of ten the force of the fulminating 
 powder will clear the hole. But if this is done, it 
 should be with w//-corrosive caps ; as the other pre- 
 paration, unless mixed with powder y materially injures 
 the iron. This being so quick a remedy, we may 
 always try it before we have recourse to the nipple- 
 wrench. Let us now inspect the breechings before we 
 go on to copper primers. 
 
 Copper- 
 
 Cap 
 Breeching. 
 
 Copper- 
 Primer 
 Breechin 
 
 Outside View of 
 a Copper-Primer 
 Breeching. 
 
 The two dotted lines point out the hole into which the gas from 
 the cap is driven. 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 75 
 
 N.B. Now turn the book : and, by looking at these sections with 
 the page lengthwise, you will perceive that they are not left-hand 
 breechings, as they appear to be in the above position. But each 
 one is the upper half of a ngA<-hand breeching, cut through the 
 centre, as you would divide the body of a lobster. 
 
 COPPER PRIMERS. 
 
 These were decidedly invented by Joe Manton ; and 
 give the quickest of all communications. [Vide 
 Breechings.] But with a copper primer you have the 
 inconvenience of pushing the little tube against the 
 resistance of a spring, every time you load, and the 
 extra trouble of keeping clean the machinery on your 
 lock-plate, not to say a word of its ugly appearance. 
 Although the copper primer may be perfectly safe to 
 the shooter himself, yet wo betide the eye of his com- 
 panion if the tube happens to escape and fly off side- 
 wise ! It must be admitted, however, that for battus 
 and other incessant firing, the copper primer is riot so 
 liable to " choke up" as the copper-cap gun. This 
 primer is the only percussion recipe that will give a 
 short communication, and therefore certain ignition, to 
 large duck-guns : moreover, it is the only thing for 
 salt water ; as you can wax the primers, and make 
 them water-proof. [The anti-corrosive powder should 
 not be used for copper primers.^ Lancaster has im- 
 proved on this plan. I have not yet tried his inven- 
 tion, but it is evidently the safest of all detonaters ; 
 and therefore, as I have seen several letters in its favour 
 from some of the first shots in the kingdom, it will not 
 be amiss, I trust, to give the following specification. 
 
7(5 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 " Charles Lancaster, Gunmaker, 151, New Bond Street, Lon- 
 don, feels great pleasure in announcing, that he has recently in- 
 vented a New Patent Safety Detonating Gun ; the advantages of 
 which are, that it cannot hang or miss fire, and may be shot with a 
 thousand times, in any weather. With guns on this new con- 
 struction, it is quite impossible for gas or copper to fly to the face, 
 or for smoke, in the least degree, to impede the sight in making a 
 quick double shot. The construction of these guns is scientific, 
 simple, and elegant, and the workmanship surpasses any thing 
 hitherto produced. C. L. flatters himself, that, from the number 
 of orders he is now daily receiving, from the first sportsmen in the 
 kingdom, they will supersede all other detonating guns." 
 
 THE SIDE-NAIL 
 
 Should be made of the best tempered spring steel, and 
 stouter than that for a flint-gun. 
 
 All side-nails, whether for flint or detonaters, should 
 go through both locks in a double gun, arid have a notch 
 at each end, so that, if they break, they may be screwed 
 out, and replaced by an extra one in the field. 
 
 THE DISSECTION 
 
 Is much more simple ; and your locks remain on the 
 stock while in the case, so that you have only to put in 
 your barrels (remembering that you must draw up the 
 cocks first), and your gun is ready for the field. 
 
 CLEANING. 
 
 Similar to a flint-gun, and rather less to do : but you 
 must leave every thing, as well as the inside of the 
 barrels, kept a very little damp with sweet oil, or your 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 77 
 
 gun will rust fifty times worse than with common 
 powder. 
 
 It should be observed, however, that when the oxygen 
 mixes with gunpowder, in its explosion, it becomes less 
 injurious to the iron ; consequently the cocks and breech- 
 ings receive even more damage from this composition 
 than do the insides of the barrels. 
 
 Now for a little petty larceny; book-making 
 paper and paste-work ; an easy way of doing business : 
 
 DIRECTIONS, 
 
 That Lancaster has printed, proper to be observed by 
 gentlemen using detonating guns. 
 
 1. Load with the cocks down, which prevents the powder from 
 being forced out of the pegs that receive the copper caps. 
 
 2. Prime the last thing ; otherwise, in ramming down the wadding, 
 the powder will be driven into the caps, and become so firmly com- 
 pressed as to destroy their effect. 
 
 3. Should the caps be put on by mistake, prior to loading, force 
 them off with the turnscrew, and replace them with new ones. 
 
 4. Keep the caps dry. If exposed to the fire for a few minutes 
 when required for use, they will never fail. Take care that no oil 
 or grease gets to them. 
 
 5. Always clean those parts of the barrels and locks^that the 
 detonating powder acts upon with a wet rag ; then rub them dry, 
 and leave them in oil, to prevent rust. The pegs should not be 
 taken out too often. 
 
 6. Before you take out the barrels, bring the locks to half cock, 
 The locks do not require to be taken off every time the gun is 
 used : once a fortnight is quite sufficient. Put a little fine oil to 
 the parts where there is friction : but if the gun has been used on a 
 wet day, the locks should be taken off to be cleaned and oiled im- 
 mediately. 
 
 N.B. Detonating locks should not be snapt either with or without 
 the copper caps, but in the act of shooting. When the gun is loaded, 
 the flash from the detonating powder never enters the inside of the 
 
78 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 barrel, but if snapt upon the caps when the gun is unloaded, it drives 
 the detonating gas into the barrels, which creates rust ; and if done 
 \vithout the caps the works are liable to be injured, by reason of the 
 cocks meeting no resistance in their fall, as in flint-locks. 
 
 The pegs should by no means be used after the holes are worn 
 large by repeated firing, as it will weaken the force of the gun, and 
 damage the lock. 
 
 Directions for cleaning Guns. 
 
 1. Place the breech end of the barrels about three inches deep in 
 a bucket with cold water; then, after wetting the sponge, cloth, or 
 tow, introduce the rod into the barrels, and work it well ; then apply 
 the wire brush attached to the cleaning-rod with some clean hot 
 water, which will take out all the lead in the operation. This should 
 be invariably attended to, as it is well known washing only will not 
 remove the lead. 
 
 2. Wipe the rod and outside of the barrels dry, and set the latter 
 upright, muzzle downwards, for two minutes, to drain, after which 
 rub them out perfectly dry. 
 
 3. Wipe the barrels out clean, then pass an oiled rag down the 
 inside, and rub over the outside ; leave them a little oily, which will 
 prevent rust. 
 
 The use of cloth is preferred, as not subjecting gentlemen to 
 the serious accidents that have happened from leaving tow in the 
 chamber. 
 
 Brass, being in its nature softer than iron, allows of the brush 
 being used without the possibility of injury to the barrels. 
 
 " So much for" Lancaster and all very right; 
 except that I prefer a little fine sand or brickdust to 
 the wire brush. 
 
 " A man convinced against his will 
 Is of the same opinion still." 
 
 LOADING. 
 
 As I before observed, you are obliged, in your own 
 defence, to load a detonater lighter than a flint-gun ; 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 79 
 
 and as it goes quicker (though not stronger, as the gun- 
 makers would wish to make you believe), and for other 
 reasons before given, you may use a fourth less powder 
 than with a flint-gun. Many sportsmen feel quite 
 positive that a detonater shoots much stronger than a 
 flint. This, I have no doubt, is because it does not 
 allow them time to flinch, and therefore \heyfire the 
 body of the charge so much more accurately with a de- 
 tonater, that they kill cleaner and at greater distances. 
 
 The safest way to load a detonater is to put the caps 
 on last, taking care to leave down the cocks ; or the 
 powder, unless of large grain, would, on ramming the 
 wadding, be forced through the hole in the nipple. 
 [But let me observe, en passant, that I think the use 
 of large-grained powder ridiculous, at all events in small 
 copper-cop guns, because you are never sure that it will 
 fill a dirty chamber, much less arrive near the hole of 
 the nipple.] If you put away your gun loaded, always 
 take off the caps, not only for safety, but because the 
 locks must either be left straining at half cock, or if let 
 down and suffered to remain all night, the odds are that 
 the powder would be jammed into a sort of damp paste, 
 and both barrels would miss fire. But if you take fresh 
 caps, and prick both the vent-holes, and the nipple- 
 holes, your gun will generally fire with its usual ra- 
 pidity. 
 
 Detonating powder I have found very liable to miss 
 fire after being long in contact with any salt or damp, 
 such as a strong pressure on the elastic fluid of gun- 
 powder ; being all night in a punt in the sea air ; 
 the spray that comes over a boat in sailing, &c. 
 
 In a word, although detonating powder may be put 
 in water, arid then fired off, yet it frequently misses 
 
80 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 fire after being long in the damp and particularly when 
 shooting on salt water. I am inclined to account for it 
 by the following comparison : Take a piece of biscuit, 
 or (what would answer the proof much better) crisp 
 gingerbread ; dip it in water for a short time, and it 
 will nevertheless remain hard enough to crack before it 
 will bend. But, on the other hand, if you lay it in a 
 damp cellar all night, it will not be found crisp in the 
 morning. So it is with detonating powder ; by long- 
 continued damp it loses its crispness, and then, of course, 
 will no longer crack, or, in other words, fire by percus- 
 sion. 
 
 One of the recipes for making detonating powder is : 
 
 One ounce of oxymuriate of potash, 
 One-eighth of an ounce of superfine charcoal, 
 One-sixteenth of an ounce of sulphur, 
 
 Mixed with gum-arabic water, and then dried. It should be mixed 
 up in wood, for fear of accident. 
 
 Another, and, I am told, a far better proportion, is : 
 
 Five of oxymuriate ; 
 Two of sulphur ; and 
 One of charcoal. 
 
 I merely give the recipe, in case a sportsman should 
 be in a place where he cannot buy the composition, as 
 I presume, that no one in his senses would run the risk 
 of being blown up, in order to make, perhaps indif- 
 ferently, what he could so cheaply purchase in per- 
 fection. But why should I dwell for a moment on 
 this now$ when there is scarcely a shop in any country 
 town but can serve you with caps which are, at all 
 events, equal to home-made ones. 
 
 The foregoing directions are, I trust, sufficient ; and 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 81 
 
 I have confined them to the most simple, and, therefore, 
 as yet, the best detonating system: which, in the 
 trifling matter of caps, patches, &c. may be suited to 
 the shooter's fancy; but, as to all those intricate 
 magazines, moveable bodies, and other complicated 
 machinery, I leave their merits, and the directions about 
 them, to the dissertation of some very learned mechanic, 
 as their advantage and utility are far beyond my com- 
 prehension. 
 
 ANTI-CORROSIVE PERCUSSION POWDER. 
 
 In August, 1824, I gave the following statement 
 relative to this powder : 
 
 " Since the first part of this work was printed off, a 
 letter has been received from Mr. Joyce, chemist, 11, 
 Old Compton-street, Soho, commenting, as he is fully 
 justified in doing, on the injury done to fire-arms by the 
 oxymuriate of potash; and enclosing a specification of a 
 new ' Awzi-corrosive 9 percussion powder. The author, 
 however, is extremely tenacious of misleading his 
 readers, by recommending any article that has not been 
 thoroughly tried ; and, therefore, all he can as yet say 
 is, that he has fired 24 copper caps with this new 
 powder, after dipping each cap, for some time, in water, 
 and not one of them missed fire ; nor was there any 
 acid produced by the decomposition. 
 
 " Were Mr. Joyce's invention good for the gun trade, 
 it would soon find its way to the public ; and, if de- 
 fective, he might expect every assistance for its im- 
 provement. But as, on the contrary, it is rather the 
 
 G 
 
82 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 reverse, he may probably meet with obstacles to getting 
 it fairly circulated for trial ; and, for this very reason, 
 the author is induced to mention it. He hopes, there- 
 fore, that some other sporting-writer, who may be going 
 to press after the ensuing season, will have time to 
 review, and further inform the public as to the merits 
 or demerits of this invention." 
 
 Little was I aware, at the time of writing this, that 
 the third edition would be out of print in a few months, 
 and that it would fall to my lot to give the next report 
 of this powder. 
 
 I before said, " as this new system is the life and 
 soul of trade, let us hope that the gunrnakers will 
 exert their chemical powers to render this ' devil's 
 powder' (as Mr. D. Egg used to call it) less poisonous 
 to fire-arms." 
 
 It appears, however, that the gunmakers knew better. 
 But Mr. Joyce has proved a sad enemy to the fraternity 
 who fatten on the destruction of iron, by establishing a 
 manufactory of this anti-corrosive percussion powder, in 
 which he does away entirely with the oxy muriate. 
 
 It may be hardly fair to say publicly what the 
 composition is (because Mr. Joyce candidly told me, 
 though I believe it is pretty well known) ; and although 
 it was long ago adopted by Mr. Goode Wright of 
 Hereford (according to a statement which, as an utter 
 stranger, I was favoured with by this gentleman), yet 
 Mr. Joyce has had so many obstacles to overcome be- 
 fore he could bring it to perfection, that we must, at all 
 events, give him a great deal of credit. In short, it is 
 of no consequence to me as the writer, and much less 
 to the public as readers, how much credit is to be given 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 83 
 
 to one of these gentlemen or to the other ; so let them 
 fight it out themselves, and, in the mean time, leave me 
 to go on with my work. For I have as much dislike 
 to superfluous writing, as to interfering with the con- 
 tests of others. Enough of this now again to the 
 point about the powder. When Mr. Joyce first brought 
 it forward, his agent in Birmingham had served him 
 with caps of brittle cannon-metal, instead of the best 
 worked copper. The consequence was, that many 
 sportsmen, and I among the number, were severely cut, 
 and had nearly lost an eye, owing to the quality of the 
 cap, not the powder. This was of course a glorious 
 victory for all Mr. Joyce's oxygen-opponents, and the 
 fault was unjustly laid on the composition. I can only 
 say, however, by subsequent experience, that since Mr. 
 Joyce has used nothing but good copper, all the caps 
 that I had of him have gone as well as any in the 
 kingdom, and his percussion powder does not injure 
 the guns any thing like so much as the other. Let 
 him, therefore, be very careful, in future, to get sup- 
 plied with GOOD COPPER, of a good substance, and I 
 may safely venture to recommend his " Anti-corrosive 
 percussion powder." 
 
 P.S. 1830. Mr. Joyce, having since paid great at- 
 tention to this, has now completely established his 
 powder all over the world ; and is therefore no longer 
 in need of any one to plead his cause. A large manu- 
 factory is now established by Messrs. F. & E. Joyce at 
 No. 55, Bartholomew Close, West Smithfield ; and so 
 extensive is this business, that the chemical establish- 
 ment in Compton-street has been resigned to Mr. 
 Potter, who is Mr. Joyce's retail dealer in, and there- 
 fore the best agent for gentlemen to apply to if they 
 
 G 2 
 
84 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 want, copper caps. There is now a great deal of im- 
 position going on in the copper-cap line ; and I feel it 
 my duty to mention it, in order to put gentlemen on 
 their guard. 
 
 SHOOTING, 
 Difference in, between a Flint and a Detonater. 
 
 Here we come to a part of the subject, the very title 
 of which, in the present day, would soon clear off an 
 edition of a pamphlet : and it therefore becomes a 
 matter of surprise that the book manufacturers have 
 not been more on the alert in reaping a harvest from 
 it; as this fashionable theme, if well diluted with 
 anecdotes and specifications, might be spun into a good- 
 sized volume. All that is really wanted, however, is 
 the essence of the subject, and therefore I shall make 
 my humble attempt to give it. 
 
 As a detonater goes so very much quicker than a 
 flint, it becomes necessary, in firing one, to avoid 
 shooting too forward ; and I should, therefore, revert to 
 my former hints for young men learning to shoot, and 
 say, observe precisely all that I before said under the 
 head of shooting, but IF YOU HAVE A DETONATER 
 make only HALF the allowance ; that is, where you 
 would fire six inches before a bird with a flint, fire 
 
 Only THREE INCHES with a DETONATER ; AND SO 
 
 ON. If a sportsman has been all his life an indifferent 
 shot, which he may be, either through never having 
 acquired the knack of firing sufficiently forward ; flinch- 
 ing as he pulls the trigger; dropping his hand before 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 85 
 
 the gun is fairly discharged; or many other such cir- 
 cumstances : I most strongly advise him to lose not a 
 moment in getting a detonater, because I have known 
 many instances, where a man had been a very bad 
 shot all his life, through defects which the use of a de- 
 toriater might so effectually remedy, that by taking up 
 one he might, almost immediately, become a tolerable, 
 if not a very good shot. For one, however, who has 
 always shot well with a flint, it becomes somewhat dif- 
 ficult to give advice. On first taking up the detonater, 
 he will, by habit, fire well forward at all his game, and, 
 very probably, have the mortification to miss such shots, 
 as he was before in the habit of killing. (Of this I was 
 an eye-witness when out with one of the most certain 
 shots in England.) He will soon, however (to use a 
 sailor's expression), " know the trim" of his gun ; and, 
 taking all things into consideration, most probably shoot 
 still more accurately with a detonater than he had been 
 used to do with a flint, by reason of its very great 
 readiness in obey ing the pull of the trigger, before the 
 eye or hand has time to vary .; its equal rapidity in foul 
 or damp weather ; and having scarcely any flash from 
 the lock of the first barrel to intercept the sight of the 
 second. He must, however, compound for a greater 
 recoil to the shoulder ; and, on the whole, I should say, 
 to missing fire rather oftener than with a good flint, 
 provided he is out in fine still weather. We may, 
 therefore, on the whole, taking all things into considera- 
 tion, say, that at first a detonater may make a good 
 shot an indifferent shot, and both first and last an in- 
 different shot a good shot, and therefore we may be 
 rather inclined to give the balance in its favour. But, 
 
86 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 to coincide with all the panegyrics that are written, by 
 keen young sportsmen who happen, perhaps, to have 
 been shooting extremely well, and despatch their bul- 
 letins on the spur of the moment, w r ould be to overrate 
 the detonater, and to underrate the flint, and therefore 
 not giving a fair and disinterested opinion. 
 
 Why it becomes a question whether a good shot ought 
 to fly to a detonater or not is this : After he has been 
 using one for a season, or even a few weeks' shooting, 
 he will, on taking up his flint-gun again, find that it 
 goes comparatively so slow, after the other, that it will 
 appear to hang fire ; and, very probably, so puzzle and 
 disconcert him, that perhaps his best and favourite gun 
 is either packed up for the pawnbroker, or stripped of 
 its flint-appendages, and metamorphosed into a de- 
 tonater. And the whole armoury, if he has many guns, 
 is considered as mere lumber, unless altered, or ex- 
 changed for guns on the detonating system. He there- 
 fore takes to fulminating powder, like a wife, " for 
 better for worse," and this is one of the chief reasons 
 why the percussion plan has so rapidly superseded the 
 flint. Did both go equally quick, I am inclined to 
 think the flint would have held the majority. If a 
 sportsman, who has no money to throw away, has been 
 accommodated with the loan of a detonater, the only 
 way for him to back out of it, is to modulate as it were 
 into his flint-gun again, by using the slowest old 
 musket he can lay hands on, and then taking, after 
 that, his best flint-gun. 
 
 Before dismissing this subject, I must just name one 
 circumstance : While I was using nothing but de- 
 tonating guns for four seasons, it was the remark of 
 
DETONATING SYSTEM. 8? 
 
 my man, that he never had the pleasure to see me 
 make such long shots as I was once in the habit of 
 doing ; and I, ready to lay all the fault on myself, or 
 rather to a premature attack of that anno domini com- 
 plaint which must befall the best of us, felt that I dare 
 not blame a system which my superiors had so uni- 
 versally adopted. I took up a flint-gun. This was 
 worse and worse ; as its comparative slowness made me 
 miss even fair shots. The next year, however, having 
 been prevented, by illness, from taking a gun in hand 
 till just before the end of the season, the sensation of 
 firing a flint and a detonater became as it were de novo. 
 I accordingly took out aj#m-gun, and down came the 
 long shots, as in former days ! I name this as a simple 
 fact. Let others argue the point as they please. So 
 I shall now conclude the subject by reducing the 
 matter to a very few words. Can you shoot well with 
 a flint-gun? Yes! Then " leave well enough alone!" 
 Can you ? No ! Then, by all means, go and get a 
 detonater ! 
 
 I have now, I hope and trust, fairly and disinterestedly 
 stated all that is necessary, both for and against the 
 detonating system, which, at no small expense, I have 
 tried by every kind of experiment, in order to be able 
 to give my opinion to the public independent, instead 
 of with the assistance, of gunmakers. But, before I 
 close the subject, let me not appear inconsistent : I 
 still maintain that the detonater has not the power 
 of the flint-gun, and yet I admit that, by a different 
 mode of boring, the percussion-guns are now wonder- 
 fully improved : insomuch as to be almost equal in 
 strength to the flint-guns. Nay, I will say even more : 
 
88 DETONATING SYSTEM. 
 
 give them an increased weight of metal, which to many 
 is a trouble to carry; retard the charge, and thus in- 
 crease the recoil ; and then I admit, with the very great 
 improvement that has lately been made in barrels, 
 they will no doubt even beat those flint-guns which 
 were manufactured a few years ago; but, without all 
 this, they would be found as inferior as ever to flint- 
 guns. 
 
THE wonderful improvements and increase of light 
 coaches have of late rendered travelling sportsmen 
 more independent of the mails, or to use the modern 
 term, "paper-carts? so that we are no longer at the 
 mercy of guards and coachmen for taking a gun-case 
 on a journey. But, in the few instances where it may 
 be found inconvenient, the shooter may carry his gun 
 in a sail-cloth, and over that an oil-skin case : or, as a 
 safer plan, have a short piece of wood, just to fill up 
 the hollow of his stock, made flat at the top, and with 
 loops to receive the bolts at the bottom. Let the parts 
 where his locks fit in have pieces of wood fitted into 
 them also; and the locks may be put in his port- 
 manteau. The stock, thus secured and covered over, 
 may then be safely put in the coach-seat, and he may 
 either lay the barrel with it, or cany it in his hand ; 
 or sling both, in a bit of canvas,"under the inside of the 
 roof. But, with copper-cop percussion-guns, all this 
 trouble, about the locks, may be avoided ; as they are 
 more simple, and therefore less liable to accidents. 
 
ALL our trouble with guns would be ill bestowed, if 
 \ve neglected a due attention to the care and choice of 
 this article. 
 
 Gunpowder, when good, is made of ingredients per- 
 fectly pure, properly mixed, and judiciously propor- 
 tioned. 
 
 The principal ingredient, saltpetre, should be en- 
 tirely divested of marine salt, as that is a great obstacle 
 to the production of good powder, of which there is, in 
 all saltpetre, a certain, and often a considerable quan- 
 tity ; and, in proportion as it is more or less freed from 
 that impurity, so the powder will be more or less liable 
 to imbibe damp air, and become proportionally moist 
 and weak. But when it is perfectly freed from marine 
 salt, the powder will suffer but little diminution of its 
 strength from being carelessly kept, or even openly 
 exposed to a moist atmosphere, as what it might, by 
 this means, have lost, would be presently restored by 
 drying it. 
 
 Your powder should always be properly dried; in 
 order to do which, make two or three plates very hot, 
 before the fire, and (first taking care to wipe them well, 
 lest any particle of cinder should adhere to them) keep 
 constantly shifting the powder from the one to the 
 
POWDER. 91 
 
 other, without allowing it to remain sufficiently long on 
 either, to cool the plate. The powder will then be more 
 effectually aired, and more expeditiously dried, than by 
 the more common means of using one plate, which the 
 powder, by lying on it, soon makes cold, and therefore 
 the plate requires to be two or three times heated. 
 (This is another little discovery since the earlier edi- 
 tions.) Nothing preserves the strength of powder better 
 than, after being dried, to put it into canisters, securely 
 corked from the air. Mr. Butts latterly did so, by my 
 advice. Beware of going any where near the fire to 
 dry powder on plates. Recollect how far a hot cinder 
 will sometimes fly, and therefore, to be on the sure 
 side, run with your hot plates out of the room, and go 
 where there is no fire. As a still safer plan too, I 
 might name the use of a common pewter waterplate, 
 or dish ; by having recourse to which there can be no 
 risk of accident ; except that, through awkwardness, 
 the powder might be wetted, instead of being dried. 
 This way of drying is much on the same principle as 
 that which is now in general use in powder works ; viz. 
 by means of steam passing through pipes, or other 
 receptacles, by transfusion of heat through those pipes, 
 or cases, from which the air of the drying-room is heated 
 to as great a degree as is requisite for the purpose of 
 drying the powder. 
 
 Good powder burns red in the pan, will keep its 
 strength for two years (or more, if made with due care 
 and attention to the principles before mentioned), and 
 may be had from most of the mills. 
 
 As I formerly observed, Pigou and Andrews's has 
 the name of being the best, and is unquestionably most 
 excellent ; but I have never found any to please me 
 
92 POWDER. 
 
 quite so well as the cylinder powder ', which was origin- 
 ally prepared by Mr. Butts, of Hounslow, whose more 
 important concerns, in manufacturing for government, 
 had for many years (luckily for his rivals) prevented 
 him, in some degree, from showing forth in the sport- 
 ing world. In my former editions, I stated that the 
 government contracts, though probably not at an end 
 with Mr. Butts, would soon be considerably lessened ; 
 and we should, therefore, have reason to hope, that 
 there would not exist that difficulty, which there was 
 then, in procuring this extraordinary good powder. 
 My predictions have since been verified ; and Mr. 
 Butts, after highly distinguishing himself in the sport- 
 ing world, retired with the ample fortune which he 
 deserved ; and, I regret to add, died in November, 
 1824. His successors are Messrs. Curtis and Mr. 
 Harvey, from whom I continue to receive the cylinder 
 powder, if possible, better than ever. Their mills are 
 on Hounslow Heath ; their gunpowder office is No. 74, 
 Lombard-street. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence, of Battle, Mr. Taylor, and several 
 others, have now brought their sporting-powder to the 
 greatest perfection. 
 
 With regard to the strength and other good qualities 
 of gunpowder, I shall, instead of saying any thing 
 farther, recommend the epreuvette (or powder proof), 
 whereby we can always be certain of finding out the 
 best ; provided that this machine is properly made, 
 properly used, and nicely cleaned after every fire. I 
 should observe, however, that the little trifling things 
 called powderproqfs, or powdertryers, which sell for 
 three or four shillings, are as likely to mislead as to 
 inform the person using them. 
 
POWDER. 93 
 
 The proper " epreuvette" is very correctly made; 
 the wheel on which the gradations are marked is large, 
 and the spring strong ; consequently the resistance to 
 the force of the powder is considerable. The stronger 
 it is the better; for without the resistance is strong, a 
 correct proof cannot be obtained ; because, if not suf- 
 ficiently strong to detain the powder in the chamber long 
 enough for all the particles to ignite, many of them 
 (especially in powder of good firm grain) willjly off 
 unburnt, and, of course, a part only of the charge 
 would be proved. 
 
 The part, attached to the wheel of the epreuvette, 
 which shuts the mouth of the chamber, should be so 
 nicely adjusted, that on looking closely at the parts, 
 when in contact, no light can be seen between them ; 
 for, if any light, there is of course so much vacancy, 
 and consequently so much windage; and, in proportion 
 to the windage, the proof will be lower; and, therefore, 
 incorrect. 
 
 Three fires, at least, should always be made in proving, 
 and the average taken as the mean amount ; for varia- 
 tions frequently happen in fires immediately following 
 each other, although made with considerable attention. 
 Care should be taken, after every fire, to clean the 
 chamber nicely, or otherwise the foulness left by the 
 preceding discharge would lessen the space, by which 
 the succeeding charge would become proportionally less. 
 
 The best powder for copper-cap guns is the "fine 
 cylinder? because with them the large-grained powder 
 is so liable to miss fire. But with copper primers we 
 may venture on that of larger grain ; and particularly 
 in damp weather or on salt water. But by experi- 
 ments, in 1829, I find that the size in grain of the 
 
94 POWDER. 
 
 powder should be as duly proportioned to that of the 
 gun, and the long distances for which it is required, as 
 the wadding must be to the size of the caliber. 
 
 As I stated to Messrs. Curtis and Mr. Harvey, I 
 have invariably observed that small-grained powder 
 fails to answer in large guns ; particularly on salt 
 water, and in damp weather. It always shoots weak, 
 beyond fifty or sixty yards, and is very liable to hang 
 fire. If a punt-gun is loaded with fine powder, and 
 brought in at night, the chances are that it would hang 
 fire in the morning. But, with coarse cannon-povtder, 
 I have known a gun that has been loaded a fortnight 
 go off as well as possible, by merely being probed and 
 fresh primed. I may perhaps be asked by some green 
 gunner (such a one, for instance, as would ask a man 
 with a punt, a dog, and mud-boards, how he got the 
 birds after killing them ? !) " Why not fire off the gun 
 and reload it?" To this the answer would be, that 
 the discharge of only the powder would, most probably, 
 clear a small pond, or even harbour, of every bird that 
 was in it ; and therefore be liable to spoil a grand shot, 
 t/wglazed powder is the strongest and quickest. Why 
 they glaze powder at all I am at a loss to know, unless 
 it is to tickle the fancy of the dandies. 
 
 I one day tried a coast-gun with fine powder it shot 
 miserably ; then with large-grained powder (such as Joe 
 used for detonaters) it shot but so so*; and then 
 with unglazed cannon-powder, and it shot admirably. 
 Here is the thing proved at once ! I therefore requested 
 Messrs. Curtis and Mr. Harvey to make me a sample 
 
 * I stated this to be the best of all, when we last went to press ; 
 but I have now to apologise for an error, which I was led into by 
 the bad quality of the cannon-powder against which I tried it. 
 
POWDER. 95 
 
 of superior powder, unglazed, and of that sized grain. 
 This I tried the whole of last winter ; and, though 
 the severe weather, by cutting off all communication, 
 obliged me to keep the gun and punt constantly afloat 
 for several weeks, I had not one miss-fire. Of all the 
 powder used, I never had any so good as this ; and, in 
 order to know what to ask for, I proposed that it 
 should be called my " sea-gun" powder. [But, re- 
 member this is only for large punt-guns, that carry 
 about two ounces of it.] 
 
 Messrs. Curtis and Mr. Harvey now serve only the 
 trade, which is perhaps no more than just : but I 
 confess I regret this ; because, whatever powder came 
 direct from them was of superior excellence ; whereas 
 a retail dealer may receive his powder good, and then 
 completely spoil it by damp, or too long keeping. / 
 will be answerable only for gentlemen at the foun- 
 tain-head ; so let them be answerable for their retail 
 dealers. It may be right, however, to say that the 
 gunmakers are by far the best deputy powder-mer- 
 chants, and take great pains in the management of 
 their powder; because on that the killing of their guns, 
 must depend ; and therefore we must readily forgive 
 any innocent little bit of " bam" as to putting their 
 own names to it, &c. This is all fair ; and it is really 
 a charity to let them earn a trifle, now that they have 
 been half-ruined by getting caught in their own trap 
 the detonating guns ; and then sadly troubled with the 
 " shorts," from gentlemen finding it impossible to " cash 
 up," owing to the failure of their farming tenants. 
 
MANY select their shot in proportion to the she of 
 the bird, when it ought to depend more on that of the 
 caliber; for it is not so much the magnitude of the 
 pellet, as \\\z force with which it is driven, that does 
 the execution. 
 
 For instance, a common-sized gun (well breeched, 
 and properly bored) will shoot No. 7 better than any 
 other shot ; and although a deviation, according to 
 circumstances, may be sometimes necessary, yet I am 
 confident, that had you, for a whole season, no other 
 sized shot in your possession, you would (taking 
 every thing, from mallard and hare to quail and Jack- 
 snipe) find that you had shot with more universal 
 success, killed more game, and brought down your 
 birds in a handsomer style, than you had ever done, 
 while whimsically following other plans. 
 
 For my own part, I should scarcely ever, with a 
 small gun, use any other shot, except for killing 
 snipes in February and March, when other birds 
 should not be fired at. In this case, unless I had 
 a very close-shooting gun, I should use No. 8, the 
 difference between which and 7 is more than that of any 
 
SHOT. 97 
 
 other two numbers, from 1 upwards. All sizes above 
 3, or 2 at largest, I shall bring under the head of duck- 
 guns, with which only they will lie compact in the 
 caliber; though, if I went out solely for the purpose 
 of shooting wildfowl with a small gun, then I should 
 of course prefer No. 3 to No. 7. 
 
 No. 9 is rather too small, and the use of dust shot 
 absurd, except for small birds ; as, at any distance, 
 snipes will fly away with it, if shot in the body ; and, 
 to break a bone with it, the bird must be very close : 
 add to which, its disadvantage in windy weather, and 
 the impossibility of manufacturing it so well as the 
 regular numbered shot. 
 
 The reason why small shot answers best is, that it 
 lies more compact in the barrel ; and, consequently, re- 
 ceives more effectually the force of the powder than 
 large shot, which can only have this advantage in a 
 proportionably large caliber. Thus it is, that a grain 
 of small shot, from a small gun, will kill far better, in 
 proportion, than one of large; and, with it, you have 
 not only the chances multiplied in favour of taking a 
 vital part, but the same advantage of penetrating 
 feathers, that a pin would have (with a moderate 
 pressure on it) over a nail; and it shoots so regular 
 a surface, that a bird, at forty yards, could very seldom * 
 get away ; whereas the large shot, from the objection 
 before named, will often fly so wide and irregular that 
 
 * I say, very seldom, instead of never, by reason, that the best 
 gun in England, tried (although regularly cleaned) two hundred 
 times at sheets of paper, the size of birds, may once, or more, not 
 put a single grain in, although properly loaded and well directed. 
 
 H 
 
98 SHOT. 
 
 the game will escape between the void spaces of the 
 circle. 
 
 It must, however, be admitted, that, with No. 3 or 
 4, a few more accidental shots, at immense distances, 
 may be made, than with No, 7 ; but then let it be re- 
 collected, that, for the sake of killing one bird now 
 and then at seventy yards, we are not only wounding 
 many others, by being tempted to fire large grains at 
 such distances, but sacrificing the almost certainty of 
 killing fair shots, for the mere chance of making long 
 ones ; as well as uselessly dirtying and wearing our 
 guns. 
 
 Now, as I have recommended small shot, many per- 
 sons may say, " Suppose we go out in November, we 
 may then possibly get twenty shots in a morning, pro- 
 vided we choose to take our chance at fifty or sixty yards, 
 and perhaps during the whole day may not have one 
 opportunity of firing our guns within thirty yards ; do 
 you mean to argue, that, in this case, small shot is best?" 
 In answer, I should say, " If you go out with the 
 prospect of getting shots only at long distances, or 
 through thick wood, you certainly may succeed better 
 with No. 2, or 3, than 7 ; but if you wish to avoid 
 occasionally missing the fairest shots, although with 
 the most accurate aim, you will, for this purpose^ lay 
 aside your double gun, and take the largest single- gun 
 that you can possibly manage, as you may then use 
 No. 1, 2, or 3 shot, without any risk of throwing it in 
 patches." 
 
 All those who prefer No. 4, or 3, in common-sized 
 guns, contend, that as large shot will kill at a long 
 distance, it must kill at a short one. Kill it may when 
 
SHOT. 99 
 
 it hits ; but is it always so sure of hitting ? And, if it 
 does take a bird, is not a vital part more likely to escape 
 from three or four straggling pellets, than from ten or 
 a dozen grains, which are regularly distributed in the 
 same space? Why does large shot in too small a 
 caliber fly not only thinner, but in a wider circle? 
 Because the larger the grains, the more, by rotary 
 motion, they rebound away from each other. 
 
 The annexed schedule is about the usual weight of 
 shot. 
 
 SCHEDULE OF SHOT, 
 
 According to labelled samples, which were sent me 
 from Messrs. Walker, Maltby, and Co., Patent Shot 
 Tower, Lambeth. The firm is now Messrs. Walker, 
 Parker, and Co., as Mr. Maltby is established in the 
 shot-business by himself, at the new round tower on 
 the other side of the bridge. 
 
 MOULD SHOT. 
 
 No. of pellets 
 to 1 oz. 
 
 LG -, 7 . 5 
 
 MG . . (hardly) 9 
 
 SG ... . .11 
 
 SSG ; ; . $tf,\ . is 
 
 SSSG . 17 
 
 Best made, and by far the most usefyl of all mould shot. 
 
 H 
 
100 SHOT. 
 
 PATENT DROP SHOT. 
 
 AA ; -;.Vi- . .40 
 
 A* . . .50 
 
 BB .... 58 
 
 B ... 75 
 
 1 .... 82 
 
 2 :tf ... 112 
 
 3 ... 135 
 
 4 . 177 
 
 5 . . .218 
 
 6 . . 280 
 
 7 . . .341 
 
 8 . 600 
 
 9 .. V . 984 
 10 .. . 1726 
 
 The pleasure of using and counting the dust shot, 
 I leave to those who recommend it ! 
 
 The shot of different manufacturers varies much in 
 size : for example, an ounce of No. 7, from Messrs. 
 Walker and Parker, amounts to 341 pellets ; and the 
 same weight, from Mr. Beaumont (late Preston), 398 
 ditto, &c. : and in some places the numbers are re- 
 versed. 
 
 Many sportsmen recommend the use of unglazed 
 shot ; others wet their shot with sweet oil. I have tried 
 both these plans repeatedly, but could not find sufficient 
 advantage in either to justify my recommending them. 
 
 * In the general use of a common duck-gun, at flight, where the 
 coast is much disturbed, I have found this to be the best shot for 
 wildfowl, as they most commonly present ten long shots for one fair 
 one, and are so apt to^ after being mortally wounded. But for 
 the proper night-shooting afloat, with a 70lb. barrel, that will burn 
 2oz. of powder, No. 1, in the long run, is worth all the other sizes 
 put together. 
 
SHOT. 101 
 
 The object of both is to prevent the gun from leading; 
 and, as they can do no harm, I should, if a choice readily 
 offered, prefer using the shot unglazed, or oiled, for 
 the chances of any trifling advantages which may be 
 thereby derived. 
 
 NEW PATENT SHOT. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Manton has obtained a patent for one of 
 the greatest possible improvements in shot, which simply 
 consists in mixing a little quicksilver with the lead. 
 By means of this process the shot is rendered harder 
 and heavier, and wholly divested of the arsenic, which 
 was one of the chief objections to the original patent 
 shot. 
 
 The advantages thus derived are, that shot of a small 
 size, which lies the most compact, and therefore always 
 answers best, in the calibers of small guns, has, from 
 its additional weight, the same force as shot of rather a 
 larger size ; and the game, after being killed with this 
 shot, will keep much longer. Moreover, by the fore- 
 going process, the shot becomes as clean as silver to 
 handle, or carry loose in the pocket ; and its friction, 
 when firing, leads the calibers little or nothing in com- 
 parison to the old shot. 
 
 An advantage, too, above all the others, I should not 
 omit to mention, is, that in this shot the surface of every 
 pellet is precisely alike, owing to a different process of 
 manufacturing ; which could never be the case with 
 shot that had arsenic in its composition. 
 
 This must, of course, tend to make the charge lie 
 
102 SHOT. 
 
 with more precision in the barrel, and consequently be 
 more evenly dispersed in and round the object. 
 
 *#* Before this article first went to press, I made a point of pro- 
 curing, for examination, a sample of the new shot, and then of going 
 down to Messrs. Walker and Co/s manufactory expressly to ascertain 
 all particulars as to its advantages : consequently I did not begin 
 writing on the subject from the mere ipse dixit of Mr. Mantou. I 
 then used this shot for the only fortnight that I took up a gun the 
 season after it first came out ; and, as I never shot better, or made 
 more long shots, since detonaters have been the order of the day, I 
 have every reason to speak well of it. The number of shots tried 
 I do not remember ; but I have a memorandum of killing 207 head 
 of game in six days (though a part of each day was devoted to some 
 extraordinary sport in trout fishing, owing to damp windy weather). 
 I may therefore venture to say that I have given this shot a pretty 
 fair trial. It appears however that, perhaps owing to the extra 
 price, there is now but little demand for this shot; and indeed the 
 new system of saturating the edges of the wadding, with a mercurial 
 preparation, serves as a substitute for many of its advantages. 
 
 ELEY'S PATENT SHOT-CARTRIDGES. 
 
 I have taken as much trouble about these cartridges 
 as if I had been a partner in the concern ; because I 
 found the invention to be one of great merit. But, 
 for want of these cartridges being brought to perfection 
 before they were served to the public, there arose many 
 prejudices which it may now be a work of time to over- 
 come. It would be an absolute waste of paper to publish 
 the experiments I have made, and the correspondence 
 I have had, with Mr. Jenour the inventor, and Mr. 
 Eley the purchaser of the patent ; because all that the 
 public can wish for is to hear, from some disinterested 
 
SHOT. 103 
 
 person, who has thoroughly investigated the subject, 
 the merits or demerits of the invention. In 1827, Mr. 
 Jenour waited on me, as an entire stranger, relative to 
 publishing a pamphlet entitled " An Essay," &c. &c. 
 on the " Spiral Cartridge ;" an invention for which he 
 received a premium from the Society of Arts, but which 
 he had made too public to admit with safety of his 
 taking out a patent. He however felt anxious to bring 
 the invention into notice ; and Mr. Davison, most 
 kindly, on my introducing him, undertook the printing 
 of his pamphlet. To be brief, this led to his inventing 
 a better, because more simple, kind of cartridge ; and 
 this he wisely kept as a secret, till he could meet with 
 some one who had the wherewithal to speculate in 
 a patent. Messrs. Eley became the purchasers ; but 
 latterly the concern remained with Mr. Charles Eley 
 alone. To describe the many blunders that were made, 
 first by putting sand, and then tallow-grease, with 
 the shot, (against which I wrote letter after letter of 
 remonstrance), would be needless ; but suffice it to say 
 that, by the time the cartridges were brought so far 
 to perfection as to be worth their weight in gold, for 
 certain purposes, the circulation of the imperfect ones 
 had given them an almost irretrievable blow ; and here 
 ended the grand establishment in Charlotte-street. Mr. 
 Eley then retired to Waltham Cross, and employed 
 a Mr. Fairman as agent, at a little shop in Fitzroy 
 Market ; till, at last, Mr. Purdey, the gunmaker, took 
 to the concern, and purchased for <100 what had the 
 year before been refused ,10,000 for ! This Purdey 
 told me himself; and I would take his word as soon as 
 that of any man in London. This was a masterly 
 manoeuvre of Purdey ; because it enables him to cope 
 
104 SHOT. 
 
 with Lancaster, and every other first-rate barrel -borer 
 in doing execution at enormous distances. He must 
 however be content with a fair living profit, and regu- 
 late his price accordingly; as almost any one could 
 make these cartridges, to use the modern vulgar 
 tongue, " on the sly." But I beg pardon ; I am in- 
 truding on my readers too much of the history, instead 
 of the quality, of the patent cartridge. Let me then 
 direct my observations to the more useful part of the 
 subject. The rock on which Mr. Eley's patent at first 
 became wrecked was this : he made his wire a great 
 deal too stiff, and his meshes too small ; and the conse- 
 quence was, that every now and then, the cartridge 
 either flew, like a ball, in one solid body, or left so 
 much of the charge in one end of the cage as to have 
 an effect equally dangerous ; and nearly as uncertain 
 for correct shooting. But at last he became convinced 
 of what I repeatedly stated to him, and sent me some 
 cartridges that I tried all last season ; and, for long 
 distances, they surpassed any thing I could possibly 
 have expected. They killed birds quite dead at distances 
 that it would have been folly to fire at with a common 
 charge; and when applied to wildfowl guns, they proved, 
 as I always predicted, the most useful invention in 
 existence. He made some with mould shot, which were 
 a decided failure. But those with patent shot, and par- 
 ticularly the small shot, were fired through the season 
 without once " balling." But I found it necessary to 
 take aim lower with the patent cartridge ; because it 
 keeps rising in the same ratio with the cylinder of the 
 gun ; instead of falling, from its gravity, to the point- 
 blank object. In shot for LONG SHOTS, either in a wild 
 open country, or shooting by day at wildfowl, I cannot 
 
SHOT. 105 
 
 say too much in favour of the cartridge in its present 
 improved state. But for general shooting, and par- 
 ticularly close shots, it is totally out of the question: it 
 increases tenfold the difficulty of killing the object when 
 very near, and spoils the birds when hit; and is of 
 course dangerous for covert or hattu shooting. Let me 
 therefore conclude with recommending my sporting 
 friends, on the one hand, not to adopt the cartridge for 
 general shooting ; but by all means to make use of it 
 on particular occasions. 
 
flints. 
 
 NONE are better than the most transparent of the common black 
 flints. Great quantities (considered as good as any) come to London 
 from Lord Cadogan's estate, at Brandon. They should be put in 
 with the flat side upwards, stand well clear of the hammer, and yet 
 be long enough to throw it. Screw them in with leather; as lead 
 strains the cock, and cloth is dangerous, from being liable to catch 
 Jire. If very particular about the neat appearance of your gun, 
 get a punch for stamping the leathers, and change them as often as 
 you put new flints. 
 
 To make a flint strike lower you have only to reverse the usual 
 way of putting it in ; but, if you want it to strike higher, you must 
 either put a very thick leather, or screw the flint in with a bit of 
 something under it. This temporary way of regulating a lock, so as 
 to make the hammer Jail, is worth knowing, as it often saves vexation 
 and loss of time. 
 
PAPEII not being stiff enough, hat dirty, card too 
 thin, and leather apt to soften with the heat of the 
 barrel, the common, and, perhaps, the best punched 
 wadding is pasteboard. The larger the bore, the 
 thicker should be the wadding. 
 
 All this attention, however, is only required in 
 covering the powder; as (except in double guns, where 
 the charge of one barrel has to encounter the explosion 
 of the other) it would be better to wad the shot with 
 common card, or even paper, knowing that much re- 
 sistance on that does more harm than good. 
 
 Common cartridges are bad, as they do not keep the 
 powder sufficiently air-tight, like the proper wadding ; 
 add to which they sometimes fly unbroken, and can 
 never be depended on. I should therefore make use 
 of them only when I wanted to load in a great hurry. 
 I have a friend, however, an old sportsman, who would, 
 for many years, never even hear of any other mode of 
 loading. He was at last persuaded, by a gentleman in 
 Dorsetshire, as good a shot, and as good a judge of a 
 gun, as any man living, to try some experiments, which 
 he readily agreed to do, from a confidence of making 
 good his argument in favour of cartridges. What the 
 particulars of this trial were, I do not exactly remember; 
 
108 WADDING. 
 
 but I know that my friend has never used a cartridge 
 since. 
 
 Nothing is better to punch your wadding on than a 
 round block, sawed out of some close-grained kind of 
 wood ; such as beech, chestnut, lime, sycamore, &c. 
 lead is improper, as it wears out the punch. 
 
 Be careful not to let your wadding get damp, or, in 
 drying, it may shrink so much as to become too small 
 for the caliber of your gun. 
 
 If you have a punch which is too large, and you have 
 consequently trouble in forcing down the wadding, just 
 bite it a little edgeways, and you will contract it so as 
 to load in a quarter of the time, without the risk of 
 either leaving a vacuum, or breaking your ramrod. 
 This, of course, I only name as an alternative, till you 
 can change your punch. If, on the other hand, the 
 punch is but a mere trifle too small, it may be enlarged 
 by being rubbed on a whetstone ; to do which, place it 
 flat, as you would on the pasteboard ; and, unless you 
 grind it too much, there will still remain a sufficient 
 edge, owing to the gritty substance in its composition. 
 
 If you have separate wadding in two pockets, and 
 have that which covers the shot pierced with a small 
 hole (or, what is better, cut with Mr. Joseph Manton's 
 dented punch), you will load as quick again. I detest 
 all frivolous trouble, but you will here find great ad- 
 vantage in the saving of time. The pasteboard which 
 covers the powder should (as before observed) be kept 
 air-tight from the shot. This, indeed, seldom troubles 
 you, as the air that passes, more or less, through all 
 locks, will admit the first wadding to go down pretty 
 freely; but, after this and the shot are in the barrel, 
 the resistance, if the wadding fits tight, as it ought to 
 
WADDING. 109 
 
 do, is then so great as to be unpleasant to the hand, 
 and inimical to expedition. 
 
 Both pockets must be in reach of the same hand, as 
 there would be no time saved if you had to shift hands 
 with the ramrod. 
 
 When using different waddings, have them of dif- 
 ferent colours, to avoid mixing them. 
 
 NEW PREPARED WADDING, FOR PER- 
 CUSSION-GUNS. 
 
 Since I had last the honour to address my readers on 
 the subject of wadding, as complete a revolution has 
 taken place in that as in guns. Instead of sending 
 sportsmen sheets of pasteboard and a punch, it is now 
 the order of the day to serve them with bags of, what 
 is called, "patent wadding." But who really has a 
 patent for the article, or who has not, I never took the 
 pains to ascertain ; though it may be known imme- 
 diately, by application at the Patent-Office. The artist 
 who first started this new concern is Mr. Wilkinson. 
 He brought out his " elastic concave wadding? accom- 
 panied by a treatise on it, with explanatory drawings. 
 At first, he made it a great deal too thick; and I 
 begged of him to reduce it to one-third the size of the 
 caliber ; since his doing which it has shot remarkably 
 well. This, being made of felt, is the only wadding, 
 EXCEPT OAKUM, that I have ever found to answer 
 well in duck-guns. 
 
 Mr. Purdey, and Mr. Lancaster, then brought out 
 waddings, cut by a dented punch, and anointed, round 
 the edge, with a chemical preparation (mercurial oint- 
 
110 WADDING. 
 
 ment will do) that has the effect, not only of cleaning 
 the gun, but, in a great degree, of removing that in- 
 crease of lead which is now occasioned by retarding 
 the charge, in order to make a detonater shoot equal 
 to a flint-gun. I received a sample of this wadding 
 from Mr. Lancaster, and it answered most beautifully; 
 because, with this, the gun kept clean, and shot equally 
 well through the whole day; and nothing could be more 
 pleasant to load with. Mr. Eley sent me a sample of 
 cork wadding ; but with this the gun sooner became 
 leaded. Then down came a batch of wadding, with a 
 request that I would try it, from Mr. Joyce. I then 
 underwent the operation of blazing away for a whole 
 morning, at quires of paper, with these waddings, against 
 Joe Manton's best pasteboard. (Nothing but a wish to 
 give correct information, in a work that has been so 
 kindly received, would have induced me to submit to 
 this insufferable " bore.") While the guns were clean, 
 the difference, among them all, was so trifling as scarcely 
 to be worth naming ; and indeed Joe's pasteboard was 
 rather the best. But the guns which were loaded with 
 cork and pasteboard soon began to " lead ;" while those 
 with the " patent" wadding kept clean, and free from 
 being, what Tom Fullerd calls, " choked up." There 
 is not a question, therefore, as to their merit. But it is 
 somewhat singular that, after all this exertion of their 
 brains, our artists never served us with one kind of 
 wadding for the powder, and another for the shot; 
 because, if there is any way of making a gun shoot 
 stronger into the bird, and easier against the shoulder, 
 than another, it is this. For, I must repeat that the 
 wadding which covers the powder should be thick and 
 air-tight ; while that which covers the shot should be 
 
WADDING. Ill 
 
 thin, and with vent. This, and a few trifling improve- 
 ments in wadding, I was anxious to see put in practice ; 
 as I have had my day, and therefore wished to serve 
 others, if I could. I then resolved to explain this to 
 some new wadding-merchant; and, as the gunmakers 
 have enough to do, if they mind their guns, I thought 
 no one more proper to select than Mr. Joyce, as the 
 quality of his waddings has proved most admirable; 
 and he is a practical chemist, who looks a little to the 
 esprit de corps, as well as to the . s. d. He will 
 therefore bring out his new sample for the ensuing 
 season, and time will show which, of all, is the best. 
 But if the wadding-merchants object to the trouble of 
 serving two sorts, let me recommend young sportsmen 
 to wad their shot with thin pasteboard, cut by a dented 
 punch. For the powder, however, they should use one 
 kind or other of these anointed waddings ; or their guns 
 will soon get " leaded," and become as dry as the very 
 subject I have been writing on. 
 
%** THE following directions were originally written 
 for, and, therefore, relate only to, flint-gnus. In percus- 
 sion-gims the powder must be reduced about one-fourth, 
 as I before observed under the head of " Detonating 
 System." 
 
 Much as may be said on this important head, I shall 
 attempt to explain it by one simple example : for in- 
 stance, to load a single gun of six, or double gun of 
 seven, eight, or nine pounds' weight, take a steel charger, 
 which holds precisely an ounce and a half of shot ; fill 
 it brim full of powder, from which first prime, and then 
 put the remainder into the barrel : to this add the same 
 measure bumper full of shot, and then regulate the tops 
 of your flasks and belts accordingly. 
 
 Some little difference of charge will, of course, be 
 required between a twenty-two and a fourteen gauge ; 
 and, in this, we may be guided by the shoulder, ob- 
 serving, at the same time, the proportion of each here 
 recommended : but, unless the gun is very heavy 9 a 
 gauge of fourteen will recoil more than one of twenty- 
 two ; so that, after all, the above charge might do equally- 
 well for both. 
 
 For those who have scales at hand, another way will 
 be to ascertain this by weight : for instance, to the guns 
 
LOADING. 113 
 
 above mentioned put one drachm and a half of powder, 
 exclusive of the priming, to an ounce and a half of 
 shot. The proportion for a twelve pounds gun to be 
 doubled; eighteen pounds trebled; twenty-four pounds 
 quadrupled, &c. with one trifling deviation ; viz. the 
 larger the gun the less should be the proportion of shot, 
 as the larger and longer the caliber the more powder 
 may be damaged in going down it. 
 
 Much more may be fired, but not always with ease 
 to the shoulder. (The powder I have measured by 
 apothecaries' weight, the shot by avoirdupois.) 
 
 The same proportion will hold good from a ladifs 
 gun to the firearms of a punt shooter, though it may, 
 in a trifling degree, be altered, as barrels shoot thin or 
 close. 
 
 Although I have mentioned being guided by weight 
 as one way of regulating a charge, yet this is not the 
 most correct means to be used, with regard to the 
 powder, for the following reason, which is not gene- 
 rally known : As sportsmen charge by measure, the 
 gunpowder-makers endeavour to include, in the space 
 to be filled, as much weight as possible; and in so 
 doing, include as much projectile force as the composi- 
 tion is capable of; it is, therefore, evidently better to 
 be guided in the powder by measure. All the powder 
 made for the king's service is exposed to the air of the 
 magazine, with the door open all day, for three weeks, 
 before it undergoes a second proof, to ascertain whether 
 it will imbibe moisture, and increase in weight, which 
 if it does beyond a certain small allowance, it is rejected. 
 
 Gunmakers will obstinately dispute this method of 
 loading; and for why? Because they try their guns in 
 confined places, use larger shot than No. 7, and look 
 
 I 
 
114 LOADING. 
 
 chiefly to the closeness of their shooting. But we should 
 remember, that if a gun is overloaded with shot, a great 
 part of it, at any distance, drops short of the object ; 
 and the remainder has not so much strength left, as if 
 that only had received ihe full force of the powder. 
 Try this on the water. I do not, however, say, but, 
 at even a little distance, some shot must strike (not 
 fall) short, if a bird is swimming. These are the 
 grains, which, in spreading, would take the under part 
 of any thing placed perpendicular. It should also be 
 observed, that with a small charge of shot you are not 
 so liable to fire behind an object crossing, or under a 
 bird which is rising, by reason that the less the weight 
 of shot is in proportion to the charge of powder, the 
 shorter time it requires to travel through the air. 
 
IF you expostulate with an old wildfowl gunner on 
 the danger of his piece, he may retaliate on that of your 
 spring powder flask ; while he (with a cow's horn, 
 stopped at one end with a piece of oakum, and at the 
 other with a bit of ood) can fill his backer-pipe, and load 
 with more safety than yon gemmenl 'Tis very true! 
 Many serious accidents have happened from sportsmen 
 not having had the precaution to detach their charge 
 before they put it into the barrel, which may have a 
 fatal spark remaining ! A spring powder horn should 
 have a cap to it, from which you can load, and by 
 means of which you keep all dead leaves, and other dirt, 
 that may fall in the pocket, from crumbling into the 
 top of it. 
 
 Having pushed back the spring, to fill the top or 
 charger, let it gradually close again on the thumb, 
 instead of allowing it to fly back and snap. I mention 
 this in consequence of an accident, which happened to 
 one, who, in doing the latter, had his hand dreadfully 
 mangled by the explosion of a flask, which it is sup- 
 posed was occasioned by the adhesion of a piece of 
 flint. 
 
 Mr. Egg and Mr. Sykes have each invented powder 
 flasks, in which, if a charge is blown up, all communi- 
 cation is so effectually prevented, that no farther damage 
 
116 POWDER FLASK. 
 
 can be done. I have seen the one of Mr. Egg repeatedly 
 tried by himself. To do this, he dropped a red hot 
 nail into the barrel, which, of course, instantly fired the 
 measure put into it. He then unscrewed the top, and 
 showed me the remainder of the powder in the horn, 
 having only guarded his right hand by a shield of 
 pasteboard, to avoid being burnt by the charge from 
 the barrel. 
 
 The principle of it is so secure as to render it im- 
 possible for the powder in the flask to ignite, while in 
 the act of loading, by the passage being completely 
 cut off, from the lever being placed on the top of a 
 strong plate instead of underneath. It also prevents 
 the flash out of the barrel from injuring the hand, as 
 the charger is fixed in an octant position, with a vent 
 to let out the flame. 
 
 The springs of these powder flasks must be kept 
 very clean and free, or, like many other ingenious pa- 
 tents, they will fall victims to the abuse of slovenly 
 sportsmen. Mr. Egg says, he " begs leave to caution 
 gentlemen of a trumpery Sheffield flask (sold in the 
 shops), with an upright charger, not being calculated 
 to answer the purpose intended, though it is an infringe- 
 ment on his patent." I have now used also the flask of 
 Mr. Sykes, since it has been improved. It appears to 
 be perfectly safe ; and nothing can be more convenient : 
 and, what is desirable in these hard times, this flask is 
 not an expensive one. 
 
 Another caution relative to powder horns in the 
 
 field : If you should have fired one barrel, and, while 
 
 in the act of reloading it, other game should be sprung, 
 
 beware of firing the other barrel until you have either 
 
 put the flash in your pocket, or thrown it on the ground. 
 
POWDER FLASK. 117 
 
 I could name several, who, through a neglect of doing 
 this, have been severely wounded by blowing up their 
 flasks; and among them, two excellent shots of my 
 acquaintance. 
 
 With regard to a powder horn in the house, common 
 sense will, it is to be hoped, teach us to take care of it ; 
 and, with a moment's reflection, convince us of the 
 danger and absurdity of frying powder in the flask, on 
 the hob of a chimney, during the whole time of a meal, 
 or other preparations, before starting for the field, 
 
Belt. 
 
 IN my humble opinion, there is, after all inventions, 
 no method of loading better than the common shot belt; 
 but it so often falls into awkward hands, and steel 
 chargers are such a pretty little item for a gunmaker's 
 bill, that it is almost considered too vulgar an appendage 
 for a gentleman. Let it be observed, however, that a 
 shot belt is light, and no incumbrance when empty; 
 does not fill the pockets; is not liable to be lost; and, if 
 properly managed, is, on the whole, as quick a mode of 
 loading as any that can be adopted. For instance : 
 First, if you have fired both barrels, and should take 
 out a charger left full only on one side, some little time 
 is lost in using another. Second, if you load with gloves 
 on, the hand is apt to catch in the pocket, from which 
 steel chargers are not so easily taken as a powder flask 
 (or, if they were, they would be liable to be lost). 
 Third, if you do not take a supply for the whole day, 
 they must be replenished ; and this office generally falls 
 to the lot of some marker, or servant, who, being per- 
 haps a clumsy handed fellow, on a fidgety horse, wastes 
 a considerable time as well as a great quantity of your 
 shot. 
 
 Frivolous as it may appear to mention so trifling a 
 subject, I shall endeavour to describe the manner by 
 which a shot belt may be managed so neatly, that it 
 
SHOT BELT. 119 
 
 may be used for a whole month without your losing 
 half a charge. 
 
 While pressing the spring with the forefinger and 
 thumb, draw the top just out ; then take a fresh hold 
 over handed, so as for the first finger and thumb to 
 steady the hand by pressing the muzzle of the belt, and 
 the second finger to be just within the ridge of the top, 
 and by closing the second finger a little, the top will be 
 sufficiently drawn out. The instant you have taken 
 this fresh hold, lean the body, with a little jerk, to the 
 right, and the shot will fill the top, of which your second 
 finger will have such a command, that none will be 
 spilt. 
 
 Before you put the first measure into the barrel, lean 
 a little to the left, or the shot will pour out of the belt ; 
 and in loading your second barrel, you must observe 
 the same motion of the body to the right and left. In 
 doing all this, the left hand should never be taken from 
 the gun. Be sure always to keep the spring inwards, 
 and have your shot-top made rather longest in the part 
 which comes under while filling it. 
 
 When we have acquired the knack of this, nothing 
 can be more quickly done, long and tedious as it may 
 appear in explanation. 
 
 Always have the tops of your shot belts made to fit 
 nicely into the muzzle of your gun, by which means, in 
 the process of drawing your charge, you can empty your 
 shot into them without losing a grain. <**~~> 
 
 ;*': 
 ' "- 
 
 ^" " t * '' ; 
 
 / WO / 
 
 < ^ *~ 
 
 .X^^feV. ' 
 
 r . . - " ^ &,_ . S*fe..*- f _^ // 
 
 .x-^^ 
 
of a 
 
 THE study of dress, in every thing further than 
 always to appear like a gentleman, or strictly in the 
 character of what a man professes (except to the age 
 of two or three and twenty, when it is as natural for a 
 young man to study dress as for a child to play with 
 toys), might possibly, with many persons, give rise to 
 a reflection on a man's understanding, or a suspicion 
 that he was a " knowing hand," who made a business of 
 adorning his person, in order to get on the weak side 
 of weak people. I therefore, lest the book should fall 
 into the hands of some philosopher, feel a hesitation in 
 introducing any subject so frivolous, except for the 
 object of suggesting what contributes to comfort \ for the 
 perusal of some citizen, who makes his first start as a 
 shooter. We all know that a jean, nankeen, or any kind 
 of thin jacket, is the pleasantest wear for September, 
 one of fustian for October, and one of velveteen for the 
 winter ; and that, for a man, who, at all times, uses but 
 one kind of jacket, fustian would be about the medium. 
 That called " &arag > aft"-fustian is by far the best and 
 most durable. After having tried almost every thing 
 that is commonly used, and some of the wretched ar- 
 ticles that are puffed by advertisement, I have found 
 nothing so good for a light summer jacket as what is 
 made at Manchester by the name of satteen,jeanet 9 or 
 
DRESS OF A SHOOTER. 121 
 
 florentine, which is printed on each side, in imitation 
 of cloth. This stuff far surpasses the others for light- 
 ness, comfort, durability, and every thing that can be 
 required for warm weather; but, as there is no par- 
 ticular interest in making it (rather the reverse), it is 
 not every where very easily procured; so that your 
 tailor would probably be obliged to order it, in doing 
 which he cannot choose it of too good a quality. 
 
 With regard to the other part of the dress, but few 
 persons appear to know what is really comfortable, and 
 I may, therefore, appear singular for considering as 
 most uncomfortable, that which is commonly, and was 
 till of late years, universally worn : I mean shoes and 
 gaiters. To say nothing of being tormented with two 
 or three dozen of buttons eveiy morning, and having 
 your ankles and knees in a state of confinement through 
 a hard day's exercise, it need only be observed, that, if 
 you step in the least puddle, you are wet ; if you tread 
 in moist ground, your shoe is pulled down at heel ; and 
 you are often liable to be annoyed by your shoes unty- 
 ing, and thorns and bits of stick, &c., getting into them, 
 or between the buttons of your gaiters. How much 
 more comfortable, then, is the dress here recommended ! 
 With lambswool stockings and flannel drawers, put on 
 a pair of overall-boots, and then draw over them a pair 
 of trousers, which may be made either of fustian or 
 leather, and so strongly defended inside the knees, that 
 no thorn can penetrate. Thus you are equipped without 
 trouble or loss of time ; you have your muscles per- 
 fectly at liberty for hard exercise, and are free from 
 every annoyance ; not to say a word on the advantage 
 and safety you have in the stirrup, if on horseback, or 
 on the infallibility of this remedy against the annoyance 
 
DRESS OF A SHOOTER. 
 
 of harvest-bugs in September. Since this was first 
 published, I see that what is here advised has become 
 very much in fashion. I have not, however, the vanity 
 to suppose that it was from my recommendation, but 
 because people now begin to find out the comfort of it. 
 
 For those who prefer gaiters, the best way to wear 
 them is with half boots, that lace close above the ankle, 
 and which require them no longer than just to reach 
 that part. 
 
 A shooting waistcoat of the same stuff as the jacket 
 is always desirable and economical. It saves an increase 
 of baggage in travelling, and may be made long to cover 
 the loins, with pockets expressly to your own fancy. 
 I have found, however, that one of dark-gray cloth, 
 with mother-of-pearl or bone buttons, is the most com- 
 fortable (unless the weather be too warm for it), and 
 will last so as to look well longer than any other. A 
 small sidepocket above the left breast is handy for 
 wadding, which may be got at with the forefinger and 
 thumb, without taking off your glove ; and as (by the 
 way) keeping the hands warm in frosty weather is a 
 matter of necessity in shooting, I shall recommend a 
 little bit of copper wire fastened either to the lower 
 button, or the shot belt, which is always ready as a 
 gunplckeri never rusts ; will not injure the platina of 
 a touchhole ; and, if you fall, will bend, instead of 
 running into you. This, if bent to a right angle, does 
 very well too as a probe for the nipples of detonaters. 
 
 A dissertation on a shooting-jacket would be absurd, 
 farther than to recommend, that, if you wish to have 
 what is commonly called a harepocket, it be lined with 
 oilskin, by which you may sponge off the blood, instead 
 of having, as many do, a jacket, that would serve as a 
 
DRESS OF A SHOOTER. 
 
 drag for a pack of harriers, by way of a nosegay for 
 ladies at a breakfast table. But I have now totally dis- 
 carded black, or dark-green, velveteen jackets, for open 
 partridge shooting. They may please the " kiddies," 
 but they frighten the birds. In the fourth week of 
 September, 1829, an old sportsman laughed at the idea 
 of this. But, at last, he changed his black hat, and 
 black-velvet jacket, with a servant of mine, who fol- 
 lowed him, for a light fustian and a straw hat : he then 
 became so convinced of his getting nearer to wild 
 stubble-birds, as to swear he " would never mount 
 another dandy-velvet !" Again, when driving a covert, 
 place an old rusty-looking gamekeeper in one station, 
 where hares and rabbits are driven towards him, and 
 the black-velvet exotic in another, and see to which 
 they will approach the nearest ; barring, of course, the 
 mask of yew-tree, fir, or holly-bush. When too cold for 
 a straw hat, use a white radical-beaver, or one of the 
 new felt hats, or, what is better, a drab-coloured cap. 
 When advising all this, remember I am only prescribing 
 for the advanced part of the season ; because in the 
 early part of September, while the stubbles are thick 
 and the birds tame, a man might sally forth even in a 
 regimental uniform and not get a shot the less. 
 
IT may not be amiss to remind the beginner what 
 articles he should know that he lias with Mm before 
 starting for the field (exclusive of having an oilskin 
 gun-cover in case of rain) : viz, powder flask, shot, 
 wadding, a knife, and a flint-case, with a gunpicker 
 and turnscrew, which, as well as a little chamber-probe, 
 are usually attached to this case. We will say nothing 
 about a game-bag, as a man, who requires to be told all 
 this, is very unlikely to kill more than may be con- 
 tained in his pockets. 
 
 In case he should forget some of these things, I only 
 beg the favour of him to learn one poor line of blank 
 verse, which will be easier remembered than one quarter 
 of what has been here said in prose : 
 
 Take powder, shot, gun, wadding, flints, and knife, 
 
 or, if with detonater, 
 
 caps, and case. 
 
Routing. 
 
 * # * I SHALL leave the following directions as they 
 originally stood, for flint-guns ; repeating my observa- 
 tion that, with detonaters, the young sportsman has 
 only to make half the allowance at crossing objects, &c. 
 
 Let every one, who begins shooting, take warning 
 from the many serious misfortunes, that have, alas ! too 
 often occurred, and start with the determination of never 
 suffering a gun, at any time, to be held for a moment, or 
 even carried, so as to be likely to come in the direction 
 of either man or beast. One, who strictly abides by this 
 golden rule, would be less liable to accidents, even if he 
 went from his door with both barrels cocked, than he, 
 who neglected it for a few frivolous maxims. 
 
 Although we are not all blessed with such nerves, as 
 to aspire to being first-rate shots, yet I have no doubt 
 but almost every man may be taught to shoot tolerably 
 well ; and, indeed, the art has of late been so much 
 improved, that although but little more than half a 
 century ago one who shot flying was viewed with wonder, 
 we now frequently meet with schoolboys, who can bring 
 down their game with the greatest dexterity. 
 
 Most men, who can, in a slow, bungling manner, kill 
 more birds than they miss, or now and then shoot bril- 
 liantly, have the name of being " excellent shots ;" and, 
 
126 SHOOTING. 
 
 as this character has an opening for scandal, the ivorld 
 is too happy to indulge them with a circulation of it, 
 while others, who have real skill, are laughing in their 
 sleeves, and have real sense to conceal it. 
 
 But (to be brief, which is here my study) allow me 
 to suggest an humble attempt for the instruction of the 
 complete novice. First, let him take a gun that he can 
 manage, and be shown how to put it to his shoulder, 
 with the breech and sight on a level, and make himself 
 master of bringing them up to a wafer. 
 
 Then, [with a wooden or bone driver, instead of a 
 flint, or any thing to protect his lock from the concussion 
 of iron versus iron, if a detonater] let him practise at 
 this mark ; and, when he thinks he can draw his trigger 
 without flinching, he may present the gun to your right 
 eye, by which you will see, at once, if he is master of 
 \\\$first lesson. In doing this he must remember, that 
 the moment the gun is brought up to the centre of the 
 object, the trigger should be pulled, as \\\Q first sight is 
 always unquestionably the best. 
 
 Then send him out to practise at a card with powder, 
 till he has got steady, and afterwards load his gun, occa- 
 sionally, with shot; but never let the time of your making 
 this addition be known to him, and the idea of it being, 
 perhaps, impossible to strike his object, will remove all 
 anxiety, and he will soon become perfectly collected. 
 
 The intermediate lesson of a few shots, at small birds, 
 may be given ; but this plan throughout must be adopted 
 at game, and continued, in the first instance, till the 
 pupil has quite divested himself of all tremor at the 
 springing of a covey, and observed, in the last, till most 
 of his charges of shot have proved fatal to the birds. 
 If he begins with both eyes open, he will save himself 
 
SHOOTING. 127 
 
 the trouble of learning to shoot so afterwards. An aim 
 thus, from the right shoulder, comes to the same point 
 as One taken with the left eye shut, and it is the most 
 ready method of shooting quick. 
 
 Be careful to remind him (as a beginner) to keep his 
 gun moving, as follows : before an object, crossing; 
 full high for a bird rising up, or flying away very low; 
 and between the ears of hares and rabbits, running 
 straight away; all this, of course, in proportion to the 
 distance ; and if we consider the velocity, with which a 
 bird flies, we shall rarely err, by firing, when at forty 
 yards, at least five or six inches before it. (As the 
 barrels of double guns usually shoot a little inwards at 
 long distances, there is so far a preference in favour of 
 the right barrel for an object crossing to the left, and 
 vice versa, that if we were beating along the side of a 
 hedge, it would be best to keep the barrel next to it in 
 a state of preparation.) Till the pupil is aufait in all 
 this, he will find great assistance from the sight, which 
 he should have precisely on the intended point, when 
 he fires. He will thus, by degrees, attain the art of 
 killing his game in good style, which is to fix his eyes 
 on the object, and fire the moment he has brought up 
 the gun. He may then, ultimately, acquire the knack 
 of killing snap shots, and bring down a November bird 
 the moment it tops the stubble, or a rabbit popping in a 
 furze-brake, with more certainty than he was once used 
 to shoot a young grouse in August, or a partridge in 
 September. 
 
 Many begin with very quick shooting, and kill ad- 
 mirably well ; but are often apt not to let their birds 
 fly before they put up their guns, and therefore dread- 
 fully mangle them, and, I have observed, are not such 
 
128 SHOOTING. 
 
 every day shots as those, who attain their rapid exe- 
 cution on a slow and good principle. 
 
 Others potter on, in the old way, all their lives, and 
 offer to shoot with any man in England, because they 
 can cock an eye, and kill twenty slow shots running! 
 Such adagio sportsmen take care never to fire random 
 shots, as they call all, that are the least intercepted, or 
 confined to time; but usually point, and then take down 
 their guns a practice, that is seldom admissible. Such 
 is my opinion of a slow poking shot, that I would rather 
 see a man miss in good, than kill in bad, style. For 
 instance, if I saw one man spring a covey of birds close 
 to his feet, and keep aiming at one till the covey had 
 flown thirty or forty yards, and even bring down his 
 bird dead, and another man miss both barrels, within 
 the same distance, I should say perhaps the latter, if in 
 good nerve, may be a good shot, but I was quite sure 
 that the former never could be one, because he was an 
 hundred years behindhand in the art of using a gun. 
 I know many old pokers who would feel sore at this 
 assertion ; but this I cannot help : it is my humble 
 opinion, and therefore I have a right to give it. 
 
 There are few of my young readers, I dare say, that 
 have not, at some time or other, met with a man, who, 
 wishing to show off his shooting, has never fired but 
 when he was pretty sure of killing, and whose pride 
 was to be able to boast after dinner, that he had bagged 
 so many birds without having missed a shot the whole 
 morning. But before we give this person credit for the 
 name to which he aspires, let us ask him whether, in so 
 doing, he brought home as much game as he ought to 
 do? or whether, in order to bag a dozen head of game 
 without missing, he has not refused at least twenty shots, 
 
SHOOTING. 129 
 
 in covert, &c., and, taking all chances, about eight or 
 ten of which ought to have been killed ? It is generally 
 the mistaken idea of those who are no judges of shooting, 
 that if a man kills a certain number of times without 
 missing, he is to be put down as a first-rate shot ; and 
 that another person, because he has been seen to miss, 
 is to be considered as his inferior. 
 
 For example, the one man goes out and springs birds 
 enough to fire fifty times, within forty yards, and per- 
 haps, being a reputation shooter, only twenty of these 
 shots happen to suit his fancy. He never fires a second 
 barrel unless the birds rise one at a time, or a covey 
 happens to spring from under his feet ; and, in short, 
 he kills his twenty birds in twenty shots. The other 
 man takes the whole of the fifty shots, many of which 
 may be very difficult ones, and under extreme disad- 
 vantages : he kills thirty-five, and misses fifteen. A 
 fair sportsman and really good judge, I conceive, would 
 not hesitate to say, that the latter has claim to be con- 
 sidered the better shot of the two. 
 
 We will then bring a first-rate shot into the field, 
 and he shall kill forty-five out of the fifty (never failing 
 of course to work both his barrels on every fair occasion) : 
 he will then have missed five times ; and would any 
 old sportsman judge so unfairly as to place before him 
 the never-miss gentleman with his twenty trap shots 
 running ? 
 
 For my part, I should not, even if he missed an open 
 shot or two within five yards of his nose ; because such 
 a circumstance might arise from his being nervous, or 
 an accident, when the other, if put to the difficulties 
 that he had been doing, would acquit himself no better 
 than an old woman. 
 
 K 
 
130 SHOOTING. 
 
 If such a person, therefore, has a pride about him, 
 and wishes to be thought a great shot, let him throw- 
 aside his double barrel ; and, under the plea of having 
 only one charge to depend on, he may come off with 
 great eclat among the average of shooters. 
 
 With regard to the distance, which constitutes a 
 fair shot, there is no speaking precisely ; but, as far as 
 such things can be brought to paper, and guns to an 
 average, I should say, that, provided a gun is held 
 straight, a bird should scarcely ever escape at forty 
 yards; and that that is the outside of point-blank 
 range, although, at fifty yards, the chances are three 
 to one in favour of killing, with & good aim; but as a 
 gun never shoots twice alike, a bird, at this distance, 
 may sometimes be struck with three or four shot, and, 
 at others, may escape through an interval, though the 
 piece be never so well directed. But, if a pellet should 
 take a bird in a vital part, or the wing, at seventy or 
 even eighty yards, it would probably come down, 
 though the odds (at such distances) are, of course, 
 against your hitting it at all. J$\i&$ flying straight 
 away, or coming to you, require a much harder blow, 
 than those crossing m flying directly over your head; 
 by reason that, in the first instance, they are partly 
 shielded by the rump, and, in the second, the feathers 
 are apt, at long distances, to glance the shot. 
 
 Under these circumstances, a man MUST either PICK 
 his SHOTS or occasionally MISS, though his gun be every 
 time held straight. I may venture to say, there is no 
 sportsman living who has not been known to miss the 
 fairest shots ; and there are very few but now and then 
 in a season will shoot badly for a whole day. It stands 
 to reason when the most skilful may become, for a time, 
 
SHOOTING. 131 
 
 unnerved fa* shooting, by ill health, oppression of mind, 
 one night's debauch, or any thing that will operate on 
 the temper or nerves. 
 
 One, who vexes himself about missing a fair shot, is 
 the less likely to support himself at all times as a first- 
 rate performer, because that vexation alone might be 
 the very means of his missing other shots, and there- 
 fore he could not be so much depended on as another 
 man, who bore the disappointment with good-humour. 
 When a good shot misses, from being nervous, it gene- 
 rally occurs through his left hand dropping as he pulls 
 the trigger; and, if it happens that his gun should 
 miss fire, he will immediately detect this, by seeing 
 that the muzzle has fallen below the line of aim. 
 The best way to remedy this is to make a firm reso- 
 lution to fire full high, and firmly grasp the stock for 
 & few shots; and, as soon as a few birds have fallen 
 handsomely, he will, most likely, recover his nerves 
 and his shooting. I have luckily felt just enough of 
 this annoyance to enable me to prescribe a little remedy 
 for it ; as I well know the unpleasant feelings of a 
 shooting sportsman when deprived of his usual skill : 
 he becomes, like one with gout, love, or sea-sickness, 
 cruelly tormented, and laughed at into the bargain. 
 
 When two persons are shooting together, there cannot 
 be a more simple way of avoiding confusion than for 
 each man, when a covey rises, to select the outer birds 
 on his own side. Let all birds that cross belong exclu- 
 sively to that shooter for whose side their heads are 
 pointed ; and let all single birds, that may rise and go 
 away fair for either person, be taken alternately, and 
 left entirely for the two barrels of the shooter to whom 
 
 K 2 
 
132 SHOOTING, 
 
 they belong. By this means there is no " wiping of 
 noses /" as they call it ; no " blazing a volley into the 
 brown of'em!" or, in other words, no jealousy; no 
 unfair work ; and two sportsmen may thus shoot coolly 
 together with good nerves and in good friendship, in- 
 stead of with jealousy and greediness, which not only 
 destroys all pleasure, but soon lessens their good shoot- 
 ing, if not their good fellowship. I adopted these regu- 
 lations for three seasons, with one of the best shots that 
 ever went into a field ; and our diversion, by this means, 
 invariably went on so pleasantly, that we shot with 
 additional confidence when in each other's company. 
 The gentleman alluded to was my lamented friend, the 
 late John Ponton, Esq., of Udders House, Dorset. 
 
 Taking the average of shooting companions, however 
 (except to beat a double hedge-row, or divide what could 
 not be seen on both sides), I should pardon any old 
 sportsman for saying that he would rather have their 
 room than their company. 
 
 From one, who professes himself an adept with a 
 double gun, it is expected, that he will kill a bird with 
 each barrel, almost every time the covey rises within 
 fair distance ; unless impeded by the smoke of his first 
 barrel or other obstacles, which he should endeavour to 
 avoid. The usual method is to take clown the gun, and 
 present it afresh, after the first shot ; but as I have seen 
 fourteen successive double shots killed the other way, 
 I shall venture to recommend it, as being more expe- 
 ditious. It is, never to take the guufrom the shoulder, 
 till both barrels are fired; by which means so little 
 time is taken between the two shots, that the first, as 
 well as the second bird, may be suffered to fly to a 
 
SHOOTING. 133 
 
 proper distance ; and let those, who are not to be trusted 
 with both barrels cocked, get the gravitating stops, or 
 use a single gun. 
 
 Since publishing the first edition of this work, I have 
 seen, on the plan here recommended, Jifteen double shots 
 at partridges fairly killed in succession, provided I may 
 be allowed to include one of the number which towered 
 and fell at so great a distance that it was never bagged. 
 It is, of course, not meant to include among these 
 doublets such birds as were sprung by the report of 
 one barrel, arid killed with the other. Shots of this 
 kind certainly intervened, as well as single ones at dif- 
 ferent sorts of game. The number altogether, killed 
 by the same person, in about five days, amounted to 
 sixty head, without one miss. 
 
 As a further proof of the quickness with which two 
 barrels may be correctly fired, provided the gun is kept 
 to the shoulder, I shall mention an instance. Mr. Ford, 
 gamekeeper to the Earl of Portsmouth, and a man about 
 six feet six! laid his gun on the ground, of course with 
 both barrels cocked ; and, after throwing off two penny- 
 pieces himself, he took up his gun, and hit them both, 
 most handsomely, before either fell to the ground. He 
 requested me to try, with his gun, if I could do the 
 same. At first I failed, for want of being, what we 
 used to call at Eton, a good " shy ;" but, after Ford 
 had given me a few lessons in the throwing department, 
 I did it the first time (though, perhaps, more by luck 
 than skill), putting five shot in one, and six in the other ; 
 which led me to conclude that, by practice, this might 
 be reduced to about the same degree of certainty as other 
 quick double shots. As to a man with his gun in his 
 
134 SHOOTING. 
 
 hand, throwing up, and hitting, two penny-pieces, or 
 halfpence, it is no more than what many good shots can 
 do, by the mere knack of catching the first just after 
 the turriy and presenting well under the second : but 
 the other performance is really a difficulty. Let some 
 of the pigeon-shooters try this, by way of a " spree," 
 and they will save a deal of innocent blood, and find 
 they have enough to do. Most people will say, " This 
 is not like shooting birds." True ; but I say this, it 
 distinguishes, to speak musically, the prestissimo from 
 the allegro in handling a double gun; and this is one 
 of the points by which we may judge as to the brilliant 
 or first-rate style of shooting. But Ford is a capital 
 game-shot also; and, as for his talent as a dove-butcher, 
 a pair of old blues have no chance with him ; though he 
 is unknown to all the celebrated artists of the trap. 
 (His gun was made by Willmot of Andover, successor 
 to Long, and ifeve of Parsons; and never, since the 
 days of Joe, have I seen one that pleased me better in 
 the mounting.) 
 
 Many sportsmen of the old school would be quite 
 irritated if laughed at for their extreme caution in 
 never allowing their gun to be cocked till after the 
 bird had risen; but if they will show me one among 
 them that can cock a gun, and bring down a snap shot 
 with as little loss of time as one who had nothing to 
 do but to present and fire, and particularly in making 
 double shots, I will resign all pretensions to argument 
 on the subject. This system may have done very well 
 half a century ago, when they might almost have " put 
 salt on the birds' tails," and when the art of neatly 
 using the second barrel was wholly unknown ; or even 
 
SHOOTING. 135 
 
 now, among the tame birds in the preserved turnip- 
 fields of Norfolk and Suffolk, where they may pick both 
 their shots, or keep the second barrel for the chance of 
 springing another bird. But those who shoot on this 
 system, in a wild country, would stand a poor chance 
 in competition with one who went up to his game with 
 both barrels cocked, at a time when the birds were 
 wary, and when the loss of an instant made the dif- 
 ference of ten yards in the distance. Then only is it 
 that the difference is to be seen between a first and 
 second-rate shot; and, consequently, that those who 
 pride themselves on skill, instead of easy slaughter, 
 have the opportunity of distinguishing themselves. 
 The argument, therefore, as to not cocking a gun, can 
 only be heard on the question of safety. And here 
 again I must confess I have my doubts as to their cor- 
 rectness. We will put a cool and steady old sportsman 
 out of the question : but suppose an eager young man, 
 who is unaccustomed to shooting, walks up to his dog 
 with his gun half-cocked; the moment the birds rise 
 he is in such a state of agitation, that in attempting to 
 draw back the cock of his gun, with a trembling hand, 
 he lets it slip before the scear has caught the tumbler. 
 Off goes the gun ! and the best fortune that can be 
 expected is the happy escape of a favourite dog, or the 
 life of his fellow-shooter. While, on the other hand, 
 if he goes up with his gun cocked, and his companion 
 or follower sees that he advances with the mu^de in a 
 safe and elevated position, the worst that can happen 
 is, that he may fire it by accident, in a direction that 
 may be as likely, or more so, to kill a bird than when 
 he aimed at it, or, at all events, in one that could en- 
 
136 SHOOTING. 
 
 danger neither man nor dog. With regard to present- 
 ing a gun, the hand, when near the guard, is in the 
 safest, and when grasping the stock in the firmest 
 position. Here let the shooter please himself. 
 
 Avoid squaring your elbows when you present a gun ; 
 it gives you an unsteady position, and has the same 
 outlandish appearance as the squared elbows of our 
 half-strangled exquisites who drive about the streets. 
 Nothing can be neatly or gracefully done that is not 
 done with ease ; and a man may as well say that he can 
 sit with the same comfort in the stocks as on a sofa, as 
 that he can, in reality or appearance, be as easy with 
 his elbows forced outwards, as when in their natural 
 position. 
 
 If we consider for a moment, then, we shall perceive, 
 that in doing most things, squared elbows have not only 
 an unskilful, but an ungraceful appearance. 
 
 When a man is no further versed in shooting than 
 just to have become quite expert at bringing down his 
 bird, I conceive that he has only learnt about one-third 
 of his art as a shooting sportsman. Knowing where to 
 place himself for shots ; how to spring his game to 
 advantage ; what days and weather to choose for the 
 different kinds of sport, constitute at least the other 
 two-thirds, till he is master of which he may often get 
 beat in filling the bag by a very inferior marksman to 
 himself. Again, admit him to have learnt every thing 
 in the -ordinary way, then cornes wildfowl shooting ; the 
 requisites for understanding which are so totally dif- 
 ferent, that there are many of the greatest field sports- 
 men in the kingdom, who know no more about it than 
 children. 
 
FINISHING LESSONS IN SHOOTING. 137 
 
 FINISHING LESSONS IN SHOOTING. 
 
 I shall now add a few little hints, that may possibly 
 be of service to many of my readers who have had some 
 practice in shooting, but who, I trust, will not be of- 
 fended at my offering a few finishing lessons, under an 
 idea that something, in general, may be learnt even 
 from the most inferior person, and because that, after I 
 had shot for more than twenty years, not a season, no, 
 not even a month or a week elapsed without my dis- 
 covering that I had been previously ignorant of some 
 trifle or other. If, therefore, a person feels himself 
 above hearing an opinion in this, as well as in every 
 other art, he decidedly gives the greatest and most 
 positive proof of his own deficiency and narrowness of 
 conception. Safely, however, may it be said, that in 
 field sports, as well as in other pursuits, there are 
 thousands who fancy that no one can show them any 
 thing, when they have literally not learnt above a 
 twentieth part of their art ; and such people are always 
 best left alone; as, like blighted fruit, they have a 
 bastard colour of maturity, that must for ever debar 
 their coming to perfection. 
 
 With apologies for this digression, let me now 
 endeavour to recollect what hints I can, that are not 
 universally known. 
 
 In killing snap shots fix your eyes, and immediately 
 pitch your gun and fire, as it were, along, or rather 
 over, the backs of the birds. Recollect they are 
 generally rising, and not flying forward, when you 
 take them very quick ; and that as the birds required to 
 be so taken are usually at a distance, an elevation, at 
 
138 FINISHING LESSONS 
 
 all events, can do no harm. If you cannot acquire the 
 knack of doing this, your snap-shot birds, being struck 
 in the breast, will go off, and tower before they drop. 
 
 If you have a double gun, always contrive as much 
 as possible to get cross shots (which you will most likely 
 do by walking across, or heading your dog, instead of 
 going, like a bungler, directly from him to the game), 
 or otherwise your second-barrel birds, by flying straight 
 away up wind, down wind, or, in short, in the smoke, 
 may sometimes defy the best shot in Europe. Recollect 
 further, that, as birds fly across you, they not only be- 
 come clear of the smoke, but give you more time, and 
 present to your charge a more vital part. Be assured 
 there is a great deal of generalship (if I may use the 
 expression) as well as marksmanship in showing off a 
 brilliant day's shooting. But, when a man, over his 
 bottle, talks to his company of killing to a certainty 
 double shots in whatever situation you choose to spring 
 the game, within forty yards, " hear him," as Lord 
 Chesterfield says, " with patience, and at least seeming 
 attention ;" although you might feel disposed to confer 
 on him the order of the long bow, or put him on your 
 list for a knight's companion of the golden hatchet. 
 Recollect, however, it is but liberal to allow those 
 persons who have most frequently the mortification to 
 do but little, the comfort of astonishing the credulous 
 by talking a great deal. 
 
 In firing at random distances, where birds are crossing 
 you at the distance of sixty or seventy yards, the average 
 of good shots generally present not more than half a 
 foot before them. But it should be recollected, that 
 after the shot has been driven through the air to the 
 point-blank distance, it travels so much slower^ that 
 
IN SHOOTING. 139 
 
 the allowance must be greatly increased ; and that al- 
 though a few inches may be sufficient to fire before a 
 fair cross shot, yet at sixty or seventy yards I should 
 fire at least two or three feet before the bird, if it went 
 with any velocity. Yes, even with a detonater I should 
 do so, at this distance! Let any one of my young 
 readers, who shoots fairly, try this against one that 
 adopts the ordinary system, and see who will make the 
 greatest number of long shots. While attending to this, 
 however, he must take care not to present too low, but 
 pitch his gun well up, or, if any thing, full high for 
 the mark. 
 
 In shooting by guess at rabbits, or any thing in 
 covert, fire at least a foot or two before the object, be- 
 cause, on loosing sight of it, your hand will imper- 
 ceptibly obey the eye in coming to a sort of check, by 
 which you will invariably shoot a long way behind it. 
 
 In walking up to your dogs, in turnips or high 
 stubble, when birds are wild, lift your legs high ; and 
 by thus making less noise, you will get twice as near to 
 your game. In an open country, where the stubble is 
 thin, advance as quick as possible, tread light, and 
 crouch your body as low as you can. Why does a 
 pointer sometimes get within ten yards, when the birds 
 fly up from the shooter at above 100 ? Because a dog 
 is so low the birds cannot see him, and rapidly advances 
 on them without making a noise. The sceptic may 
 fancy this an " old woman's story" but, for all that, 
 he'll get beat by the man who attends to it. 
 
 If a dog stands at a high hedge, go yourself on the 
 opposite side, and let your servant be sent where the 
 dog stands. When he hears you arrive opposite, let him 
 
140 FINISHING LESSONS 
 
 call to you ; and when you are ready for him to beat 
 the hedge, give a whistle, because a bird, being less 
 alarmed at a whistle than a man's voice, will most likely 
 come out on your side. Some people heigh the dogs in. 
 This, I need not tell a sportsman, is the way to spoil 
 them, and to prevent them from being stanch on such 
 occasions. It sometimes happens, that there is a close 
 twisted hedge on the opposite side, so that the birds, 
 in order to extricate themselves, must face the dog ; and 
 it is for want of cunning to do this that young birds 
 are so often caught in hedges, to the great delight of 
 ammunition-savers and pot-hunters. In the latter case, 
 keep with your dogs, and send round your man to poke 
 the hedge with a stick. 
 
 If your object is to get a great deal of game on the 
 same beat, provided you have it to yourself, do not go 
 out above three days in a week. By so doing you will 
 kill at least twice as much as by following the birds 
 without intermission. Many people, who wish to se- 
 cure all the partridges they can during the month of 
 September, make a point of shooting every day, and 
 are quite disconcerted if they lose even half a day's sport. 
 All this is natural enough in keen young sportsmen, 
 and very well, provided they have fresh dogs and fresh 
 ground to beat, but under other circumstances they 
 would stand no chance with a man who went out three 
 times a week; because his birds, having intervening 
 days to be left quiet, would lie so much better, that he, 
 towards the end of the month, would continue to fill 
 his bag, while another would have so driven and harassed 
 his coveys, that he would scarcely be able to get a fair 
 single, much less a double shot. (I name this, arid 
 
IN SHOOTING. Ill 
 
 indeed all I have asserted, not as a mere opinion, but as 
 the result of decided proofs, that I have witnessed no 
 small number of times.) 
 
 In boisterous weather, contrive, as much as you can, 
 to sport on the windward part of your beat, or you will 
 drive the birds away from your own property to where 
 they may fall a prey to other shooters, or be driven into 
 the heart of another manor by some knowing game- 
 keeper. Many old sportsmen will not beat their ground 
 at all in windy weather. This I hold to be bad, for 
 birds run a great deal when it blows hard ; and, by such 
 means, often run out of bounds. When birds are 
 young and tame, a windy day is generally the ruin of 
 good sport; but when they are strong and wild, the 
 most boisterous weather is frequently the best for one 
 who shoots quick and well, as the birds cannot hear so 
 far, and will often lie the closer, for the sake of shelter. 
 
 For one who happens to be deprived of his only dog 
 at the critical time of the shooting, or when there is no 
 scent, on a dry sultry day, there is many a worse plan 
 for killing birds than to get two boys to drag the ground 
 with a rope, from ten to twenty yards long, kept down 
 with a weight or stone at each end. This plan first 
 struck me from the immense number of birds that have 
 been sprung by the land-measurers, after harvest, at a 
 time when the best of sportsmen have left behind them 
 a great deal of game. If there is one shooter, he should 
 keep in the middle, a little behind the rope, and the 
 boys should be well drilled to drop like dogs when the 
 game rises. But if two shooters, then one may be on 
 each flank, and the rope may have a longer sweep. 
 
 For a person who has regular business to attend, 
 and therefore can only go out for a few hours in the 
 
142 FINISHING LESSONS 
 
 day, I should, in September, always recommend him to 
 dine at one o'clock, and shoot in the afternoon (the 
 grand time for filling the bag). His nerves are then 
 sure to be in a pretty good state for shooting, and his 
 head perhaps would then be less disposed for applica- 
 tion. When he returns, let him take with his refresh- 
 ment tea or coffee, instead of other beverage, after which 
 he will feel himself cool, clear-headed, and again fit for 
 business, instead of being disposed to throw himself 
 into an arm-chair and snore away the evening in concert 
 with his dog. Do not let him think that by thus ad- 
 vising I wish to deprive him of his nightcap, or he may 
 at once condemn me and my book for ever ! No ! if 
 he likes grog, or other liquor, he may finish the evening 
 with a bucketful, only let business be first done, and 
 put out of the way. 
 
 For gentlemen who require a delicate hand in draw- 
 ing, mechanism, surgical operations, music, &c. &c., I 
 should advise them always to shoot in gloves, and the 
 moment they return from the field to wash their hands 
 in very warm water, using with it a more than usual 
 quantity of soap ; or their hands, by constant shooting, 
 will, for a time, become so coarse and hard as to spoil 
 and unfit them, in some degree, for that nicety which 
 may be required in their more valuable occupations. 
 Many people cannot, or rather fancy that they cannot 
 shoot in gloves, and consequently their hands become 
 as coarse as those of a gamekeeper, which, utterly as I 
 abhor dandyism, I must yet observe is not quite in 
 unison with the appearance of a perfect gentleman. I 
 shall, therefore, recommend to them dark kid gloves, 
 which will stand a month's shooting much better than 
 might be supposed ; and if they fit nicely to the fingers, 
 
IN SHOOTING. 143 
 
 are so thin as not to be the least incumbrance between 
 the triggers. Of these arid other gloves, the best and 
 strongest that I can any where procure are sold by Mr. 
 Painter, No. 27, Fleet-street. 
 
 If a person is extremely nervous from hearing the 
 report of his gun, or from the noise of the rising game, 
 let him prime his ears with cotton, and his inside with 
 tincture of bark and sal volatile. 
 
 It sometimes happens that a covey of birds is always 
 to be found, but never to be got at ; and are always 
 seen going over one hedge, as soon as you arrive at the 
 other. In this case let the shooter, if distressed for a 
 brace of birds, place himself behind the hedge they fly 
 over, and send a person round to drive the birds to him. 
 He will then probably get a double shot, and very likely 
 disperse the covey. 
 
 When birds are so wild that they will not lie, you 
 often see them running across a barren field ; in which 
 case keep out of sight, if you can, and make a little 
 noise, in order to drive them to the opposite hedge, 
 but do not show yourself, or they will, perhaps, fly up, 
 and be afterwards so much on the alert as not to be got 
 at without great manoeuvring. 
 
 When birds run (but are not visible on the ground, 
 and the dogs keep drawing across a whole field), as they 
 will do, most particularly in a dry easterly wind, they 
 are almost sure to get up at a long distance. My recipe 
 on this occasion is to have a man on horseback, and 
 make him take an immense circle, and after he thinks 
 he has arrived well a-head of the birds, to gallop up 
 and down in a transverse direction, by which means, 
 between the two enemies, the covey are often induced to 
 squat down close in their own defence ; or, what is even 
 
144 FINISHING LESSONS 
 
 better, to disperse before they take flight. In beating 
 a narrow strip of turnips, with two shooters, when birds 
 are wild and run, let one of them enter the croft about 
 80 yards in front of the other, and walk on in echellon, 
 as the man in advance will then have the wild ones 
 coming to him, and his partner the tame ones, if some 
 of the birds happen to lie well. 
 
 If you have a piece of turnips very near a small 
 covert, into which you wish birds to be driven for good 
 shooting, at a time when the birds have become wild, 
 be careful what you are about in windy weather ; be- 
 cause birds, when shot at, will of course fly much farther 
 than if quietly sprung, and particularly if borne away 
 by the wind. It will often happen, therefore, that by 
 your refusing two or three shots on such an occasion, 
 you will get twenty or thirty shots after the birds 
 (which from running among the turnips frequently be- 
 come dispersed) are dropped all over the covert ; whereas 
 if this covert is not very large, they might probably 
 have flown beyond it had you discharged a gun. Many 
 eager sportsmen, however, would be loath to trust to 
 such a lottery, and argue, that " a bird in hand is 
 worth two in the bush ;" but such I have proved to be 
 the case ; and this, as well as every other part that re- 
 lates to shooting, has been pencilled down in the field, 
 with a query as to its future confirmation ; and if it 
 has stood repeated tests, entered in MS. for this work. 
 
 If birds are so very wild that all fair and quiet 
 shooting fails, they are still, ninety-nine times in a 
 hundred, to be got, if absolutely wanted, to win a 
 wager ; for a sick person ; or any very particular pur- 
 pose. But the process for this is any thing but steady 
 sporting, and can only be well followed in an open 
 
IX SHOOTING. 145 
 
 country. It is simply to establish a picket of mounted 
 markers, with directions to give a signal when the birds 
 drop ; on receiving which you must gallop to the one 
 who has watched the birds down, and instantly gallop 
 with him to within about eighty yards of the spot. 
 Then spring from your horse, and walk briskly to the 
 birds, without a dog, taking care to advance, if possible, 
 in a direction that may drive them to the best of your 
 other markers. Many a brace of birds have I seen 
 bagged this way, before an old dog could canter up 
 fast enough, even to be in at the death, much less to 
 run the risk of spoiling your shot for want of scent. 
 Another recipe, for wild birds, and for which we have 
 to thank a gentleman in Norfolk, where it is least 
 wanted, is to fly a paper kite, regularly painted like a 
 bird of prey, at about thirty yards above the ground, 
 and with a very long string, so as for the man who flies, 
 and walks on with it, to be at a distance ; while the 
 shooter and his dog approach behind the kite. I tried 
 this one day, and it answered ; otherwise I should not 
 have named it. 
 
 In calm weather, after September, never go bellowing 
 out " P_ o_n t o", " T o h o," &c. (like a boy 
 hooting at birds on corn.) Your keeper will do this, at 
 another time, if the dog requires it, and be pleased with 
 his own noise. But rather take your chance of the 
 second dog's seeing the point in time; or you may 
 probably do much more harm than the very dog that 
 you are rating. If, however, the dog is going down 
 wind, the case alters ; but even then I should rather 
 try the expedient of a menacing attitude, seconded by a 
 clod of dirt, or a turnip, to using my voice on such an 
 occasion. (Of course I mean if I wanted birds, other- 
 
 L 
 
146 FINISHING LESSONS, ETC. 
 
 wise a good sportsman ought always to lose a shot, 
 rather than neglect his dogs.) 
 
 If you really want game, when the scent is bad, and 
 see precisely where a covey has dropped, let your dogs 
 be taken up, and go first without them ; and if the 
 birds get up singly, never think of picking them up, 
 but make the best of your time in loading and firing. 
 Should you, however, want your dogs, have them one 
 at a time, by making a signal, or whistling to your man 
 who holds them ; but do not speak, lest, by so doing, 
 you might spring the covey. 
 
 If you have a small beat, rather give leave to one of 
 the best shots in England, who is content to shoot 
 twice a week, than to an idle bungler, who is lounging 
 out with a gun every day ; because the one, although he 
 kills game himself, does not prevent you from doing 
 the same, while the other, by harassing the birds, day 
 after day, without intermission, will make them wild, 
 and very probably drive them into another country. 
 
 The foregoing are a few hints that I had hitherto 
 kept to myself; but as now (thanks neither to age nor 
 imprudence, but to accidental circumstances) I have no 
 longer eyes or nerves for pretensions to the name of a 
 shot, the greatest pleasure that can possibly remain for 
 me is to resign the little I have learnt for the benefit of 
 young sportsmen. The rising generation of shooters 
 might otherwise be left, as I was for many years, to 
 find out all these little matters, which not one man in a 
 thousand (admitting that he knows them) likes to im- 
 part to another ; and yet which are so necessary to be 
 known, before even the best shots among them would 
 be able to cope with a crafty old sportsman. 
 
PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 147 
 
 PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 
 
 Most young sportsmen, and many old ones, fancy 
 that nothing great can be done on the first day, without 
 they go out as soon as they can see to distinguish a bird 
 from a dog. This may possibly be necessary for those 
 who start from a town, where two or three unfortunate 
 coveys are to be contended for by half the lawyers, 
 doctors, schoolmasters, sporting parsons, and tradesmen 
 in the place ; but under other circumstances, this is the 
 very worst method that can be adopted. 
 
 In the first place, the birds being at this time on the 
 feed, will not always lie well. By your springing them 
 from the run, the covey are pretty sure to take wing 
 altogether i and being once disturbed in this state, it 
 becomes, afterwards, much more difficult to disperse 
 them, than if they had been left quiet till the dew had 
 dried on the stubble. Secondly, you throw off with 
 long shots instead of fair ones ; which, to say the least 
 of it, is not a favourable beginning either for yourself 
 or dogs. Thirdly, for one who may have no relay of 
 pointers or setters, it should be recollected, how much 
 better bestowed would be the work, which he takes 
 out of them while slaving to little purpose in the dew 
 of the morning, if he reserved it for the afternoon. 
 This, from about three till six, is the time of day (in 
 the early part of the season), that all the best shots are 
 to be got. The birds are then scattered, and driven to 
 the low grounds and meadows : where, with steady dogs, 
 they may be found one or two at a time, and kicked up 
 as fast as you can load and fire. 
 
 The most partridges that I had seen bagged in a day 
 
 L2 
 
148 PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 
 
 by one person (when this work was first printed), in a 
 country not preserved, were twenty-three brace, in killing 
 which I remember, that although he began in the very 
 best quarter, and every thing favoured, as well as it 
 possibly could do, his starting at daylight, yet he only 
 got three shots before nine o'clock. 
 
 Although he had four relays of dogs, he felt con- 
 fident that he should have killed at least seven brace 
 more, if he had left the coveys undisturbed till about 
 half past seven or eight. 
 
 The person who performed, this, and the double 
 shooting before alluded to, went out in a subsequent 
 year at nine o'clock, surrounded by other shooting 
 parties, who had been hard at work since the break of 
 day. He had this season a far inferior breed of birds, 
 and he had only one, and that a very old dog. He took 
 refreshment, and rested from twelve till two ; shot again 
 till six, and then went home to dinner, having killed 
 fifty partridges and a hare, with only missing two very 
 long shots, though he invariably used both his barrels 
 whenever the coveys rose within gunshot. To this one 
 dog he bagged in all, at different times, in a wild country, 
 3163 head of game. In 1827, when'the breed of birds 
 was good, the same person shot with only one dog (ex- 
 cept a short trial of a young one that did more harm 
 than good, but with several markers), and, in eight 
 hours, he bagged fifty-one brace of partridges (besides 
 three brace lost) arid a hare ; and then he did not 
 " throw off" till nine o'clock. This is perhaps the best 
 day on record, for a wild country and one dog. 
 
 Much game as I have seen killed in a September day, 
 I do not recollect one solitary instance of any thing 
 extraordinary being done very early in the morning. 
 
PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 149 
 
 Many people tell me about killing ten and even twenty 
 brace before breakfast ; but I never yet had the fortune 
 to see the chance for such a performance ; because the 
 dew is seldom off before eight or nine o'clock. It would 
 be bad manners to doubt their word ; so I will conclude 
 that they mean before some dejeune ti lafourchette at 12 ; 
 or perhaps before their breakfast on the following day. 
 With regard to where and how we are to beat for game, 
 &c. &c. it would now be unnecessary to inform even a 
 schoolboy ; and, indeed, others having mentioned all 
 particulars, is a sufficient reason for my not imposing 
 on the reader's patience with what he will have seen 
 before, and what, to describe, would lead me into the 
 very subject of other sporting-authors. Suffice it there- 
 fore to say, that the great object is, first to have good 
 markers* judiciously placed, and then to disperse the 
 birds ; the best way to do which is to head your dogs, 
 by taking an extensive circle. The second is, to make 
 no more noise than what cannot absolutely be avoided, 
 by doing as much by signal and whistling, and as little 
 by hallooing as possible. Thirdly, go first on hills to 
 find, and drive down from them, the birds, and then in 
 vales to kill them. Fourthly, when distressed for par- 
 tridges, in a scarce country at the end of the season, 
 take a horse, and gallop from one turnip-field to an- 
 other, instead of regularly slaving after inaccessible 
 coveys. After a storm, as soon as the ground is dry, 
 or the next day, birds will lie in a calm ; and, after a 
 
 * Always be sure to tell a young marker that he must carry 
 his eye well forward when a covey of birds begin to skim in their 
 flight, and consider, that as they may continue doing so for a field 
 or two, he cannot safely say that he has marked them down, till he 
 has seen them stop and flap their wings, which all game must do, 
 before they can alight on the ground. 
 
150 PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 
 
 calm, they will lie in windy weather. Birds are fre- 
 quently as much on the listen as on the watch; and this 
 is why, towards the end of the season, we sometimes do 
 best in boisterous weather. 
 
 Many an excellent shot has come home with an empty 
 bag, under the following circumstances! He has gone 
 out in a cold raw day, and found that the birds were 
 scarce and wild, and that even in turnips they would not 
 lie. But had he then tried one kind of land, to which 
 almost every man, as well as his dog, has a dislike 
 the fallows, he might possibly have got some good 
 double shots ; because the birds, finding it a misery to 
 run here, particularly if he walked across the fallows, 
 will sometimes lie till they are sprung the fairest possible 
 shots. 
 
 Let me conclude, under this head, with a few ob- 
 servations as to taking horses into the field. If birds are 
 wild, a sportsman, who goes out with his man, and has 
 no other attendant, will bring in more game if he con- 
 trives to mount that man, or rather a light boy, behind 
 him ; because, the moment the dog stands, he can then 
 dismount (by throwing his right leg over the horse's neck), 
 and leave the man in full possession of the Rosinante, 
 instead of being encumbered with a led horse, which 
 frequently precludes the possibility of his galloping on 
 to mark a covey, or follow up a towering bird. More- 
 over, it requires no conjurer to discover, that two 
 horses make more noise than one ; and all noise, after 
 the first few weeks, is the ruin of sport. The gentle- 
 man with his stud would say, Why not have three 
 horses? This, I admit, is a more dignified way of 
 taking the field, than the subaltern turn-out of the 
 Johnny Trot behind ; but then we have the clatter of 
 three horses, with the chatter of two servants' tongues* 
 
PARTRIDGE . SHOOTING. 151 
 
 an increase of noise that would set the birds on the run ; 
 and it would be as vain to attempt the suppression 
 of the one as the other. In short, I would back the 
 double-mounted gent, against the great squire and his 
 stud. Two on a horse, and the 6i cad " to be helmsman, 
 is an excellent way of giving the shooter the liberty of 
 his hands, the moment a covey springs unexpectedly. 
 Recollect too, in wood, about five feet high, a mounted 
 man can shoot where one on his legs cannot see ; and 
 again, if a hare runs straight away, she may be killed 
 ten yards further, if you are well above her, and catch 
 her head and pole clear of her high rump. All these 
 little et ceteras are what we may call the finish : as to 
 ordinary sporting, in the present day, we may as well 
 tell a man how to eat his dinner. Double-mounted 
 markers are always ready to act in any country. I 
 took the hint from the French cavalry, who had fre- 
 quently riflemen mounted up behind them, for the pur- 
 pose of what, as a foxhunter, I should call " drawing 
 the covers." Mounted markers have a droll appearance ; 
 so let us choose a respectable group of them for a new 
 frontispiece, as our old one is getting rather stale. 
 But, as going out with a banditti of this kind appears 
 like any thing but fair sporting, it is highly necessary 
 that I should explain why it was done. The country 
 which it became necessary to scour, in one's own de- 
 fence, was in an absolute state of siege with contending 
 shooters ; insomuch that, unless you killed the birds 
 down, within the first ten days, you could scarcely make 
 up a basket for a friend. Directly the birds got wild, 
 and began to run, they were cleared off by wholesale, 
 with a new mode of snaring, in places too far from home 
 to be conveniently defended from poachers. Now, 
 however, this country is preserved and in peace ; and 
 
152 GROUSE SHOOTING. 
 
 therefore (after exhibiting a few of the characters, taken 
 by Mr. Childe on the spot, and among them our old 
 rat-catcher*, who is up to every thing, from a foxhunt 
 down to the killing of all kinds of " warmunt" and 
 even the taking of a " wapses 9 ^" nest) we will disband 
 the army ; and, for the future, conduct the partridge 
 shooting on the peace-establishment. 
 
 GROUSE SHOOTING. 
 
 The foregoing observations relative to partridges 
 may be nearly as well applied to grouse shooting, when 
 we recollect that Lord Strathm ore's keeper, in killing 
 forty-three brace of muir-game before two o'clock in 
 the afternoon, had only bagged three birds at eight in 
 the morning. [This, however, is nothing in comparison 
 to the recent performances of Lord Kennedy, and many 
 others of our first-rate shots.] 
 
 The chief difficulty to be guarded against in this de- 
 lightful sport is the manoeuvre of the old cock, who runs 
 cackling forward, in order to lead you away from the 
 brood. Old sportsmen and old dogs, however, should 
 be too well aware of this stale trick to pay any farther 
 attention to him, than to destroy him, if possible, on 
 his first appearance. A dog, who has been used to this 
 sport, will sometimes head him, and be too cunning for 
 him ; or at all events will not suffer him to prevent 
 the sportsman from getting a good shot at the rest of 
 the pack. 
 
 To find muir-game at the beginning of the season, 
 take as many pointers or setters as you can get to hunt 
 
 * To find him, look on the donkey, 
 f Wasps'. 
 
GROUSE SHOOTING. 153 
 
 steadily together. To Mil them, vfheufound and marked 
 down, take up all but one stanch dog. 
 
 For shooting grouse, select a fine sunshiny day, from 
 about eight till Jive in August or September, and from 
 about eleven till three at the later periods of the season, 
 as they are then extremely wild, and will only lie toler- 
 ably during the few hours which are favoured by a warm 
 sun. Unless the weather is very fine, you will see them 
 running and getting up five hundred yards before you. 
 In this case, let one person take an immense circle, so 
 as to head them, while the other remains behind, to 
 press them forward when he is ready; and above all 
 things you should, for killing them at this time of the 
 year, use either No. 1, 2, or 3, shot, in the largest single 
 gun that you can possibly manage ; or, what is better, 
 a good stout double gun, loaded with Eley's cartridges. 
 Grouse take a harder blow than partridges, and do not 
 fly quite so regular and steady. 
 
 Scotland is the best place for this sport, as the heather 
 there being much higher, they will lie closer than in 
 Yorkshire and the other moors of England : add to 
 \vhich, the sport there has, in many parts, the pleasing 
 addition of blackcock and ptarmigan shooting. Such, 
 however, is the misery of the Highland public houses, 
 and particularly to our perfumed young men of fashion, 
 that I have generally observed nine out of ten of them, 
 however good may have been their sport, come home 
 cursing and swearing most bitterly about their wooden 
 births, peat fires, and oatmeal cakes. 
 
 I have had very good grouse shooting close to the 
 inn at Arden Caple, in Dunbartonshire, although in 
 the depth of winter, when interspersed with woodcocks 
 and wildfowl. But these birds then lose their fine 
 
154 PHEASANT SHOOTING, &C. 
 
 flavour, and become somewhat similar in taste to a dry 
 red-legged partridge. The Highland shepherds poach 
 them in the snow, by means of decoying them to an 
 ambush with an imitation of their call, and then raking 
 them with a large gun. 
 
 To send grouse any distance, put some pepper to the 
 parts where they have been shot, as well as into their 
 mouths, and then pack them, carefully separated from 
 each other, and kept as air-tight as possible, in boxes of 
 hops. 
 
 SHOOTING PHEASANTS, 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 WITH A FEW DIRECTIONS TO THE INEXPERIENCED FOR RE- 
 COVERING THEIR OWN GAME, IF UNHANDSOMELY DRIVEN 
 FROM THEM, SHOOTING IN COVERT, &c. &c. 
 
 For shooting pheasants it often becomes necessary 
 to start very early in the morning, as they are apt to 
 lie during the day in high covert, where it is almost 
 impossible to shoot them till the leaf has fallen from 
 the trees. We can never be at a loss in knowing where 
 to go for pheasants, as we have only to send some one 
 the previous evening, for the last hour before sunset, to 
 watch the different barley or oat stubbles of a woodland 
 country, and on these will be regularly displayed the 
 whole contents of the neighbouring coverts. It then 
 remains to be chosen, which woods are the best calcu- 
 lated to shoot in ; and, when we begin beating them, 
 it must be remembered to draw the springs, so as to 
 intercept the birds from the old wood. If the coverts 
 are wet, the hedge-rows will be an excellent beginning, 
 
PHEASANT SHOOTING, &C. 155 
 
 provided we here also attend well to getting between 
 the birds and their places of security. If pheasants, 
 when feeding, are approached by a man, they gene- 
 rally run into covert ; but if they see a dog, they are 
 apt to fly up. 
 
 If a person holds land, over which keepers have a 
 reservation, and therefore drive it in the morning to 
 spoil his sport, he should sprinkle it well with barley 
 and white pease, for which the pheasants would most 
 likely come back again in the evening, and he has then 
 only to begin beating with his back to the extreme point 
 of his liberty, and the birds, being cut off in their re- 
 treat, will either fly to him, or lie very close. If the 
 wind should blow strong from the preserves, or if the 
 foxhounds should happen to run through them, he 
 would then, by this means, be still more sure of having 
 retaliation on those who had been taking pains to defeat 
 him in the fair and lawful amusement of sporting on 
 his own ground. 
 
 This plan, however, would be followed with little 
 success, if the person adopting it should take out a cry 
 of noisy spaniels, or a set of wild pointers. He should 
 recollect, that, in order to intercept the birds, he may 
 be obliged to work down the wind, and it therefore be- 
 comes necessary that he should have only one steady old 
 pointer, or setter, who will keep within gunshot, and 
 quarter his ground with cunning and caution, so as to 
 work round every stem of underwood, instead of hastily 
 ranging forward ; and, above all, be well broke, either 
 to fall to the gun, or lie down when he has brought a 
 bird. 
 
 There are very few old sportsmen but what are aware 
 that this is by far the most sure method of killing 
 
156 PHEASANT SHOOTING, &C. 
 
 pheasants, or any other game, where they are tolerably 
 plentiful, in covert ; and although to explore and beat 
 several hundred acres of coppice, it becomes necessary 
 to have a party with spaniels, yet, on such expeditions, 
 we rarely hear of any one getting much game to his 
 own share, except some sly old fellow, who has shirked 
 from his companions to the end of the wood, where the 
 pheasants, and particularly the cock birds, on hearing 
 the approach of a rabble, are all running, like a re- 
 treating army, and perhaps flying in his face faster than 
 he can load and fire. 
 
 For one alone to get shots in a thick underwood, a 
 brace or two of very well-broke spaniels would, of 
 course, be the best. But were I obliged to stake a 
 considerable bet (taking one beat with another, where 
 game was plentiful), I should back, against the sports- 
 man using them, one who took out a very high-couraged 
 old pointer, that would keep near him, and would, on 
 being told, break his point to dash in, and put the 
 pheasants to flight before they could run out of shot. 
 This office may be also performed by a Newfoundland 
 dog ; but, as first getting a point would direct the 
 shooter where to place himself for afair shot, the New- 
 foundland dog would always do best kept close to his 
 heels, and only made use of to assist in this ; and par- 
 ticularly for bringing the game; as we rarely see a 
 pointer, however expert in fetching his birds, that can 
 follow and find the wounded ones half so well as the 
 real St. John's Newfoundland dog. 
 
 It will, of course, be recollected, that the pointer kept 
 for this purpose should never be taken with regular- 
 broke dogs. He will, however, before the season for 
 pheasant shooting, be as well ivorth his keep as spaniels, 
 
PHEASANT SHOOTING, &C. 157 
 
 by the service he will render his master (single handed) 
 among potatoes and bean-fields ; the beating in which 
 (and particularly if there are land-rails, or red-legged 
 partridges) is by no means a good practice for thorough- 
 broke pointers or setters. 
 
 If often happens that the boundary of a liberty ends 
 with a broad hedgerow, which may be too high to shoot 
 in, and may have land on the other side belonging to 
 some one who is not on terms with the owner, and for 
 whose property all his game fly out on the wrong side 
 of this little covert. He has then only to sow sunflower- 
 seeds, and plant Jerusalem artichokes for the pheasants ; 
 and Swedish turnips, Dutch clover, or parsley, for the 
 hares, on his own side, and cut down a space broad 
 enough to shoot, on the enemy's side, in the hedgerow, 
 which will soon induce him to compromise on equitable 
 terms : because, should his competitor even do the same, 
 he will most probably still have his share ; and, if not, 
 he will get away a great part of his game. 
 
 If the hedgerow is hollow at the bottom, he should 
 send some one to the end of it, as many of the old hares 
 would probably run forward rather than cross him, or 
 take away from home. 
 
 If a rival shooter (some stranger) races to get before 
 you, push him hard for a long time, always letting him 
 have rather the advantage, and then give him the double 
 without his seeing you. Having done this, go quietly 
 round (supposing you have been beating up wind) ; and, 
 on reaching the place where you began, work closely 
 and steadily the whole of the ground or covert that you 
 have both been racing over, and you will be sure to kill 
 more game than him, who is beating and shooting in 
 
158 PHEASANT SHOOTING, &C. 
 
 haste, through fear of your getting up to him ; and (if 
 the wind should rise) driving the dispersed, and, con- 
 sequently, closest-lying birds to your beat, as fast as he 
 finds them. 
 
 When staying in a town, take care not to let every 
 one know where you shoot, by pompously riding through 
 it with a display of guns and dogs ; but either send on 
 the latter in the dark, or take them closely shut up in 
 your dog-cart. If driving, cover your shooti rig-dress 
 with a box coat : if on horseback, ride out of the town 
 on some road diametrically opposite to where your sport 
 lies, arid then double back again on other roads, or by 
 crossing the country. If you return by daylight enter 
 the town again by this means, or at all events in the 
 most quiet and private manner, otherwise you will soon 
 have your beat (if on a neutral place) worked by every 
 townsman, who can muster a dog and gun. 
 
 If there is one month worse than another for the 
 amusement of shooting, I should be apt to consider that 
 it is November. The warmer weather of September 
 and October is then gone by, and the birds become wild 
 and cunning. The fall of the leaf, with the sports of 
 rabbit, woodcock, snipe, and wildfowl shooting, are not 
 in general to be fully enjoyed till December and January ; 
 so that, in the event of a sportsman finding it necessary 
 to leave the country during the shooting-season, on any 
 business, the precise time for which might be at his own 
 option, I should advise him to choose this, the middle 
 month, for laying aside his gun. 
 
SNIPE SHOOTING. 159 
 
 COCK SHOOTING. 
 
 The pursuit of woodcocks, with good " spaniels, may 
 be termed the fox-hunting of shooting! 
 
 A real good sportsman feels more gratified by killing 
 a woodcock, or even a few snipes, than bags full of 
 game, that have been reared on his own or neighbour's 
 estate; and one who does not, may be considered & pot- 
 hunter. In a country where cocks are scarce, be sure 
 to put a marker in a tree, before you attempt to flush 
 one a second time ; and when you have marked down 
 a cock, remember how very apt he is to run, instead 
 of rising from the spot in which you may have seen 
 him drop. If a cock flies away, and continues to rise 
 wild, go safely beyond where he may have last dropped, 
 and then back again to beat for him (leaving some one 
 to make a noise on the side where you had before ad- 
 vanced on him), and he will then most likely either lie 
 close, or fly towards you. If this will not do, take 
 your station quietly to windward (as cocks generally fly 
 against the wind), give a whistle when you are ready, 
 and let the other person then draw on, and flush him. 
 His cry of " Mark !" will assist in frightening and 
 driving the cock forward, and be a signal for your pre- 
 paration. 
 
 No more on cock shooting, as directions enough about 
 it have been given by other authors. 
 
 SNIPE SHOOTING. 
 
 The pursuit of snipes is declined by many, who plead 
 their inability to kill them ; than which nothing may be 
 
160 SNIPE SHOOTING COMBINED 
 
 easier acquired, by a pretty good shot. Snipe shooting 
 is like fly fishing : you should not fix a day for it, but 
 when you have warm windy weather, saddle your horse 
 and gallop to the stream with all possible despatch. 
 Should there have been much rain, allow the wind to 
 dry the rushes a little before you begin to beat the 
 best ground, or the snipes may not lie well. Although 
 these birds frequent wet places, yet the very spot on 
 which they sit requires to be dry to their breasts, in 
 order to make them sit close ; or, in other words, lie 
 well. 
 
 If they spring from nearly under your feet, remain 
 perfectly unconcerned, till they have done twisting, and 
 then bring up your gun and fire ; but, if you present 
 it in haste, they so tease and flurry, that you become 
 nervous, and, from a sort of panic, cannot bring the 
 gun up to a proper aim. If, on the other hand, they 
 rise at a moderate distance, down with them before they 
 begin their evolutions. When they cross, be sure to 
 fire well forward, and (if you possibly can) select, as I 
 before said, a windy day for this amusement ; as snipes 
 then usually lie better, and, on being sprung, hang 
 against the wind, and become a good mark. 
 
 In springing snipes, always contrive to get to wind- 
 ward of them, by which you will be more likely to pre- 
 vent their moving, and seldom fail to get a cross shot ; 
 in taking which a young sportsman is not so liable to 
 be confused by their twisting. 
 
 To kill snipes, first go silently down wind to walk 
 up the wilder ones; afterwards let go an old pointer 
 up wind to find those which may have lain so close as 
 to allow you to pass : and before you spring them, take 
 care to make a circle, and head your dog. Look always 
 
WITH TROUT FISHING. 161 
 
 for snipes in places which are not frozen. I have always 
 found, that the worst time to shoot snipes is in a white 
 frost, as these birds then generally take to the uplands, 
 or get into some rivulet, in small whisps, or flocks, and 
 spring up all together, instead of being well dispersed, 
 and thereby affording a number of shots, as they do in 
 boisterous weather. But, after & frost has brought the 
 snipes into the country, you are pretty sure of good 
 sport on ihejirst open windy day that follows it. Stick 
 to these birds when once you find them, as they may all 
 disappear in one night. 
 
 Before I conclude under the head of " snipe shoot- 
 ing," I am induced to insert a letter that I wrote to Mr. 
 Martin, wherein I had occasion to introduce this subject. 
 I hope my readers will pardon me for copying the letter 
 at full length ; as, although in other parts wholly irre- 
 levant to the present subject, yet it all, more or less, 
 may concern young sportsmen. They may, however, 
 say, and with reason, what can snipe shooting have to 
 do with fly fishing ? With their indulgence, then, I 
 will tell them : Most young sportsmen, probably some 
 old ones, are not aware, that no two sports may be 
 better combined than snipe shooting and trout fishing ! 
 The snipes are never better than in February and 
 March, and at this time the trout are often pretty good, 
 and of course much easier caught by a young angler 
 than when in high season, as they have then scarcely 
 tasted a gnat, and will rise at any thing. A dark and 
 mild dry day, with a good breeze from the south and 
 west, is the most favourable time for both of these sports, 
 which may also be combined at the fall of the year, 
 when the trout, and particularly the large ones, often 
 remain in high season. 
 
162 SNIPE SHOOTING COMBINED 
 
 Mr. Martin, it appears, has published my letter in 
 his second edition, from which I copy it verbatim, and 
 wherein he does me the honour to say 
 
 " Major P. Hawker, who is an entire stranger to 
 me, further than as the well-known author of that 
 much-admired work, entitled ' Instructions to Young 
 Sportsmen,' has done me the favour to transmit the 
 following letter : 
 
 " Longparish House, October llth, 1818. 
 
 " SlR, 
 
 " On my return to this place, I was favoured with 
 a copy of the * Sportsman's Calendar,' which you have done me the 
 honour to send ; and which, no less for its utility than for the re- 
 membrance of your attention, shall have a place in my library. 
 
 " I can, without flattery, assure you, that I am well pleased with 
 the work, because you have comprised, in a small compass, all the 
 necessary information ; and, instead of prosing on the various sub- 
 jects, and taking up the trade of book-making, by the detail of use- 
 less anecdotes, that are perhaps nothing more extraordinary than 
 have occurred to every old sportsman, or have been handed, for ages, 
 from one book to another, you have judiciously inserted that which 
 is most useful on other points. In short, you have given, in the way 
 of directions, recipes, &c., all that can be required for a good sports- 
 man ; and then, very properly, devoted the remainder of your little 
 volume to the purpose of becoming an universal, though portable, 
 calendar. 
 
 " As I see you have thought a few of my instructions worthy of 
 notice, permit me to observe, that there are two points on which I 
 dissent from you in opinion : 
 
 " 1st. About cocking the gun after the bird rises: I have so 
 many times nearly had one of my dogs killed by young shooters 
 letting the cock escape from the thumb before the scear had caught 
 the tumbler (through eagerness to fire), that I have, by subsequent 
 experience, found less danger in allowing them to cock their gun 
 when the dog stands, making it my first object to see that their 
 guns are always carried in a safe direction. No man can kill double 
 shots brilliantly in December, if he takes down his gun to cock the 
 
WITH TROUT FISHING. 163 
 
 second barrel ; and, as for danger, Mr. Joseph Manton's gravitating 
 stops, which may be put to any gun, will preclude the possibility of 
 an accident, even admitting that you are so unfit to be trusted 
 with a double gun as to load one barrel without uncocking the 
 other. 
 
 " 2dly. With regard to Snipes : It is only when they lie well 
 that you can allow them to finish their twisting; the greater part 
 of them require to be taken extremely quick, and the knack of doing 
 this constitutes the crack snipe-shot, who will kill a dozen of those 
 birds where a slow poking marksman of the old school can only fire 
 his gun a few times. 
 
 " Having been thus far so rude as to criticise your work on the 
 subject of shooting, allow me to make the amende honorable by 
 giving you a useful hint on trout Jish'mg ; viz. For small rivers the 
 yellow dun, as made by Chevalier, is, in the long run, worth all the 
 other flies put together; and I can safely assert, that my sport has 
 never been so good as when fishing through the whole season with 
 this fly at the end, and a small red palmer for a bob*. A great deal, 
 however, depends on throwing well, so that the gut should drop on 
 the water before any part of the line, which is seldom the case when 
 our soi-disant anglers fish with their whole bodies ; and, instead of 
 throwing gracefully from the wrist, which ought to be done equally 
 well with either the left or the right hand, they labour like a person 
 threshing, and keep bowing like a candidate to his constituents at 
 an election. What is the consequence of thus flogging the water? 
 they frighten away the large fish, and catch only the small ones. 
 
 lt With many apologies for the scarcely legible manner in which 
 the greatest haste and an accumulation of unanswered letters oblige 
 me to write, 
 
 " I have the honour to remain, 
 
 " Sir, 
 " Your obedient humble servant, 
 
 " P. HAWKER. 
 
 " P. S. One who can throw a fly well across the wind has a great 
 advantage in catching the large fish, as in this case the line, before 
 it falls, becomes for a moment suspended over the water, and there- 
 fore drops lighter than when thrown directly with the wind." 
 
 * It would be ridiculous to lay down this as a rule for every 
 county. I only speak of the small rivers that I happen to have 
 
 M 2 
 
164 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 TROUT FISHING, &c. 
 
 As this letter has led us into trout fishing, it may 
 really be worth while (before I proceed to the alphabet 
 of birds) to make a few remarks on this- favourite pur- 
 suit, for the information of the young sportsman ; be- 
 cause, although much has been, yet a little more may 
 be said on the subject, as every art must daily improve 
 in a new school. 
 
 A few hints, however, are quite enough on that 
 which is foreign to our title. Almost every one is now- 
 a-days a " piscator" The Fanatico, about Easter, 
 goes off as busy as the cockney on his wunter, when 
 bound to Epping. He generally takes a great many 
 things, and kills a few fish. The old angler takes a 
 few things, and kills a great many fish. Some dark, 
 warm, windy, drizzly days, early or late in the season, 
 and particularly when a fine breeze blows from off the 
 banks of a river, where no one has begun fishing, the 
 trout are so easily taken, that a basket full is but little 
 proof of skill. One might then almost train a monkey 
 to catch a trout*. But, at other times, and particu- 
 
 fished for many years, in Hampshire and part of Dorsetshire, con- 
 cerning which I can therefore speak from experience. 
 
 * It is not generally known, that at the very early part of the 
 season, and before the trout are worth dressing, they will sometimes 
 rise in almost any wind (except just before rain), and even with a 
 bright sun. A friend and I caught twenty brace in an hour and 
 three quarters, on the 24th of March, in a severely cold wind, and 
 on a sunshiny day. But, after the season had advanced, we might 
 as well have thrown our flies on the grass, as attempted flogging the 
 water at such an unfavourable time. 
 
TROUT FISHING. 165 
 
 larly when fish are well fed, is the time to see who is, 
 and who is not, an angler. 
 
 About ninety in a hundred fancy themselves anglers. 
 About one in a hundred is an angler. About ten in a 
 hundred throw the hatchet better than a fly. Here we 
 take the average. Now for a few very common faults. 
 One who lets his fly lie too long in the water, after 
 dropping it, is a better killer of time than of fish. He 
 who tries to land a large fish against weeds and stream, 
 when he can take him down, or allows a fish so much 
 line as to be able to rub his nose against the bottom, 
 may be considered as one in need of a Asking-master. 
 Enough, however, of defects. I will now, therefore, 
 take in hand the best fly rod I have (which was made 
 by the late Mr. Higginbotham*), and a set of tackle, 
 as made to my order, by Chevalier (No. 12, Bell Yard, 
 Temple Bar), with a pen and ink before me. Though 
 I should first premise, that I only speak of fishing in a 
 trout stream. I have no right to go further, because a 
 man cannot be answerable for what he publishes, unless 
 all his statements and representations are faithfully 
 written on the spot, and with the materials before him. 
 The directions for a two-handed fly rod (for trout in a 
 small river), I leave to those who can see the use of it; 
 for my own part, I can see none, except to drop the 
 natural may-fly with, or to facilitate the art to those 
 
 * Mr. Higginbotham was, to my fancy, the best fly rod maker in 
 the kingdom. His successor was Mr. Clark, who retired from the 
 business, which is now carried on in the best possible manner, by 
 Messrs. Willingham, 91, Strand. Chevalier's/or/e is a trolling- 
 rod, flies, and tackle. In naming these makers of fishing tackle, it 
 would be improper not to say, however, that Ustonson, Holmes,, 
 Bowness, and many others, are also excellent performers. 
 
166 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 who have not learned it in the best manner. Now, 
 then, to the point. 
 
 ROD. About twelve feet three inches long, and 
 about fourteen ounces in weight. It must not be top- 
 heavy, nor it must not have too much play in the lower 
 part, but the play should be just in proportion to the 
 gradual tapering; by which there will be very little 
 spring till after about the third foot of its length. A 
 rod too pliable below is as bad a fault as being too 
 stiff; and, from being too small there, is, of course, 
 more liable to be top-heavy, which nine rods in ten are. 
 The consequence is, they tire the hand, and do not 
 drop the fly so neatly. I have seen some Irish rods 
 (I think of Mr. Martin Kelly's, Dublin), which, if they 
 had not been too pliant, would have been worth any 
 money. 
 
 REEL. Put on your reel with a plate, and wax-end, 
 fifteen inches from the bottom ; and handle your rod 
 close below it, keeping the reel uppermost, as the line 
 then lies on, instead of under, your rod, and is, there- 
 fore, less likely to strain the top between the rings. 
 The closer the rings are put together on the top, the 
 less chance, of course, you have of straining or breaking 
 it between them. Use either the multiplying or the 
 new click reel, without a stop; and, by not confining it 
 with the hand while throwing, you are sure never to 
 break your rod or line, by happening to raise it suddenly, 
 at the moment you have hooked a large fish or a weed. 
 Let your reel be full large in proportion to the quantity 
 of line, or it will not always go pleasantly with it in 
 winding up. 
 
 GUT and FLIES. Use about eight feet of gut, and 
 the addition of that on the tail fly will bring the whole 
 
TROUT FISHING. 16? 
 
 foot-line to about three yards. Put on your bob fly a 
 few inches below the middle ; or, if in a very weedy 
 river, within little more than a yard of the other ; lest, 
 while playing a fish with the bob, your toil fly may get 
 caught in a weed. More gut than is here prescribed 
 will be found an incumbrance when you want to get a 
 fish up tight : insomuch, that, of the two. I would rather 
 have a little less than more of it. 
 
 A small fly-book may, of course, be taken ; and I 
 should recommend it on my plan, which is of Russia- 
 leather, in order to repel the moth. This no one will 
 do better for you than Chevalier. A common beaver 
 hat is the best thing to hook, and keep flies on ; and, 
 if you have not two rods by the river side,- always keep 
 a gut length and flies ready to put on, round your hat, 
 in order to avoid the waste of time and torment which 
 you would have, if you had much entangled your line. 
 
 The beauty of fishing is to do the business quick 
 (though not in a hurry), because this sport is every mo- 
 ment dependent on the weather. Walton says, " before 
 using, soak what lengths you have in water for half an 
 hour" In the new school, I should rather say, draw 
 what lengths you want through Indian rubber for half 
 a quarter of a minute. Let a gut length or two (ready 
 fitted up with flies), and also a few spare tail flies, be thus 
 prepared to go on in an instant, and put round your hat. 
 For flies (as Barker observes for his night angling) take 
 white for darkness; red in medio ; and black for light- 
 ness. The yellow dun and red palmer, which has a 
 black head, partake a little of all ; and therefore, with 
 the addition of a white moth for dark nights, the angler 
 may, in what few rivers I have ever fished, do vastly 
 .well, No doubt, however, that an occasional variety of 
 
168 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 flies might answer a little better, and particularly if 
 these had been too much hacknied by other people. 
 But, in the long run, I have never found sufficient ad- 
 vantage from variety to be troubled with taking more 
 than two or three kinds of flies. As to carrying, as 
 many do, a huge book of flies, nearly as large as a family 
 bible, for common trout streams it is like a beginner 
 in drawing, who uses twenty cakes of colour or more, 
 where a quarter the number, if properly managed, would 
 answer the same purpose. The " piscator" however, 
 has a right to take what he pleases. He may go to 
 the river side with a book of this sort, or even twelve 
 pounds of lead in his pocket ; they will both, perhaps, 
 be equally necessary. But who has a right to find 
 fault? If he is determined to go well laden to the 
 river why let him. With regard to hooks, I have 
 always found the Irish ones far superior to ours. The 
 best, I believe, are bought in Limerick. 
 
 Now I have given the outline as to tackle, I will 
 proceed as to throwing; not in my chair, with a pen 
 and ink ; but with a pencil and a book, on the banks 
 
 of the river. 
 
 ***** 
 
 THROWING A FLY. I am just returned from the 
 river (and, by the way, not badly repaid for my trouble), 
 and, as near as I could there bring the matter to paper, 
 shall now say as follows : 
 
 In throwing a fly, raise the arm well up, without 
 labouring with your body. Send the fly both back- 
 wards and forwards by a sudden spring of the wrist. 
 Do not draw the fly too near, or you lose your purchase 
 for sending it back, and therefore require an extra 
 sweep in the air, before you can get it into play again. 
 
TROUT FISHING. 169 
 
 If, after sending it back, you make the counter spring a 
 moment too soon you will whip off your tail fly, and if 
 a moment too late your line will fall in a slovenly man- 
 ner. The knack of catching this time is, therefore, the 
 whole art of throwing well. The motion should be just 
 sufficiently circular to avoid this ; but if too circular, 
 the spring receives too much check, and the gut will 
 then most probably not drop before the silk line. In a 
 word, allow the line no more than just time to unfold, 
 before you repeat the spring of the wrist. This must 
 be done, or you will hear a crack, and find that you 
 have whipped offyour tail fly. For this reason, I should 
 recommend beginners to learn, at first, with only a 
 bob ; or they will soon empty their own, or their friend's 
 fishing book ; and, at all events, to begin learning with 
 a moderate length of line. 
 
 I have observed, that those young men who have 
 supple wrists, and the power to whip off flies, ultimately 
 make better anglers than those who do not, because, in 
 this action, like most things, there is really but one step 
 between the sublime arid the ridiculous : and the poor 
 fellow, who makes no attempt with energy, will most 
 probably in this, as in other pursuits, remain all his life 
 in the back-ground. Walton, in speaking of throwing 
 a fly, says we should fish " fine and far off:" but we 
 must except very windy weather, or the result of a very 
 long line may, with a very good angler, be crack and 
 whip off. If therefore you have got into a particular 
 current of wind, where this is the case, wind up your 
 line a few turns, or you may soon lose another fly. 
 Sometimes the wind blows very strong, directly across 
 you, from the right, insomuch that it becomes an exertion 
 to raise the rod enough to prevent the line from being 
 
170 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 blown back. Throwing with the left hand is then a 
 convenience ; but for those who are not able to do this, 
 I can suggest no better makeshift than to raise the rod 
 over the left shoulder, and throw the line by a motion 
 similar to that used with a whip when lightly hitting a 
 leader on the near side. (Any one who has driven in 
 double reins will know what I mean.) I made a point 
 of killing some fish this way, in order to try the ex- 
 periment ; which is, of course, a mere substitute for the 
 best method of throwing. So much for throwing. Now 
 for what few finishing touches I can think of : Avoid, 
 if you can, going too close to the edge of the water. 
 Throw, if you are aufait enough to do it well, rather 
 for the fly to become for a moment suspended across 
 the wind, than directly down the wind ; as it then falls 
 still lighter, and, from this circumstance, is, of course, 
 more likely to deceive a large fish. Prefer dropping 
 the fly just under a bush or hedge, or in an eddy, to the 
 open river, because your line is then more obscured from 
 the light, and the largest fish generally monopolise the 
 possession of such places, in order to find, and devour, 
 the more flies and insects : and, also, to be near their 
 places of security. If the spot is quite calm, watch the 
 first good fish that rises, avail yourself immediately of 
 the ripple that has been made by the fish himself ; and 
 drop in your fly a little above where he last rose. Never 
 let your line lie too long, as by so doing you either ex- 
 pose your tackle to the fish by leaving it stationary, or 
 draw the line in so close, that you lose both the power 
 of striking your fish, if he rises, and that of getting a 
 good sweep for your next throw. The first fall of the 
 fly, \nfishing, is like \hefirst sight of a bird in pre- 
 senting a gun always the best. 
 
TROUT FISHING. 171 
 
 KILLING YOUR FISH. A small fish is, of course, 
 not even worth the wear and tear of a reel. But, if you 
 happen to hook a good one, wind up immediately; and 
 the moment you have got him under command of a 
 short line, hold your rod well on the bend, with just 
 purchase enough to keep him from going under a weed, 
 or rubbing out your hook by boring his nose into the 
 gravel. (Observe a fish, and you will always perceive, 
 that, after he finds he is your prisoner, he does all he 
 can to get down, as the best means of escape.) After 
 getting your fish under the command of a short line 
 and well-bent rod, let him run, and walk by the side of 
 him, keeping a delicate hold of him, with just purchase 
 enough, as I before observed, to prevent his going down. 
 When he strikes, ease him at the same instant; and 
 when he becomes faint, pull him gently down stream : 
 and, as soon as you have overpowered him, get his nose 
 up to the top of the water; and, when he is nearly 
 drowned, begin to tow him gently towards the shore. 
 Never attempt to lift him out of the water by the line, but 
 hawl him on to some sloping place ; then stick the spike 
 of your rod in the ground ; with the rod a little on the 
 bend ; crawl slily up as quick as possible, and put your 
 hands under him, and not too forward, as a trout thus 
 situated is apt to slip back ; so that handling him this 
 way must be rather a different touch from that of weed- 
 groping. If you use a landing net (which for saving 
 time, and particularly where the banks are steep, is 
 sometimes a necessary appendage), let it be as light as 
 possible ; very long in the handle ; and three times as 
 large as what people generally carry. Take care that 
 neither that, nor the man who may assist you with it, 
 goes even in sight of the water till the fish is brought 
 
172 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 well to the surface, and fairly within reach ; and then 
 you have only to put the net under him, or keep his 
 eyes above water, and tow him into it. Mind this ; or 
 the landing net and your man will prove enemies, in- 
 stead of assistants, to your sport. Nothing will so soon, 
 or suddenly, rouse a sick fish as the sight of a man or a 
 landing net. With regard to the time and weather 
 for fishing, it is now well known to almost every school- 
 boy. But it may be proper just to observe, that how- 
 ever favourable the time may be to all appearance, yet 
 trout will seldom rise well just before rain, or when 
 they have been filled by a glut of flies. Moreover, trout 
 will frequently cease to rise well, even at the best of 
 times, from being every day whipped at, by anglers, 
 from the same bank. My plan, in this case, is to go to 
 the opposite side, and throw against (or rather under) 
 the wind. A friend and I once caught two and twenty 
 brace by this means, while a whole tribe of professed 
 anglers, who were fishing from the windward side, caught 
 (as we afterwards heard) but three fish between them. 
 
 TROLLING, or spinning a minnow, is the other most 
 general mode of trout fishing ; or, I may almost say, trout 
 poaching. It is however very rarely done in a proper 
 manner, though every man, as a matter of course, up- 
 holds his own system. I, like all the rest, did the same, 
 till after fancying for years, that I could challenge any 
 one, was beat and laughed at by a trout-killing divine. 
 Now, however, I have not only got master of his plan, 
 against which all others that I had ever seen, read of, 
 or heard of, had no chance whatever ; but have remedied 
 a few trifling defects that it had, and put Chevalier in 
 possession of the improvement. The great advantage 
 ( \ of it is, that it takes the trout when they run and bite 
 
TIIOUT FISHING. 173 
 
 short by means of fly-hooks, that play round the other, 
 on a separate branch of line; so that I have often killed 
 three or four brace of trout, without the minnow being 
 in the least injured, or even touched by the fish. To 
 describe the tackle properly r , without giving a plate of 
 it, would be difficult, if not impossible. After all, how- 
 ever, knowing how to bait the hook is the chief art ; 
 and even after being shown, requires practice on the 
 part of the fisherman who adopts it. Supposing, how- 
 ever, that some angler might have confidence enough in 
 what I have said to get a set of this tackle from Che- 
 valier, I will endeavour (having now a minnow in my 
 hand) to direct him as to baiting it. After choosing a 
 white-bellied minnow, of rather small she, and harden- 
 ing it in bran for an hour or two, first draw back the 
 plummet, and put the large hook into the minnow's 
 mouth, and out through the right gill, taking care not 
 to tear the mouth or any part of the bait : then draw 
 the line three or four inches to you, so as to be able to 
 get the hook back again into its mouth. Then take 
 the minnow between the finger and thumb in the left 
 hand, and the large hook in the right hand, and run the 
 hook all down its back, close to the bone, to the very 
 end of the fish, and let it come out about the centre 
 of the tail Jin. Then with your right hand pull the 
 minnow out as straight as it will lie, and press it into 
 natural form with the finger and thumb. Afterwards 
 nip o^the upper half of the tail Jin, in order to prevent 
 a counteraction to the spinning of the minnow. 
 
 Having done this, draw down your plummet again, 
 and see that your branch-line falls smoothly by the side 
 of your bait-line ; and if not, rub it with Indian rubber 
 till it does. Your hook is then ready for action, and 
 
174 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 action indeed it may be called if properly done. I should 
 observe, that a new gut seldom spins the minnow so well 
 as one that is half worn out (by reason of the stiffness 
 which encircles the minnow's gill). Therefore ten mi- 
 nutes soaking in water, and sometimes a little hard fric- 
 tion of the gut, just above the large hook, may at first 
 be required ; besides the working it with Indian rubber. 
 So much for this plan ; there may be many better ; but 
 all I can say is, that I have not yet seen one fit to be 
 named with it. 
 
 The rod for trolling should be from eighteen to 
 twenty feet long, and made as light as possible, though 
 neither too pliable nor top-heavy: except just the top 
 and bottom, a minnow rod is best when made of cane. 
 This rod of course requires two hands : no matter 
 therefore where the reel is placed. If the top is too 
 stiff, you strain a fish's mouth so much as to run the 
 risk of breaking out his hold, which is nine times in ten 
 on one of the three small fly-hooks. But, if the top is 
 too pliant, the fish will frequently make his escape on 
 first being pricked. Here therefore, as in all things, 
 the medium is best. A minnow must of course be 
 thrown underhanded, and the line got well on the swing 
 before it is sent out. You should throw it till it comes 
 to its end, and then, by drawing in the hand, give it a 
 little check, so that it should be laid delicately in the 
 water, and not thrown in with a splash. The very 
 instant your minnow is in the water begin drawing it 
 at one unvaried pace, down stream, and then towards 
 you, till near enough to require a fresh throw ; and in 
 this, as well as fly fishing, never keep trying too long 
 in the same place. If a fish comes after your minnow, 
 never stop it, or in any way alter the pace, or he will 
 
TROUT FISHING. 175 
 
 most likely be off again directly ; though, if you can 
 tow your minnow into a rougher place, without giving 
 it any sudden motion, the fish will most likely follow 
 it there, and be still more easily deceived than in the 
 smoother water. To get your bait, use a silk casting 
 net, and remember, that the chief art in throwing it is 
 to hurl the right hand well round horizontally, instead 
 of inclining it upwards. Keep your bait, with bran, in 
 any thing but tin or metal, which is liable to heat in 
 warm weather. This, I believe, is all that need be said 
 on the best mode of trolling. 
 
 I have sent for, and read, the whole of this article, on 
 the subject, to his piscatorial reverence, who, after the 
 most rigid criticism that he could make, approved of it 
 in the extreme, as well as of the improvement in the 
 tackle, with which, before he would pronounce his judg- 
 ment, he fished for a whole morning. The previous one, 
 on fly fishing, I have submitted to the very best fly 
 fisher I ever saw ; but as it would ill become me to repeat 
 his remarks, I must leave the correctness of it to the 
 judgment of the reader. 
 
 There are generally known three other modes of 
 trolling. The first is the diving minnow, which is 
 precisely on the same plan as the gorge-hook for pike. 
 This answers well in very deep holes, where you may 
 frequently kill trout when the sun is too bright for the 
 more common mode of trolling. On this plan, you 
 must, of course, loosen the line, and allow the trout 
 some time to pouch his bait. The second is the artificial 
 minnow, which is the worst of all ; because it does not, 
 in general, spin so well; and, particularly, because it 
 is too frequently made of hard materials, on which a 
 fish, unless very hungry, will seldom close his mouth 
 
176 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 enough to get hooked. The third is called the kill- 
 devil, and although, in appearance, not near so like a 
 real fish as the other, yet it spins so well, and is so 
 much softer in the mouth, that it answers, I think, the 
 best of all plans, when you cannot procure the natural 
 bait. Any good fishing-tackle shop will furnish these 
 articles, and therefore it would be a waste of time and 
 of paper to give a minute description of them. 
 
 WORM FISHING. Though fishing with a lob-worm 
 cannot be called trolling, yet it may be right, en pas- 
 sant, merely to state, that this is the best way to kill 
 fish in a mill-hole, when the sun is too bright for the 
 fly, or the minnow ; and also a very destructive plan for 
 night work. But I name such a diversion only as a 
 pastime for the juvenile performer, though not with 
 the contempt as does Dr. Johnson, who says, " Fly 
 fishing may be a very pleasant amusement ; but angling, 
 or float fishing, I can only compare to a stick and a 
 string, with a worm at one end, and a fool at the 
 other." 
 
 If, however, the poor angler should feel sore at the 
 wit, he might, in his turn (if scavenger enough to 
 descend to verbal criticism), have a little pleasantry 
 with the philologer, by brandishing his rod and ex- 
 claiming, 
 
 - u almost as bad, good" doctor, 
 
 as a wag and a worm-fisher, with a comparison at one 
 end, and nothing to compare with at the other ! And 
 when he has put away the stick and the string (and 
 washed his hands) he may substantiate the propriety 
 of his retort by looking out the words " compare to" 
 in the doctor's own dictionary; which we should be as 
 
TROUT FISHING. 177 
 
 unkind to the doctor, as he has been to the angler, if 
 we did not estimate as the best authority in existence. 
 
 The foregoing subject has led to a wide digression, 
 or, to have recourse to a musical comparison, has thrown 
 us into an extraordinary modulation, which, as the great 
 Albrechts Berger observes, " may astonish" but " not 
 please." By this rule, therefore, I should not have 
 presumed to speak on what is foreign to my subject, by 
 introducing that of fishing, if I had not some example 
 of exception as authority to do so. Isaac Walton ap- 
 pears to please every one ; and this gives me a sort 
 of licence to consider that I may now even go further 
 on the subject. Before dismissing it, therefore, I may 
 as well tell a gentleman's cook how to dress a trout in 
 my shooting book, as he introduce a milkmaid's song 
 in his fishing book, particularly as eating is a more 
 general concern than singing ; and, above all, as there 
 is not more than one cook in a thousand that does not 
 spoil every trout in the dressing. 
 
 If a trout is out of season, or in poor condition, it 
 would be needless to attempt dressing it in the ne plus 
 ultra way ; and, perhaps, the best simple recipe might 
 be to split it, and broil it, with an occasional touch of 
 cold butter. But when fresh caught, and in high season, 
 the way to dress it is thus : 
 
 Directly you have caught the trout, crimp it, with 
 about four cuts on each side, taking care to let the 
 blade of the knife be in a sloping direction, so as to 
 make every incision rather circular and parallel to the 
 gills ; instead of having the blade of the knife perpen- 
 dicular, by which you would cut too much across the 
 fleaks, and the fish would not be near so firm. Then, 
 if you have a pump at hand, let the trout be pumped 
 
 N 
 
178 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 upon, as hard as possible, for about ten minutes ; and 
 if not, the laying it in cold spring water will do nearly 
 as well. Having done this, put the fish away, not in 
 water, but on stones ; or, in short, in the coldest place 
 that can be found. 
 
 When dinner is nearly ready, clean the trout, leaving 
 the scales on, and pump on it for a few minutes more. 
 Then have a kettle of water, with a large handful of 
 salt, and when the water properly boils (but not before), 
 put the fish in ; and an average-sized trout (say one of 
 a pound weight) will be done in about ten minutes, and 
 should then be sent immediately to table. 
 
 A trout, if possible, should always be dressed the day 
 it is caught ; and never put to soak and soften over the 
 fire, in cold water, as is the general custom. /^ 
 
 Remember, also, that if trout are suffered to remain 
 in the water after being sufficiently boiled, they will 
 directly become soft, and lose all the firmness which is 
 given by this mode of dressing them. The same fish, 
 if a large one, may be brought to table a second time, 
 even for days or weeks after it has been first served up, 
 by being put away in pickle enough to cover it, con- 
 sisting of three-fourths of the liquor it was boiled in, 
 and one-fourth of vinegar. These should be boiled up 
 together, and poured over the fish, which must have 
 with it some spice, bay-leaves, and either oil or fresh 
 butter. The fish may then be taken from the pickle, 
 when wanted ; put, over the fire, into boiling water, for 
 a few minutes, and then served up. This is a con- 
 venient recipe where a man has dressed some extra- 
 ordinary fish, and then been disappointed of his dinner- 
 party. 
 
 It has been remarked by many other people, as well 
 
TROUT FISHING. 179 
 
 as myself, that, of all fish in existence, there is not one 
 that you can partake of so many days in succession, 
 without ceasing to enjoy it, as a trout, provided it be 
 fresh caught, and well in season. Almost every sports- 
 man, and every fishmonger, has his own way of fancying 
 that he can tell when a trout is in season. As to the 
 red spots on the skin having any thing to do with it, 
 the very idea is absurd and fallacious. But the more 
 general criterions are a small head and high crest, a full 
 tail, and the roof of the mouth, or, what is still better, 
 the flesh under the tongue being rather of a pink 
 colour. Another excellent criterion is the smallness 
 and tightness of the vent; for the better the trout is in 
 season, the smaller will be that venthole which is formed 
 just before the under, or belly, fin. After all, I prefer 
 this, and one other, way of deciding ; which is by the 
 bright and silver-like appearance of the scales. Take 
 twenty trout, and, I think, if you dress them all, and 
 previously mark that one on which the scales shone the 
 brightest, it will prove to be the best fish. This may 
 be frequently ascertained, even before you land a trout, 
 as a bright one, on being first hooked, generally gives 
 two or three leaps out of the water. 
 
 Before you send trout on a journey, have them gutted 
 and washed, but leave the scales on, and let them be 
 laid on their backs, and closely packed in willow (not 
 flag) baskets, and with either flags or dry wheat straw. 
 Packing in damp grass or rushes is apt to ferment, and 
 therefore liable to spoil your fish. 
 
 Having had some experience in sending trout to, as 
 well as receiving them in, London, I may venture to pre- 
 scribe for those who are in the habit of doing the same. 
 Trout should be sent, as soon as possible after their 
 
 X 2 
 
180 TROUT FISHING. 
 
 arrival, to be laid on (not in) ice. I have repeatedly 
 tried the efficacy of this. The trout which I received, 
 the day after being caught, were soft and watery, in 
 consequence of the journey ; though they had travelled 
 only by night. But those from the ice on the next 
 day, were almost as good as if taken fresh from the 
 river ; for, by this process, the curd becomes set, and 
 the fish recover their firmness. Trout will retain their 
 flavour pretty well for two or three days, by being laid 
 on ice, and turned, about once in twelve hours ; but, if 
 merely put on stones, they will be scarcely eatable, and 
 frequently quite spoiled on the third day after being 
 caught. This plan, by the way, holds good for other 
 fish ; insomuch that the ice will preserve them for many 
 weeks after the flavour is quite gone. Thus it is that 
 people are so frequently taken in with a fine-looking 
 piece of salmon ; which, although apparently fresh, and 
 perfectly sweet, has been so long in a state of petrifac- 
 tion as to have no more flavour than a bit of old leather. 
 
 *y.* I have been solicited, by sportsmen on the continent as well 
 as of my own country, to enlarge on angling in general. But, as 
 my experience has been chiefly limited to trout fishing, I should be 
 sorry to impose on that confidence with which they have honoured 
 me, by attempting to write on other branches of the art where I 
 have but a superficial knowledge. 
 
LIST OF BIRDS. 181 
 
 A LIST OF BIRDS, 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 WHICH ARE MOST COMMONLY FOLLOWED BY 
 SHOOTING SPORTSMEN, 
 
 ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED, 
 
 WITH 
 
 THEIR PROPER NAMES, AS SELECTED BY BEWICK; THE 
 LATIN AND FRENCH FOR THEM, AS GIVEN BY LIN- 
 NJEUS AND BUFFON; AND OCCASIONAL DIRECTIONS 
 RELATIVE TO SHOOTING THEM. 
 
 IN selecting this list, it becomes a question where to 
 draw the line between those which are, and those which 
 are not considered sporting birds ; but as many shooters 
 would be eager to kill what others would scarcely deign 
 to fire at, it is presumed that the better way will be, 
 not only to insert those which are followed by the keen 
 sportsman, but all that are commonly shot at for diver- 
 sion or practice. 
 
 With regard to the proper names of land birds, there 
 is little difficulty in selecting them ; but for those of 
 water birds, and particularly wildfowl, there are so many 
 provincial terms, that it would be a dull and endless task 
 to construe the appellations given them by the decoy- 
 men, poulterers, and gunners, into their proper names 
 in natural history. For example: the dunbirds are 
 called redheads on the South and West coasts, and 
 Parkers or half-birds in the fens. This is also a general 
 term here for all birds under the size of the common 
 
182 PROVINCIAL NAMES OF BIRDS. 
 
 wild duck. The morillons* are called douckers in 
 Scotland, and gingling curres in the West. The 
 tufted ducks are blue-billed curres on the Western, and 
 dowers on the Eastern Coast, in many parts round 
 which the wigeon are only known by the name of 
 winder. The golden-eye is commonly called pied curre ; 
 and the scaup duck is known by the name of gray-back 
 curre in the South and West, and that of teal-drake 
 in the North. For these, and all the various tribes of 
 smaller wildfowl, the decoymen and poulterers have a 
 sort of sweepstakes appellation, by putting them down 
 as dunbirds and divers. Again, there are many absurd 
 names for other birds, such as Tommy Loos for the 
 divers, Isle of Wight parsons for the cormorants, and 
 so on. 
 
 On the French coast, the same. We here find the 
 dunbirds, and others of their kind, provincially called 
 vignons; the wigeon, sarcelles; and coots, marcareux, 
 &c. &c. In short, it would be a waste of time to ex- 
 plain the nonsensical terms by which only birds are 
 known in many places ; and more particularly as the 
 naturalist or sportsman should be provided with " Be- 
 wick," which has not only the advantage of being 
 portable as a pocket-companion, but will answer his 
 purpose far better than any other work, during his 
 pursuit in sport, or search of natural history. 
 
 The birds marked thus ( * ) are those of the Anas 
 kind fit to be eaten, and which are usually considered 
 as wildfowl. For the general pursuit of these specific 
 directions shall be given in another part of the work, 
 
 * Or young golden-eyes., according to Leadbeater. 
 
BITTERN. 183 
 
 as my young readers will be able to understand them 
 better, after they have received a few lessons in shooting 
 from a punt. The following alphabet, therefore, is 
 chiefly intended as a directory for the more common 
 mode of shooting. 
 
 In getting at all wild birds, approach them cir- 
 cuitously, instead of going directly up to them; and 
 avoid looking full at them until you have got within 
 shot, or till they shall, if flying, have come sufficiently 
 close for you to fire. If you see a wild bird, when 
 unprepared for him, either continue your course with- 
 out looking at him, or instantly retreat, and he may 
 then probably sit quiet till you can advance with caution 
 on him a second time. 
 
 If a valuable bird lies wounded, always go up to 
 him prepared to shoot, lest he should rise again, and 
 make his escape. 
 
 BITTERNS. 
 
 To know if there are any in the fens, send out in the 
 evening, when they may be seen on the wing, and heard 
 making a hollow booming noise. The following day 
 you may beat for them, with dogs, that will either point 
 them, or hunt near enough to spring them in shot ; as 
 they will lie so close among the rushes, as to be some- 
 times nearly trod on before they will rise. If you wing 
 a bittern, be careful that he does not strike you with 
 his beak. 
 
 There are two sorts of bittern ; the COMMON one, otherwise called 
 Bogbumper, Bitterbum, or Miredrum (ardea stellaris le butor); 
 and the LITTLE BITTERN (ardea minuta le blongios). 
 
184 BUSTARD COOT. 
 
 BUSTARDS. 
 
 From the open plains, which they frequent, you have 
 fewer opportunities of approaching bustards than most 
 other wild birds. They will, however, sometimes suffer 
 carts and carriages to pass very near them, from which 
 they have been frequently shot ; and they are also killed 
 in places where they have been used to see shepherds, 
 by means of the shooter carrying a hurdle to conceal 
 his gun. 
 
 There are two kinds of Bustard ; the GREAT, or Common (otis 
 tarde I'outarde); and the LITTLE BUSTARD (otis tetrax la petite 
 outarde). 
 
 COOTS, 
 
 When found in rivers, are scarcely thought worth 
 firing at ; yet they are in great requisition when they 
 arrive for the winter on the coast, from the immense 
 numbers that may be killed at a shot, as they roost on 
 the mud-banks. They are generally sold for eighteen- 
 pence a couple, previously to which they are what is 
 called cleaned*. The recipe for this is, after picking 
 them, to take off all the black down, by means of pow- 
 dered white rosin and boiling water, and then to let 
 them soak all night in cold spring water ; by which 
 they are made to look as delicate as a chicken, and to 
 eat tolerably well ; but, without this process, the skin, 
 in roasting, produces a sort of oil, with a fishy taste and 
 smell ; and, if taken off, the bird becomes dry, and good 
 
 * A coot shot in the morning, just after roosting, is worth three 
 killed in the day when full of grass, because he will then be whiter 
 and milder in flavour. A Poole man is very particular about this, as 
 the sale of his coots much depends on it. 
 
COOT. 185 
 
 for nothing. After all, however, these birds are in no 
 way delicate, except when skinned, and, after being 
 soaked twenty-four hours in cold spring water, repeatedly 
 changed, made into a pudding, by which, as with all 
 such birds, when in puddings, pies, or soup, you can 
 get rid of their strong skins without losing the juice of 
 their flesh ; and their fishy taste is, in a great measure, 
 drawn off by steam. (Moorhens may be cleaned in 
 like manner ; and, if in good condition, they will then 
 be nearly equal to any wildfowl.) Coots, when on a 
 large pond, generally swim or flutter out of reach, on 
 being approached by a shooter; and as they are not 
 worth bestowing much trouble on, the best way to kill 
 them is to place yourself somewhat concealed under the 
 leeward bank, while another person goes round, and 
 fires a gun to windward, before they can swim into any 
 rushes. They will then fly up in great confusion, and, 
 most likely, for some minutes afford employment for a 
 dozen guns. Shoot well forward, as one shot before 
 and under the wings of a coot will stop him sooner than 
 ten in the hinder parts. This, by the way, should be 
 observed with most other birds. 
 
 Coots, when on the coast, usually travel to windward, 
 so that a west wind brings them to the west, and an 
 easterly wind to the east, instead of vice versa, as with 
 other fowl. These birds take such a hard blow, and 
 are so tenacious of life, that you may often stop ten or 
 twenty at a shot, and by the time you have got on your 
 mud-boards, or made your dog go after them, not above 
 three or four may be left on the spot, and the others, if 
 they have a spark of life, will swim, or what the gunners 
 call " skitter'* away. The plan which I have found best 
 for slaughtering the coots by wholesale, is either to listen 
 
186 CORMORANT. 
 
 for them before daylight, and rake them down, at the 
 gray of a white frosty morning ; or watch them at some 
 distance in the afternoon, and set into them as late in 
 the evening as you can see to level your gun, taking 
 care, if possible, to keep them under the western light. 
 If you think your wounded coots worth collecting, 
 you will find nothing like a double gun to give them 
 the coup-de-grace, as they are sometimes most tor- 
 menting birds to catch with a dog, or kill with a pole. 
 Coots, instead of drawing together before they fly (like 
 geese and many other fowl), always disperse on being 
 alarmed; and as they 'generally fly to windward, the 
 gentlemen's system of wildfowl shooting answers well, 
 which is to embark with a party ; sail down on them ; 
 and, as they cross, luff up and fire all your barrels. 
 When an infant at wild sport, I used to be mightily 
 pleased with this diversion. When on the coast, you 
 may easily distinguish coots from wildfowl, by the 
 scattered extent of their line; their high rumps; their 
 rapid swimming; and their heads being poked more 
 forward. Beware of a winged coot, or he will scratch 
 you like a cat. 
 
 Naturalists have so far agreed, that there are two sorts of coots 
 (the GREATER, and this, the COMMON BALD COOT), that for the 
 one, Linnaeus gives us the name of fulica atra, and Buffon that of 
 la jbulque, QT morrelle; and for the other we find, in the Latin, 
 fulica atterima, and in French, la grande jbulque, or la macroule. 
 But, after all, some consider the one bird a mere variety of the other. 
 
 CORMORANTS 
 
 Have generally some regular evening course to the 
 cliffs, where they roost ; and as theyjly l w towards 
 sunset, they repeatedly balk the young shooter, who 
 
CURLEW. 187 
 
 fancies them Brentgeese. But as they seldom appear 
 so very late as not to be distinguished, he may perceive 
 the difference by the extra length and sharpness of the 
 head and tail; and their occasionally ceasing to flap 
 their wings as they fly. These birds may be easily 
 killed in the breeding-season, if a shooter chooses to 
 run the hazard of concealing himself about the middle 
 of the cliffs. This many people do by being let down, 
 for which some use a kind of saddle, and others a strong 
 basket, or finding places where they can climb up for 
 some distance. But as such dangerous schemes are by 
 no means to be recommended, I should prefer the use 
 of a rifle, or content myself with the few chance shots, 
 that could be fired from a place of safety. 
 
 There are three sorts of Cormorants. The COMMON GREAT BLACK 
 one, alias Corvorant, or Colegoose (pelicanus corbo le cormoran} : 
 the Green, Shag, Scarfe, or Skart (pelicanus graculus le petit 
 cormoran^ or le nigaud) : the third is the CRESTED CORVORANT, 
 but for this we have neither the names of Linnaeus nor Buffon, as it 
 was not ascertained to be a distinct species till a dissection of one 
 took place, subsequent to the works of these great authors. 
 
 CURLEW. Scolopax arquata Le courlis. 
 
 To get at a flock of curlews on the sea-shore, go in 
 a small punt or canoe, when it happens to be high water 
 just after dusk, or before daybreak in a white frost. 
 They will then be assembled by hundreds on the small 
 headlands of the beach 9 where they are at first so 
 cautious in alighting, that the various plans of burying 
 casks, &c., to wait in, do not always answer. In ap- 
 proaching these birds, be careful to keep close along- 
 side, and under the shade of, the land. 
 
 In autumn, the curlews from all parts round the 
 
188 CURLEW. 
 
 neighbouring coast will congregate in one enormous 
 cloud, when they have generally two or three favourite 
 roosting-places. To drive them to any one in particular, 
 send a person towards the others with a lantern ; on 
 seeing which, they will immediately take wing, and may 
 be heard repairing to their next evening haunt, with 
 cries, which echo through the air for miles. 
 
 For curlews always contrive to have a second gun in 
 reserve, because, if you happen to wing a curlew, he 
 will generally cry out, and thus entice the flock to pitch 
 down again with him. You will then most probably 
 get much nearer than you might have been able to do 
 previously to your first shot. 
 
 THE LITTLE CURLEW, or WHIMBREL. Scolopax phceopus 
 Le petit courlis. 
 
 Whimbrels appear on the shores, in small flocks, 
 about April, and are much easier of access than the 
 other curlews. These birds are called " Titterels" in, 
 and about, Langston Harbour ; and " Chikerels" in the 
 district of Poole. They are very common in Romney 
 Marsh, where they are called " Curlew Jacks," and may 
 be killed in great numbers, without much trouble or 
 difficulty. They are then in condition, and excellent 
 eating. 
 
 THE STONE CURLEW. Charadrius cedicnemusLe grand 
 pluvier. 
 
 This, being altogether a land bird, is classed among 
 the plovers, and called the great or Norfolk plover, 
 and thick-kneed bustard. 
 
 This bird, although riot amiss in flavour, is in general 
 
DEER. 189 
 
 so dry and tough as to be scarcely eatable, except when 
 young. There are few sportsmen who have not sprung 
 these birds while crossing fallow fields in September, 
 when the young ones are often found by the dogs, in 
 beating for game. 
 
 DEER. 
 
 The art of killing deer with a rifle is so well known 
 to every park-keeper, that it would be needless to men- 
 tion more than the most approved methods of shooting 
 them. For a deer standing sideways take the fore- 
 legs, the neck, or the head; but, in firing at the latter, 
 be careful not to shoot too forward or too low, as you 
 would then only break his jaw. A deer facing you 
 affords the worst chance of all ; but, if he is standing 
 from you, it is the best, as you may then take him in 
 the poll, or the back of the head; and, if struck any- 
 where in these parts, he will come down. For a bad 
 marksman, or a long shot, the surest way to hit him 
 (so as to have any effect) is to fuejust behind the fore- 
 leg, and pretty low down : this is the best and easiest 
 target that he can present, and here you will have a 
 chance of taking the heart. He will, however, unless 
 shot through the neck, brains, spine, or forelegs, 
 generally bound away, and apparently unhurt, till he 
 has gone a considerable distance : he will then begin to 
 stagger, and fall. 
 
 If you have an outlying deer, and are without blood- 
 hounds to hunt him back to the park, or wish to save 
 your corn by shooting him, go out in a summer morning 
 just after sunrise, while the dew is on the grass, or un- 
 ripe corn, and look with caution into every enclosure, 
 and particularly among young peas. You must be very 
 
190 DEER. 
 
 silent, because, if a buck hears you, he will probably lie 
 down so close as to escape your notice ; but, if you go 
 carefully and silently, you will see him feeding, and 
 most likely at no great distance from a hedgerow. 
 
 If he happens to be near some hidden place, that you 
 can approach without being smelt* (by going to wind- 
 ward), seen, or heard among the boughs, you will pro- 
 bably get a good shot ; but, if not, your best chance is 
 to send some one round to the field beyond, and there 
 to walk, or ride along the other side of the hedgerow, 
 nearest which the deer is feeding. On hearing this 
 person, he will, in all probability, either lie down so 
 close as to let you walk up to him, or come directly 
 away from the hedgerow, opposite to which you should 
 be concealed. If he is pretty wild, and sees the man 
 behind him, he will come bounding with such rapidity, 
 that the most expert rifleman may miss him. In this 
 case, a pretty stout gun, loaded with a mixture of mould 
 and A or B shot, would be your best chance. If with 
 this, however, you even mortally wound him, the chances 
 are twenty to one, that he continues his course with 
 unabated speed ; so that, instead of beginning to despair, 
 you must follow him up as fast as possible, by doing 
 which, you will most likely find him dying in some 
 hedgerow, a few fields distant. For this purpose a 
 Newfoundland dog is very useful, as the moment the 
 dog has run up to him in the covert he will begin 
 bellowing so loud as to be easily discovered. 
 
 To approach a buck in an open field, crawl as low as 
 possible on the ground, arid hold before you a green 
 bough, which, if there is a hedge or wood behind, will 
 
 * There is a remedy to obviate this, which frequently answers ; 
 and that is, to carry before you an armful of very sweet hay. 
 
DIVERS. 191 
 
 appear so confused with it, that he will often suffer 
 you to come within rifle shot. 
 
 The outlying deer usually browse all day among the 
 thickets, where, amidst the verdure of the summer leaf 
 and herbage, they are very difficult to be seen. They 
 are particularly fond of apples, and the poachers in the 
 cider counties, well aware of this, make frequent use of 
 the apple pummice. 
 
 The three sorts of deer common in Great Britain are the FALLOW, 
 already mentioned (cervus dama le dain); the RED, or Stag 
 (cervus elephas le cerf); and the ROEBUCK (cervus capreolus 
 le chevreuil). 
 
 The two last are now chiefly confined to the high- 
 lands of Scotland. The latter of them, being very small, 
 is generally killed with common large shot. The sports- 
 men place themselves at the leeward end of a long wood, 
 or planting, which the keepers go round for a great 
 distance, in order to draw regularly down the whole 
 range of coverts. By this means the hares and roes 
 are at last driven out before the guns. : 
 
 With regard to red deer, 1 regret to say, that I have 
 never had any opportunity of shooting them, and there- 
 fore I should be a quack to pretend giving instructions 
 on the subject. I do not, however, abuse it because I 
 am ignorant of it ; on the contrary, I should conceive 
 it to be most noble sport. 
 
 DIVERS. 
 
 To shoot a diver, when he is fishing up a creek at low 
 water, contrive to get your boat below him ; as although 
 he will perhaps rather dive close by you than suffer 
 himself to be hunted up to a shallow place, yet he will. 
 
192 DUCKS. , 
 
 at last, be so much in need of breath, that, \yyfiring 
 the instant he comes up, you may be able to kill him. 
 The large divers are most savage birds, and will, if 
 wounded and driven to extremity, attack either man, 
 dog, or boat. To kill divers along shore, peep over the 
 banks in windy weather, when they are not so apt to 
 duck the flash. Suffice it to say, that of those birds, 
 which are literally and properly called divers, there are 
 seven kinds to be found in Great Britain, exclusive of 
 six others, which are separately classed as the Genus 
 Mergus. 
 
 DUCKS. 
 
 Including all the various kinds of wild fowl, which 
 are common in, and occasionally migrate to this country, 
 there are sixteen *, which come under the denomination 
 of ducks. 
 
 * BIMACULATED, or CLUCKING DUCK. Anas glocitans 
 French not given. 
 
 BLACK DUCK, SCOTER, or BLACKDIVER. Anas nigra La 
 macreuse. I fell in with several of these birds last winter; and, 
 in my life, I never saw such creatures to swim, to dive, and to 
 carry off shot. They take as hard a blow as a swan ; and will 
 even swim, for a short time, after being shot in the head. 
 
 BURROUGH DUCK, or SHELDRAKE. Anas tadornaLa ta- 
 dorne. 
 
 The young sheldrakes, directly after being hatched 
 in the rabbit burrows, are taken by the parent birds to 
 the sea, where they may be seen in what the boatmen 
 
 * But if there is truth in the new discovery, that the golden-eye 
 and morillon are the same bird, the number would then, of course, 
 bejifleen. 
 
DUCKS. 193 
 
 call troops of from thirty to forty; but, as the female 
 seldom hatches more than fourteen eggs, it is clear, that 
 each flock is formed by two or three broods. On their 
 being approached, the old ones fly away, and leave the 
 young to shift for themselves by diving. They may be 
 easily shot when they come up ; but you can seldom 
 kill more than one or two at a time, as they always 
 disperse before you can get very near them. 
 
 These birds show but tame sport with a gun, and 
 are good for nothing when killed. But, in winter 
 nights, they often give you a fine shot on the mud, 
 though they are so white that you can seldom perceive 
 them, even afloat, without a good moon. Be prepared 
 to fire directly you rise; as they, being very quick- 
 sighted birds, will give you but little time to present 
 your gun. We had a great many Burrough ducks on 
 our coast last winter. They were the wildest of birds 
 till half starved by the freezing of the shellfish ; and 
 then they became the tamest of all wildfowl. 
 
 You may keep young Burrough ducks for five or six 
 weeks, provided you give them crums of bread, arid 
 only a little water three times a day. But if you let 
 them get into the water, or even drink too muck, before 
 they are full-grown , and fit to be turned out on your 
 pond, you are almost sure to kill them. This appears 
 quite a paradox with birds that, in their wild state, are 
 always in the water ! But, such is the case, 
 
 * COMMON WILD DUCK. Anas boschasLe canard sauvage. 
 
 The male bird of which is called mallard, and the 
 young ones flappers. To find a brood of these, go, 
 about July, and hunt the rushes in the deepest and 
 
 Q 
 
194 DUCKS. 
 
 most retired parts of some brook or trout stream; 
 where, if you spring the old duck, you may be pretty 
 sure that the brood is not far off. When once found, 
 flappers are easily killed, as they attain their full growth 
 before their wings are fledged i and for this reason 
 the sport is often more like hunting water rats than 
 shooting birds. 
 
 If you leave the brood, after having disturbed them, 
 the old bird will remove them to another place long 
 before the following day. 
 
 When the flappers take wing they assume the name 
 of wild ducks. About the month of August they repair 
 to the corn fields, till disturbed by the harvest people. 
 They then frequent the rivers pretty early in the 
 evening, and show excellent sport to any one who has 
 patience to wait for them. Our sporting writers in ge- 
 neral have given no further directions for duck shooting 
 than to walk quietly up a brook, and shoot them as 
 they rise. In doing this, if you have only a single gun, 
 arid should spring a bird at an uncertain distance, halloo 
 out before you shoot, as there may be others under a 
 bank, and much closer to you, that would spring on the 
 discharge of your gun. 
 
 You need not be at a loss to know a wild duck. The 
 claws in the wild species are black. 
 
 Some sportsmen recommend common land spaniels 
 for duck-shooting, and nothing is more common than 
 to see, in a picture, a smart-looking Tyro attacking a 
 flock of wild fowl with two open-mouthed dogs of this 
 description. This is an art we have yet to learn ; and, 
 I conceive, the best recipe to acquire it would be, first 
 to tie the ducks by their legs, taking care not to do as 
 the Italian once did with a hare, that he bought and 
 
DUCKS. 195 
 
 tied up, in order to win his wager of shooting one 
 blow off the string, and set the game at liberty. I must, 
 therefore, to be on the safer side, recommend my young 
 pupils to use either a Newfoundland dog, a mute water 
 spaniel, or an old pointer that will keep close, and fetch 
 dead birds. 
 
 EIDER, ST. CUTHBERT'S,, or GREAT BLACK AND WHITE DUCK. 
 Anas mollissima L' eider. 
 
 * FERRUGINOUS DUCK. Anas ruiilaNo French to be found 
 
 for this. 
 
 * GOLDEN-EYE DUCK. Anas clangulaLe garrot. 
 
 * GRAY DUCK, or GAD WALL. Anas strepera Le chipeau. 
 
 LONGTAILED DUCK, or SWALLOWTAILED SHELDRAKE. Anas 
 glacialis Canard de miclon. 
 
 * MORILLON. Anas glaucion Le morillon. 
 
 Leadbeater, whose authority I consider as emanating 
 from the fountain-head, says, that we have been all in 
 the dark about the morillon. He positively affirms, 
 that the bird so called by Buffon and other great men 
 is merely the female or young male of the Golden-eye, 
 and that, as most of the males never come to their full 
 size or plumage till just before the breeding season, it 
 is no wonder our ornithologists should be thus deceived 
 about a bird that only migrates to us for the winter. 
 
 * PINTAILED DUCK, WINTER DUCK, SEA PHEASANT, or CRACKKR. 
 
 Anas acuta Le canard a longue queue. 
 
 * SCAUP DUCK. Anas marila For this we have not the name 
 
 by Buffon, though I am pretty sure I have seen scaup ducks on 
 the coast of Normandy, where, with the dunbirds, they are col- 
 lectively called les vignons. 
 
 O 2 
 
196 DUNBIRD FIELDFARE. 
 
 * SHOVELLER, KKRTLUTOCK, or BROADBILLED DUCK. Anas 
 
 clypeata Le souchet. 
 
 Birds of this kind are more common in the fens of 
 Norfolk than in those other marshy parts of England 
 which lie farther from Holland. The Shovellers breed 
 in Norfolk, where they are called "Becks" and, in some 
 places, " Scopper-bills" The flappers of this species 
 are easier found, and show more sport than those of 
 the common wild-duck. Their flesh, too, I think, is of 
 a superior flavour. 
 
 There is a variety of this kind, called the red-breasted 
 Shoveller, for which, as well as all other varieties of 
 wildfowl, I have found the coast of Norfolk to be the 
 best. This, no doubt, is in consequence of its being 
 the nearest to Holland ; from whence there are driven 
 across the channel, by a strong easterly wind, many 
 birds that will seldom travel farther to the westward. 
 
 * TUFTED DUCK. Anasfuligula Le petit morillon. 
 
 Why this is called by Brisson " the little morillon" 
 I am at a loss to discover, as the other morillon is in 
 every respect the smaller bird of the two. This is 
 well known to all wildfowl shooters ; and Mr. Bewick 
 corroborates it in his quoted statement of weight and 
 dimensions. 
 
 VELVET DUCK, GREAT BLACK DUCK, or DOUBLE SCOTER. Atiax 
 fusca La grande macreuse. 
 
 * DUNBIRD, POCHARD, or GRE ATHE ADED WIGEON. 
 
 Annsferina Penelope, le millouin. 
 
 FIELDFARE. Tardls pilarlsLa tourdelle. 
 
 As long as the berries remain on the hedges, field- 
 fares continue in the uplands, and are very fat ; but 
 
GANNET. 197 
 
 afterwards they betake themselves to the water meadows, 
 and feed on worms. These birds are then the " head 
 game" for schoolboys, and people who go hedge-popping 
 during the Christmas holidays. They are, however, 
 scarcely tame enough for this diversion till they have 
 somewhat lost their condition by hard weather. As 
 fieldfares are so dispersed when feeding, the only way 
 to get five or six at a shot is to hide under some place 
 near the trees, which they fly to on being disturbed, 
 and on which they will collect, if some one goes round 
 to drive them from the water meadows. 
 
 GANNET, GAN, or SOLAN GOOSE. Pelicanus Bas- 
 sanus Lefou de Bassan. 
 
 Gannets are occasionally seen on almost every coast, 
 at times when the shoals of herrings are most abundant ; 
 and, in stormy weather, they corne pretty near to land, 
 where, like large seagulls, they may be seen hovering 
 over the foaming surge. These birds may be easily 
 distinguished from the gulls by the additional length of 
 their necks, and the sharp black ends of their wings, 
 the motion of which is, at times, more like that of the 
 heron. 
 
 The sailors sometimes catch these birds, by fastening 
 a fresh herring on a floating plank, against which the 
 gannet's neck is broken, when furiously pouncing on 
 his prey. 
 
 With regard to the swarms of solan geese, which 
 breed on the islands near North Britain, and the manner 
 by which the fowler may distinguish their alarm, I find, 
 that precisely what I should have observed is already so 
 much more ably described, that I consider it better to 
 quote the accounts from Dr. Harvey (as translated in 
 
198 GANNET. 
 
 Pennant), Bewick, and Martin, than attempt any one 
 of my own, which would be a mere corroboration of 
 what these authors have asserted. 
 
 " There is a small island, called by the Scotch, Bass 
 Island," in the Frith of Forth, " not more than a mile 
 in circumference : the surface is almost wholly covered, 
 during the months of May and June, with nests, eggs, 
 and young birds, so that it is scarcely possible to walk 
 without treading on them ; and the flocks of birds in 
 flight are so prodigious, as to darken the air like clouds ; 
 and their noise is such, that you cannot, without dif- 
 ficulty, hear your next neighbour's voice. If you look 
 down upon the sea from the top of the precipice, you 
 will see it on every side covered with infinite numbers 
 of birds of different kinds, swimming and hunting for 
 their prey; if, in sailing round the island, you survey 
 the hanging cliffs, you may see, in every crag or fissure 
 of the broken rocks, innumerable birds, of various sorts 
 and sizes, more than the stars of heaven when viewed 
 in a serene night. If from afar you see the distant 
 flocks, either flying to or from the island, you would 
 imagine them to be a vast swarm of bees." 
 
 This island is " farmed out at a considerable rent for 
 the eggs of the various kinds of water fowl, with which 
 it swarms ; and the produce of the solan geese forms a 
 large portion of the rent ; for great numbers of their 
 young ones are taken every season, and sold in Edin- 
 burgh for twenty-pence each, where they are esteemed 
 a favourite dish, being generally roasted and eat before 
 dinner." 
 
 " The solan geese have always some of their number 
 that keep watch in the night-time ; and if the sentinel 
 be surprised, as it often happens, all that flock are taken 
 
GA11GANEY GEESE. 199 
 
 one after another ; but if the sentinel be awake at the 
 approach of the creeping fowlers, and hear a noise, he 
 cries, softly, grog, grog, at which the flock do not 
 move; but if this sentinel see or hear the fowler ap- 
 proaching, he cries softly bir, bir, which would seem to 
 import danger, since, immediately after, all the tribe 
 take wing, leaving the disappointed fowlers without any 
 prospect of success for that night." 
 
 Notwithstanding that the young gannets may be con- 
 sidered a delicacy, the old ones are so fishy as to be, in 
 general, scarcely eatable. 
 
 * GARGANEY. Anas querquedula La sarcelle. 
 
 Birds of this description are frequently killed in the 
 fens of Norfolk, where they sometimes breed, and are 
 called summer teal. 
 
 GEESE. 
 
 There are six wild sorts which visit Great Britain. 
 
 * BEAN GOOSE. 
 
 A variety of the common one. 
 
 * BERNACLE, TBKEGOOSE, or CLAKIS. Anas erythropus La 
 
 bernacle. 
 
 Most common in Scotland and Ireland. 
 
 * BRENT GOOSE. Anas bernicla Le cravauL 
 
 To kill Brent geese by day, get out of sight in a small 
 punt at low water, and keep as near as possible to the 
 edge of the sea. You will then hear them coming, like 
 a pack of hounds in full cry, and they will repeatedly 
 pass within fair shot, provided you are well concealed, 
 
200 GEESE. 
 
 and the weather is windy to make them fly low. Before 
 you fire at them, spring suddenly up, and these awkward 
 birds will be in such a fright as to hover together, and 
 present a mark like a barn door. 
 
 COMMON WILD GOOSE, GREYLAG. Anas anserL'oie sauvage. 
 
 This, for the market or table, is a far inferior bird to 
 the Bernacle, or even the Brent goose, and has but 
 little to recommend it further than the pleasure of kill- 
 ing it. The common GRAY wild geese may be always 
 distinguished by their flying in a figure. These birds, 
 instead of repairing to the coast, like other geese, prefer 
 keeping inland, where they feed on the green wheat by 
 day, and in the flooded water meadows at night. Wild 
 geese, when feeding by day, take care to choose an open 
 plain. You have therefore no means of getting near 
 them, unless they are very tired, from having just 
 arrived after a long flight. I have once or twice, how- 
 ever, got shots at them by taking one of the horses from 
 a plough-team, and walking under cover of him, with 
 a large gun. Some use a stalking-horse, the skin of a 
 cow, and various other contrivances ; which, after all, 
 seldom answer for geese, although they may for golden 
 plover, and other less artful birds. The surest way, 
 therefore, to kill them, is to let any one, who works in 
 the water meadows, ascertain what parts they have used 
 (which he will see by their dung and feathers), and then 
 wait for them at dusk, in some ambush, that commands 
 the fresh places adjoining. Contrive, if possible, to get 
 the line of a dyke or drain, so as to take their company 
 on the flank. 
 
 Let the man who goes after geese, or any wild birds 
 jn the snow, dress as ivhite as he can, and take a white 
 
GEESE. 201 
 
 cotton nightcap ready to put on before he begins crawl- 
 ing after them ; or to a certainty they will catch sight 
 of his head, and be off. 
 
 [EGYPTIAN GOOSE, GANSEK, or GAMBO goose. Anas Mgyp- 
 tiaca L'oie d'Egypte. 
 
 Two of these birds appeared some years ago in Nor- 
 folk, one of which was killed by John Ponton, Esq., and 
 the other by his keeper. Three Egyptian geese were, 
 for some days, in the winter of 1823, in the fields of 
 Longparish, and after being fired at about ten times, 
 the old gander was killed by one of the labourers. I was 
 informed that they were at first so easy of access, that 
 I then concluded they must have taken flight from some 
 gentleman's pond. The next year again, during the 
 tremendous gales from the ivest, a flock of about eighty ! 
 appeared near the same place, and two more were killed, 
 and sent me, by the same man. I have, therefore, no 
 doubt of their importation, instead of migration, to this 
 country. I suppose these birds were, till of late years, 
 very scarce, as Mr. Bewick could procure no specimen 
 for his admirable work.] 
 
 * REDBREASTED, SIBERIAN GOOSE. Anser ruficollis. 
 
 A rare and very delicate species. 
 
 * WHITEFRONTED, or LAUGHING GOOSE. Anas albifrons 
 
 L'oie rieuse. 
 
 These geese were quite unknown to the gunners on 
 the Hampshire coast, till the last severe winter, when 
 they arrived here ; and were, more or less, dispersed 
 over other parts of Great Britain. One Sunday morn- 
 ing, when birds really appear to know their day of safety, 
 
202 GEESE. 
 
 about eighty of them pitched in a field, close to the vil- 
 lage of Milford ; which is literally a garrison of pop- 
 gunners. Three at a shot were killed with a mere 
 pop-gun ay, and by a tailor too ! Our friend Snip, 
 feeling himself a privileged man where a goose was 
 concerned, and having, no doubt, seen on the livery 
 buttons (and had construed to him) the motto of " carpe 
 diem" had a fair " set-off" against his transgression, and 
 breach of game-laws : and all ended well, as he shopped 
 his game without getting shopped himself. The poor 
 geese, finding there was not even one day of safety in- 
 land, betook themselves, for security, to the salt water. 
 Here their reception, the next day, was a volley from 
 my two large barrels, which " stopped" about twenty, 
 though I only got twelve, as we had not sufficient water 
 to get very near them : otherwise, something great might 
 have been done, as these geese appear to be much easier 
 of access than any others. Captain Ward tells me that 
 he got almost close to them ; and, had not his gun 
 flashed, would have nearly cleared off the company. 
 
 The laughing geese fly in more regular order than 
 the Brent geese ; but not so much in a figure as the 
 gray geese ; and, I observed, have a cry which I can 
 only describe by manufacturing, and twice repeating, 
 the word, " kirrit." These geese are between the size 
 of the two others, and are very little better eating than 
 the gray ones. Their breasts are barred, like a pattern 
 for a waistcoat ; and seldom two alike (another good 
 excuse for the tailor !) They take a tremendously hard 
 blow; and, if not well shot, will recover, after being 
 knocked fairly down, and then fly away for miles. 
 
 Hudson's Bay is the grand depot for geese of this 
 description. 
 
GODWITS GREBES GROUSE. 203 
 
 GODWITS. 
 
 There are seven sorts of godwits, including the small 
 redshank. In my previous editions I said eight. 
 
 The " red godwit" was spoken of as a delicious and 
 scarce bird, and I observed that I had killed several of 
 them on the coast of Kent ; but always considered the 
 gray godwit as the best worth shooting. But here we 
 have all been in the dark again ! The red godwit is no 
 more nor less than the gray godwit in his summer jacket. 
 These birds, like huzzars, have a summer dress and a 
 winter dress, and have thus out-manoeuvred the logic 
 of our generals in zoology. There are many birds 
 which change their plumage in like manner, though 
 perhaps not so much as these. My remark, as to the 
 gray godwit being best, was an excusable error, because 
 all birds eat better in winter than in summer. There 
 is no great art required to kill godwits. In hard wea- 
 ther they are scattered on the shores, and in spring 
 they may be easily shot when flying about in the 
 marshes. 
 
 GREBES. 
 
 There are seven sorts, including the little river dob- 
 chick. 
 
 These birds, in evading the flash of a gun, are even 
 quicker than the divers. 
 
 The large grebes are worth shooting for the sake of 
 their skins, which make excellent tippets and travelling 
 caps. 
 
 GROUSE. 
 
 There are three kinds of grouse, exclusive of the 
 wood grouse, or capercaile, a Swedish bird, that is 
 
204 BLACK-GAME SHOOTING. 
 
 given in Bewick as having formerly been known to 
 visit this country ; the same species of which so many 
 are brought to London from Norway, and sold at the 
 poulterers, sometimes for a sovereign each, by the name 
 of kappercally. The natives, just before the breeding 
 season, entice these birds, by an imitation of their call, 
 towards an ambush, from which they shoot them. 
 
 BLACK GROUSE, or BLACK COCK. Tebrao tctrixLc coq de 
 bruyere, d queue four chue. 
 
 To shoot a black cock (in the winter), when he be- 
 comes wild, you should wait near, or in the direction 
 of, the larch firs, for which he flies to perch : and send 
 some one round to drive him from the stubble, where, 
 about sunrise, the black game may be seen feeding like 
 rooks. In the North, &c., the female of this species is 
 called gray-hen, but in the New Forest both male and 
 female are collectively named heathpoults. 
 
 The black-game rise somewhat like a young pheasant, 
 and are, I conceive, to one divested of anxiety, and in 
 good nerve, easy birds to shoot : more so than a grouse 
 or a partridge. 
 
 BLACK-GAME SHOOTING ON THE BORDERS OF HANTS AND 
 
 DORSET. 
 
 At the commencement of the season, the black-game 
 here lie tolerably well, and particularly if the weather 
 is so hot as to drive them down to the bogs. The 
 gray -hen generally remains with the pack, which seldom 
 consists of more than five or six birds. Nine or ten is 
 considered a very large pack, except in winter, when 
 
BJLACK-GAME SHOOTING. 205 
 
 the cock birds all congregate together in one flock ; and, 
 in general, defy every kind of fair shooting, as well as 
 the few bungling artifices that gamekeepers are master 
 of, with regard to wild birds. The keepers' only chance, 
 therefore, is to wait concealed for their flight; as a 
 black-cock, although one of the wildest birds in ex- 
 istence, will, when once on the wing, seldom break his 
 course or raise his flight, let what will intercept him. 
 The old cock birds, even at the beginning of the season, 
 are very difficult of access ; as, on being approached, 
 they keep running forward instead of remaining with 
 the pack. 
 
 The best, or, at all events, one of the best day's black- 
 game shooting that was ever known, I believe, in these 
 parts, I had with the late Mr. John Ponton at Uddens, 
 on the 25th of August, 1825*. We found, on this 
 gentleman's manor, eleven brace in one day, which was 
 considered, by the keepers, extraordinary success ; and 
 we killed eight brace without missing a shot. But not- 
 withstanding all our birds were as strong, and as large, 
 as the old ones, we never even saw an old cock the 
 whole day.. 
 
 The black-game here are briefly called "poults" 
 The fagging for them is the hardest labour of any sport 
 I know, because you have to work, in the hottest 
 weather, through stiff heath, which is so much inter- 
 
 * Black-game shooting, as will be seen by the game laws here- 
 after inserted, does not begin in the New Forest, nor in Devonshire 
 nor Somersetshire, till the 1st of September. But every where else 
 the first day is the 20th of August. Not being in the bounds of 
 the New Forest, therefore, we began even five days after the time; 
 consequently were not transgressing the law, as it might appear, 
 without this explanation. 
 
206 GUINEAFOWL GULLS. 
 
 cepted by fir plantations and bogs, as, for the most part, 
 to prevent your riding ; and, from the very few shots 
 that you are likely to get in a day, you have not the 
 same encouragement, as in the abundant sport of grouse 
 shooting. But notwithstanding all, I was never so 
 much pleased with any day's sport as with my first day's 
 black-game shooting in England. 
 
 RED GROUSE, GORCOCK, or MOORCOCK (the common muir 
 game). Tetrao Scoticus L'altagas. 
 
 WHITE GROUSE, or PTARMIGAN. Tetrao lagopusLe lagopede. 
 
 These birds, instead of becoming wild in the winter, 
 like the two others, may, at any time, be easily shot, 
 if we can but reach the almost inaccessible parts of the 
 northern mountains which they frequent. 
 
 They may here be seen on the ground, standing with 
 the greatest composure, and looking like white pigeons ; 
 and are not unfrequently killed with sticks or stones. 
 
 GUINEAFOWL, PINTADO, or PEARLED-HEN. Nu- 
 midia meleagris La pintade. 
 
 Although guineafowls, as well as turkeys, and even 
 peacocks, are sometimes turned out in gentlemen's pre- 
 serves, yet they can only be considered as poultry ; and 
 my sole reason, therefore, for making mention of them 
 is to observe what excellent birds they are to give the 
 alarm, in the event of poachers entering a covert, or 
 thieves lurking about your premises by night. 
 
 GULLS. 
 
 There are thirteen sorts of gulls ; and as these are 
 birds which no one would ever think of dressing, it is 
 
MAKES HERON. 207 
 
 not generally known, that, although scarcely eatable in 
 any other way, they make an excellent substitute of 
 giblet soup : for this purpose their skins must be taken 
 off. 
 
 If you shoot a gull, let him lie, and the others will 
 keep flying about the place. You will always observe 
 that gulls, terns, or sea swallows *, &c. contrive to face 
 you in hovering round ; knowing that they are almost 
 impenetrable when in this direction ; prefer therefore 
 shooting at them in any other, as you will then have 
 more chance of bringing them down, although at three 
 times the distance. 
 
 HARES. 
 
 Always endeavour to shoot a hare crossing, and con- 
 sider the head as your object. Withhold shooting at 
 her when coming to you, until she is very close, or her 
 skull will act as a shield against your charge. 
 
 If a hare canters past, and you are behind a hedge at 
 feeding time, she will often stop, and sit up if you whistle. 
 This I name to facilitate a shot for a schoolboy. 
 
 Of these there are two sorts ; the COMMON (Lepus 
 timidus Le lievre); and the ALPINE or WHITE 
 HARE, which frequents the Highland mountains, and 
 goes to earth (or rather into the clefts of rock) like a 
 fox. 
 
 HERON, or HERONSHAW. Ardea major Le heron 
 hupe. 
 
 Although one of the most difficult birds to approach 
 
 * These birds breed by thousands on the large tract of shingle, 
 by Dungeness and Lydd, where they are called kipps. Their eggs 
 are sold in great numbers among those of the greenplorer or peewit. 
 
208 HERON. 
 
 by land, yet the heron is not quite so shy of a boat as 
 might be expected. The best time to kill herons is to 
 wait for them, at dusk or by moonlight, either near the 
 brooks, rivers, or water meadows, or under the trees ad- 
 joining, on which they often assemble before they begin 
 their havoc among the fisheries. The shooter may 
 either remain in a dark dress against a bush or hedge, 
 or in a light-coloured punt and light dress on the 
 water; where he should keep by the side, or under the 
 shade of the bank. The herons will, in either of these 
 situations, come close to him before they can see him ; 
 and from the latter one he may float down stream 
 (keeping close to the leeward bank) and kill them 
 from his boat. He may bring them down farther than 
 most other birds, as they are a large mark, and yet 
 require but very little shot. 
 
 The best way to shoot herons by day is either with 
 a rifle, or by the following contrivance. These birds, 
 when they have done fishing, generally seek the safety 
 of an open plain, where, with their long necks, they can 
 see an approaching enemy so well, that you can seldom 
 get nearer (particularly if on foot) than about two hun- 
 dred yards. Go, therefore, when it blows a strong gale 
 of wind, on a fast galloping horse, and get as near as 
 possible to them on the leeward side. The moment 
 the herons begin to rise, charge for them at full speed ; 
 and, before they can possibly make head against the 
 wind, you will either get under them, or they will fly 
 over you, and very seldom out of gun shot. The only 
 obstacle is the chance of missing them, from the dif- 
 ficulty of keeping the horse sufficiently steady to shoot 
 from his back, immediately after being pulled up from 
 a gallop. 
 
KNOT LANDRAIL. 209 
 
 KNOT, KNUTE, or KNOUT. Tringa canutis Le 
 canut. 
 
 A bird which, like the ruffs and reeves, is more 
 easily caught by nets than shot; as the knot, like the 
 others, keeps running under the high reeds, where it 
 cannot well be followed up, and then is apt to spring 
 out of gun-shot. The knots, if they remain in England, 
 when the fens are frozen, will sometimes repair to the 
 coast. There they are much easier of access than either 
 the curlews or gray plovers. 
 
 LANDRAIL, CORNCRAKE, or DAKERHEN. Rallus 
 crex Le rale de genet. 
 
 To find a landrail, always make choice of a clover 
 field; and if that does not offer, try beans, potatoes, 
 or beds of young withey. Landrails are now most 
 plentiful in Ireland. 
 
 To call them in the evening, go behind a hedge near 
 the swaths of corn, with two bones ; one of which must 
 be notched like a saw, the other plain ; and by drawing 
 the one down the serrated part of the other, you will 
 produce a noise, which so far imitates their call, as often 
 to draw them close to your place of concealment. 
 
 There are two sorts of rails, which may be named 
 after speaking of the landrail ; but, from their being 
 water birds, or rather waders, which inhabit only the 
 sedge and places near rivers, they are very widely di- 
 stinguished in natural history. The one is the 
 
 COMMON WATER-RAIL, and the other the 
 
 SPOTTED WATER-RAIL, SPOTTED GALLINULE, or WATER 
 CRAKE. 
 
 P 
 
210 LARK OXBIRD. 
 
 Notwithstanding these two are seldom regarded by 
 sportsmen, yet there is scarcely a greater delicacy than 
 either the one or the other. 
 
 In shooting all kinds of rails press them very hard, 
 or you will have difficulty to get them on wing. If 
 they are in a hedge, go a-head of your dogs, and shake 
 it before them. Having once driven them up, you 
 should fire, if there is any chance, as the difficulty of 
 springing them a second time is tenfold. 
 
 LARK. Alauda arvensisL'alouette. 
 
 To shoot larks (or any other small birds) in hard 
 weather, sweep away the snow, and sprinkle a long train 
 of scearl*, corn, or chaff, within shot of some hedge or 
 place that you can walk to unseen, and occasionally 
 give them a sweeping. 
 
 OXBIRD, PURRE, or STINT. Tringa cinclus 
 L'alouette de mer. 
 
 To get a shot among the clouds of oxbirds, which 
 frequent the shores, go in your canoe, and either take 
 them on the mud from a creek at low water, or on a 
 gravelly point at high water. A white frost is the best 
 time for this, and they are then most commonly inter- 
 spersed with gray plover. 
 
 Oxbirds are sometimes so tame in windy weather, 
 about the month of August, that, at high water, you 
 may walk along the beach, and shoot them openly with 
 a little double gun. Perhaps, after killing a dozen with 
 your first barrel, the remainder of the flock will pitch 
 
 * A provincial term for those light seeds, that fall through the 
 rudder, when cleaning the wheat, and of which the small birds are 
 particularly fond. 
 
OXBIRD PARTRIDGES. 211 
 
 among them, and present a shot equally good for your 
 second. But these are no doubt mostly young birds, 
 that have just flown, as the oxbirds are, in general, 
 difficult of access ; and (like most other birds) the 
 larger their flock, the more difficult it is to be ap- 
 proached. 
 
 This is capital sport for a schoolboy. But the mo- 
 ment the tide leaves the mud then is the time to get 
 a punt and catch the oxbirds on the edge. A second 
 barrel is the grand recipe for the slaughter of oxbirds ; 
 because if you happen to " stop" two or three, the rest 
 are almost sure to pitch down with, or near them : and 
 in this case as thick as they can possibly " stow" to- 
 gether. But if you have only a single gun, the moment 
 you raise the barrel, to put the powder in, away they 
 all go ! 
 
 The oxbird belongs to the tribe of sandpipers. Of 
 these, including the ruff (foe female of which is called 
 reeve), there are fifteen sorts : but, as they scarcely 
 afford any particular sport, it will be wasting time to 
 enter into any detail on them, or even to give a trans- 
 lation of their different names. 
 
 PARTRIDGES. Tetrao perdixLa perdrix grise. 
 RED LEGGED. Tetrao ruf us La perdrix rouge. v ^ 
 
 The latter has been of late years brought from the 
 continent, and is now (as I before observed) plentiful 
 on the estates of lords Hertford and Rendlesham in 
 Suffolk. 
 
 The red legged partridges are fond of warm dry soil ; 
 and, from this circumstance, they are, in flavour, rather 
 inferior to the common ones. Although called " French 
 
PARTRIDGES PHEASANT. 
 
 partridges," these birds are scarcely known in many 
 parts of Normandy and Picardy, where the common 
 partridge (like ours) is the only one commonly to be 
 met with. In France they prefer the vine countries, 
 for the sake of a warm sandy soil ; but in Spain, Por- 
 tugal, and the Southern parts of Europe, they are uni- 
 versally diffused. 
 
 I remember, at the early part of the Peninsular war, 
 getting some excellent shooting at these birds on the 
 march between Castello Branco aad Placentia ; where, 
 had there been time to follow a day's sport, the quantity 
 killed might have been immense. 
 
 Red legged partridges will congregate in packs, 
 perch on hedges, and, if wounded, often go to earth. 
 
 To kill them, you must press them hard to take wing, 
 or they will run out of shot before they rise ; and for 
 this reason, they are apt to spoil your dogs. Red 
 legged partridges being constantly on the run, are dif- 
 ficult to disperse ; but by means of heading them, with 
 men on horseback, their coveys, or packs, may be 
 divided, and this being once done, they will lie like 
 stones. 
 
 PHEASANTS. Phasianus colchicus Lefaisan. 
 
 Besides the common pheasant, there are now in pre- 
 served coverts, as well as aviaries, other beautiful kinds, 
 which have been mostly brought from China ; viz. the 
 golden pheasant; silver or pied pheasant, &c. ; and 
 also two varieties of the common one, the one of which 
 is precisely like it, except having a white ring round 
 the neck, from which it is distinguished by the name 
 of ring pheasant ; and the other of pure white, which 
 I had (it appears erroneously) supposed to be a mule 
 
PHEASANT. 213 
 
 bird between the common pheasant and the barn door 
 fowl, partaking of the shape and habits of the former, 
 with the colour and taste of the latter. What led me 
 to think so was, that these birds appeared without any 
 one having originally imported the breed, or even any 
 variety, but where the common pheasants were often 
 seen among the white barn door fowls. In a small 
 covert of my own I had one nide of twelve, in which 
 were hatched nine common and three wMte pheasants. 
 But, since the foregoing surmise appeared in a former 
 edition, 1 was favoured with observations from a su- 
 perior ornithologist, which I am sure will be far more 
 worthy the attention of naturalists than any thing I can 
 insert of my own. I shall, therefore, take the liberty of 
 subjoining his communication : 
 
 " In the second edition of the ' Instructions to Young Sportsmen* 
 by Major Hawker, the author, in speaking of the different kinds of 
 pheasants, says " 
 
 Here he quotes from my second edition at consider- 
 able length. He then continues 
 
 " The f Instructions to Young Sportsmen* are evidently the work 
 of a sportsman, who is a master of the subject on which he writes, 
 and under a very moderate title contain a great deal of original and 
 interesting information ; information new, not only to the young 
 sportsman, but capable of instructing the old. It is with great de- 
 ference, therefore, that the writer of the following observations ven- 
 tures to give a different opinion on the cause of white pheasants, or 
 at least to submit that there should be assigned another cause for 
 their production than that of their being mule birds, between the 
 fowl and hen pheasant. He will speak of these two subjects in their 
 order: and, 
 
 " First, on the probable cause of white pheasants. 
 
 " On reading the ' Instructions to Young Sportsmen/ the writer 
 of the following remarks was struck with tlie observation, that 
 
PHEASANT. 
 
 f the common pheasants M r ere often seen among the white barn door 
 Jowls;' and recollecting the story of Jacob's contract with Laban, in 
 the 30th chapter of Genesis, he began to think white pheasants were 
 produced by the impression made on the hen pheasant, from having 
 white fowls before her during the period of gestation. In the above 
 account in Genesis it appears, that Jacob's stratagem fully succeeded, 
 for we are told in the last verse, that ' the man increased exceedingly, 
 and had much cattle.' These ring-streaked and speckled cattle of 
 Jacob, and the brown sheep, were evidently caused by impression, 
 or the operation of an outward appearance upon, and influencing, the 
 senses, as will appear by reading, attentively, the story from the 
 25th to the 43d verse: and besides the peeled rods obtruded before 
 the eyes of the cattle during the time of conception, he set * the faces 
 of the flocks toward the ring-streaked and all the brown in the flock 
 of Laban.' 
 
 " If then beasts may be affected by impression, or the operation of 
 an outward appearance on the senses, is it unreasonable to suppose, 
 that birds may be affected in the same manner ? and if by having 
 peeled rods placed before them, and their ; faces set toward the ring- 
 streaked,' an impression was made on these cattle, causing them to 
 produce their young of that colour, may not the same cause have the 
 same effect on pheasants ? and the hen pheasant, by being among 
 white fowls, and having them before her eyes, be the mother of young, 
 of a pied or white colour ? 
 
 " But it will be said, ' Here are fowls of several colours besides 
 white : with which pheasants are likely to mix in the fields, and this 
 will destroy the probability of pheasants becoming white by impres- 
 sion made on the hen pheasant, since, as there are black and brown 
 fowls, why should not pheasants become black or brown from the 
 same cause?' 
 
 " It is submitted, in answer to this objection, that a white fowl is 
 of a more glaring and obtrusive colour than any other, and conse- 
 quently more likely to catch the eye, and make a stronger impression 
 on the hen pheasant, from its striking peculiarity, and, as it respects 
 the pheasant, deformity. 
 
 " But further, though we often hear of a variety of any particular 
 species of bird, yet that variety is almost always either white, or a 
 mixture of white with the natural colour. If among birds there be 
 a lusus naturae, she, in her freak, seldom deviates from this colour. 
 And notwithstanding these white varieties may be fairly termed rarae 
 
PHEASANT. 215 
 
 aves, and although there are several species naturally black, yet a 
 black variety always has been considered a peculiar prodigy, as we 
 may remember in that well known line in the mouth of every school- 
 boy. And among fowls there are none of a stronger colour than white 
 fowls and black, and white is stronger than black. Other fowls ap- 
 proach more to the colour of the pheasant (the brown fowl parti- 
 cularly to that of the hen pheasant), at least than these two colours 
 of white and black. Fowls of another colour than white will be in- 
 troduced again soon after, as a concurrent proof, that white phea- 
 sants are not a mule breed between the barn door cock and the hen 
 pheasant. 
 
 " In proof of the effect of the influence of impression on the senses 
 from outward appearances, we might here allude to the human 
 species, and the impression which is often unfortunately made on 
 mothers, from objects of deformity. 
 
 " In the above remarks, the writer has ventured an opinion on the 
 probable cause of white pheasants. He leaves it to others to judge 
 how far he is right or wrong. But however this may be, he will 
 now endeavour to show, that whatever may be the cause of this lusus 
 naturae in the pheasant, yet that there are the strongest grounds for 
 presuming, that the white pheasant is not a mule bird, between the 
 barn door cock and the hen pheasant. And, 
 
 " First, it is conceived, that the white pheasant is not a mule bird, 
 between the barn door cock and the hen pheasant, from the circum- 
 stance, that it is one of the laws of nature, that the young of all 
 animals should be formed more after the male than the female parent, 
 have more of the shape, nature, and properties, of the former than 
 of the latter. This is well known to the breeders of cattle. If a 
 horned ram be put to an ewe without horns, the offspring will have 
 horns. On the contrary, let the ewe be horned, and the ram with- 
 out horns, and the lamb will be without horns; in both cases taking 
 after the ram. A mule was once pointed out to the writer of these 
 remarks as something extraordinary, from its being the foal of an ass 
 covered by a Portuguese horse, which happened to be brought over 
 to this country by an officer. It was thought an extraordinary pro- 
 duction, since the stallion refuses the she ass, and consequently all 
 our mules are produced from the ass and the mare, and not from 
 the horse and the she ass. But this mule, having a horse for its sire, 
 was much more like a horse than our common mules, which spring 
 from a more humble sire, and partake more of the nature of the ass 
 
216 PHEASANT. 
 
 than the mule here alluded to, and from this greater resemblance to 
 the horse, it was pointed out rather as a curiosity. From hence the 
 writer infers, that the white pheasants, if they were mule birds, be- 
 tween the barn door cock and the hen pheasant, would, according to 
 this law of nature, take more of the shape, nature, and properties of 
 the male than of the female parent. But the reverse is the case : 
 white pheasants are perfect pheasants, in every respect but colour, 
 and whether male or female birds, have neither the comb, the gills, 
 nor the tail of the fowl; have no appearance of the fowl except in 
 their white colour. Now the tail of the pheasant is so remarkable 
 in its shape, as not to be found in any other class of British birds ; 
 and notwithstanding the rule of nature, that all animals should 
 preserve more of the shape and properties of the male than of the 
 female parent, yet the white pheasant, descended from the male fowl 
 and female pheasant, retains the tail of the latter perfect and un- 
 altered, and without any resemblance to that of the former. 
 
 c ' From this identity of shape in the white pheasant and common 
 pheasant it is submitted, that the former cannot be a mule bird be- 
 tween the barn door cock and the hen pheasant. 
 
 " And with respect to the colour of the white pheasant, it will 
 be presently urged, from the instances of white varieties in other 
 birds, that this cannot be a satisfactory reason for its being a mule 
 bird, or half a fowl. 
 
 " But it should not be forgotten, that in the ' Instructions to 
 Young Sportsmen,' the taste of the white pheasant is mentioned as 
 like that of the fowl. To this the writer of these observations can 
 say nothing, but that it may depend on the imagination. Because 
 it is known to be a white pheasant, and supposed to be half a fowl, 
 the flavour of the bird may be judged rather from what is fancied, 
 than from what is tasted. The skin of the white pheasant, when 
 picked, is probably different (the writer says, probably, since he 
 cannot speak to the fact, for he has never seen a white pheasant 
 after it was picked) from that of other pheasants, and white, like 
 that of the fowl, which may also change the appearance of the flesh. 
 The whiteness of the skin will be owing to the colour of the feathers, 
 which will probably have that effect on the skin. We see this in a 
 pig; when scalded, and the hair taken off, the skin is either white, 
 or stained with black, according to the colour of the hair. 
 
 " Secondly. It is well known, that other birds, besides pheasants, 
 are white, notwithstanding the colour of their kind is quite different, 
 
PHEASANT. 217 
 
 and yet that these can be no mule birds is obvious. Every one has 
 heard of white varieties of one species or other of British birds; and 
 in Mr. Bullock's museum, in Piccadilly, there is a white jay, a white 
 cuckoo, a white blackbird, thrush, and lark. But neither the male 
 nor female parent of these birds could have been white, since among 
 British small birds there is not one class or kind of that colour. 
 And mule birds partake of the colour of both parents, as in the in- 
 stance of the young of the goldfinch and canary. It is, therefore, 
 clear, that the white varieties, just mentioned, cannot be mule birds; 
 and, on the other side, if they may be produced white without being 
 mule birds, why may not pheasants ? 
 
 " Thirdly. If white pheasants were mule birds between the fowl 
 and the pheasant, how does it happen that theymule breed between 
 these birds is always white in all parts of the country ? The writer 
 of these remarks has seen two in a nide, and has heard of many other 
 white pheasants. But he never saw or heard of any other variety of 
 the common * pheasant than the pied, or white pheasant. And yet 
 there are fowls of several colours besides white, with which pheasants 
 are likely to mix in the fields ; and the mule production between 
 these fowls and the hen pheasant ought not to be white, but, accord- 
 ing to the established law of nature, they should have a share of the 
 colour of each parent. And thus the mule production, from a barn 
 door cock of anyone of several colours besides white, would be easily 
 distinguished, but particularly if the cock were black. 
 
 " Fourthly. Again, if white pheasants be a mule breed between 
 the barn door cock and the hen pheasant, how is it, that though we 
 often hear of these white pheasants, yet we never hear of a mule 
 bred between the cock pheasant and the hen fowl ? The writer has 
 already spoken of having seen white pheasants, and of having heard 
 of many more, but he never saw or heard of a mule bred between 
 the cock pheasant and the hen fowl. And yet he has seen pheasants 
 
 * Under the description of common pheasant, the writer here in- 
 cludes, for the sake of perspicuity, the ring-necked pheasant, though 
 properly a variety of the common class, but he excludes, of course, 
 all foreign pheasants. Neither is he here speaking of the mule 
 pheasant, so called, which has the plumage of both cock and hen 
 pheasant, and the cause of which phenomenon sportsmen cannot 
 very well determine. 
 
218 THEASANT. 
 
 come into a lonely barn-yard, where there was no house, and where 
 no labourers were at work, but where there were fowls. And he 
 has known a cock pheasant to come early every morning in the 
 breeding season to this barn-yard, and crow, often sitting on one 
 of the hovels. And it is said a cock pheasant would beat a game 
 cock, if unarmed with those barbarous weapons, steel spurs. If this 
 be true, he would, of course, be more than a match for a dunghill 
 cock. And as this superior prowess would enable him to defend his 
 own seraglio from the violations of chanticleer, if attempted in his 
 presence, so it would enable him more easily to invade that of his 
 neighbour. 
 
 <f Note. White pheasants are seldom perfectly white, but are 
 usually mottled, or variegated, or, as they are generally called, pied. 
 When they are entirely white, the impression on the hen pheasant 
 must be of the strongest and most perfect kind. But when they 
 are pied, it is suggested, rather that the impression was not so 
 strong and perfect, than that the impression was made by mottled 
 or variegated fowls. 
 
 " With respect to the brown sheep mentioned in the contract be- 
 tween Jacob and Laban, it may be remarked, that as white is the 
 natural colour of that animal, so the brown sheep may be to the 
 white one what the white fowl is to the brown pheasant, the hen 
 pheasant, at least, being of that colour. 
 
 " Here it may be added, that the fowl being about the size of 
 the pheasant, and in its general form bearing some resemblance to 
 it, so this general resemblance, in any other respect, will render its 
 peculiarity, in point of colour, so much the greater deformity. Fowls, 
 too, when they stray from the farm-yard into the fields to feed, and 
 pheasants, when they leave the coppices and hedgerows for the same 
 purpose, prowl and feed, both of them, in the same manner. And 
 while other birds are continually on the wing from place to place, and 
 seldom remain long on a spot, the pheasant rarely rises unless dis- 
 turbed, and is much more still and stationary. The pheasant, if 
 undisturbed, continues in the same neighbourhood, particularly in 
 the breeding season. Fowls, when they stray, since they cannot go 
 far, must frequent the same fields; and as the pheasant from its 
 habits is likely to meet them, and to remain with them, it is liable 
 not only to a more durable impression, but subject to a greater ex- 
 posure to that impression. And it is, perhaps, from these causes 
 that there are a greater number of white pheasants than white 
 
PIGEONS. 219 
 
 varieties of any other single species of birds, for we much oftener 
 hear of the former than of the latter. But what may be the cause 
 of the lusus naturae in other birds, the author of these remarks 
 leaves to be explained, or attempted, by some more close observer 
 of her feathered family." 
 
 PIGEONS. 
 
 The shooting of tame pigeons I have always had 
 want of taste enough to consider as an amusement to 
 be classed with badger-baiting. But as it becomes a 
 glorious opportunity for assembling parties to gamble 
 and get drunk, I must not be so unfashionable as to 
 moralise about cruelty; particularly as the professors 
 of this accomplishment might ask me, " Why is it worse 
 than hunting a bag fox ?" or " May not every sport be 
 more or less condemned for cruelty?" 
 
 As pigeons are commonly turned out at twenty-one 
 yards, it may be easily observed, that the knack of 
 killing them consists in firing the instant they are up, 
 and being careful not to shoot under them, as they take 
 so hard a blow, particularly on the rump, that, if suf- 
 fered to fly to any distance, they are apt to get out of 
 bounds before they fall. The larger the gun and the 
 charge, the wider the circle of shot ; and therefore the 
 better to assist that shaking hand, which, among the 
 most expert marksmen, may be occasioned by anxiety. 
 Plenty of powder, and a light charge (in proportion) of 
 No. 6 shot will do better for a man while nervous than 
 very close shooting ; or, at all events, till he has be- 
 come cool and confident, which he generally will find 
 himself after he has killed a few birds in succession. 
 
 So little is the art of pigeon shooting the criterion of 
 a good shot, that many of the very best performers at 
 this are scarcely third rate shots at other birds, and 
 
220 PIGEONS. 
 
 some of them perfect cockneys in every other kind of 
 shooting. It must, however, be admitted, that there 
 is more difficulty in shooting pigeons at a regular 
 match than many bystanders are aware of. The man 
 who has to exhibit before hundreds of people, and is, 
 perhaps, betting hundreds of pounds, feels in general a 
 very different sensation from the one who stands merely 
 as a spectator, perfectly composed ; and while in this 
 state, is confident of being able to beat those who are 
 engaged in the match, although they may be shooting 
 infinitely better than he perhaps could do if placed in 
 their situation. In this, as in every thing else, there- 
 fore, it is far, very far, easier to be a fault-finder than 
 a performer ; because most things fall so decidedly 
 short of perfection, that any simpleton may set up for 
 the one, while, on the contrary, a man must have ac- 
 quired some little knowledge, however superficial, be- 
 fore he can attempt the other. 
 
 Of wild pigeons, or (more properly speaking) doves, 
 there are three kinds : the 
 
 STOCK, or WILD PIGEON. Columba cenas Le biset. 
 
 RING, CUSHAT, or QUEEST. Columba palumbus Le pigeon 
 ramier. 
 
 TURTLE. Columba turturLe tourterelle. 
 
 The second of these, the most common, is almost 
 universally known by the name of woodpigeon ; and, if 
 not too much fed on turnips, arid kept till tender, is de- 
 servedly esteemed an excellent bird. The turtle-dove, 
 however, is the best of the three ; but being only a 
 summer visiter, it generally escapes the notice of the 
 shooter ; except in the early part of September, when 
 
PIGEONS. 221 
 
 birds of this description are often sprung from the pea 
 fields. 
 
 For shooting woodpigeons there are various con- 
 trivances, which, like those for all other wild birds, 
 consist chiefly in waiting 1 for them, as this always 
 answers so much better than attempting to follow them. 
 Some hide themselves among the trees, where they come 
 to roost about sunset : others take them at perch, after 
 the fall of the leaf, by moonlight* (the way poachers 
 shoot pheasants); and many are killed by boys in the 
 summer, who conceal themselves, in a harbour, near the 
 ponds where these birds and the doves go to drink. 
 But, after all, the most effectual way is to shoot them 
 when they come to the turnips in snowy weather. If 
 the frost is so hard that you cannot approach them, 
 under cover of a fence, without making a noise on the 
 white ice, you must, after moving them, wait, to lee- 
 ward, for their return. If you can make a place in a 
 hedge, it is preferable to the common plan of putting 
 up hurdles covered with straw, as the woodpigeons are 
 apt to notice, and feed out of reach of them. These 
 birds are fond of frequenting beech trees, and feeding 
 on the nuts that fall from them. 
 
 To get shots at woodpigeons round a fir clump, or 
 plantation, send your man on the opposite side to drive 
 them out before you ; or they will, ten to one, go off 
 under cover of the tree from which they fly. By wait- 
 ing concealed in the covert, you may often stand in one 
 
 * This the woodpigeons will not allow you to do, unless the trees 
 are clear of underwood; as the least rustling of bushes would put 
 them to flight. For this reason (as Mr. Daniel very justly remarks) 
 they are an excellent night signal, to keepers, when poachers have 
 availed themselves of boisterous weather to attack a preserved covert. 
 
222 PLOVER. 
 
 place, where fresh birds will continue dropping into the 
 boughs, till you have half filled your bag with them. 
 Observe one thing, however, or you may not kill a bird 
 in a week! Recollect that a woodpigeon, directly he 
 perches, begins to reconnoitre his safety in every di- 
 rection ; and if you move but a finger, when he first 
 alights, he will instantly take wing. But if you will 
 only wait perfectly still for half a minute, you may then 
 present and fire at him as easily as at an owl. 
 
 Although the ringdove or woodpigeon seldom builds 
 anywhere but in dark evergreen trees, such as yew trees, 
 firs, &c., yet, in 1824, one of these birds entered a dove- 
 house of mine ; made her nest in company with the 
 tame pigeons; and hatched her eggs there, notwith- 
 standing a man was repeatedly going in to clean out 
 the place, and take young pigeons. Here she brought 
 up her two young ones, and then took them off with 
 her. This is almost as singular as the circumstance of 
 a partridge, in 1788, having reared sixteen young ones 
 up in a pollard tree, through which went the bars of 
 the stile in a public foot-path. This happened in 
 Essex, on a manor of my late father, of whom Mr. 
 Daniel had the deputation, and was an eyewitness to 
 the circumstance. The particulars of this he very cor- 
 rectly states in his " Rural Sports." 
 
 PLOVER. 
 
 Of the plover tribe there are six sorts : viz. 
 GREAT PLOVER (already named among the Curlews). 
 
 BASTARD PLOVER, LAPWING, or PEEWIT. Fringilla vanellus 
 Le vanneau. 
 
 The one famous for its eggs. 
 
PLOVER. 223 
 
 Old peewits, as we all know, fly round a dog, in 
 order to mislead him from the nest ; and I have ob- 
 served, that the young ones, about July or August, fre- 
 quently do the same : perhaps in imitation of the parent 
 bird. With a dog, therefore, one, who agrees with the 
 French proverb *, as to their being such a delicacy, may 
 be able to kill several of these birds in the marshes 
 where they frequent. The afternoon is the best time, 
 as peewits prefer the uplands during the morning. 
 
 GOLDEN PLOVER. Charadrius pluvialisLe pluvier dorc. 
 GRAY PLOVER. Tringa squatazola Le vanneau pluvier. 
 DOTTEREL. Charadrius morinellusLe guignard. 
 
 RING DOTTEREL. RING PLOVER, or SEA LARK. Charadiius 
 hiaticula Le petit pluvier a collier. 
 
 The gray plover, and ring dotterel, are coast birds : 
 the others chiefly frequent the marshes and fallows in- 
 land, where they feed on worms. 
 
 The golden plovers and large dotterels are worth 
 more than all the others, either to shoot, or for the 
 table. The former, when in large flocks, are wild, and 
 must, therefore, be followed with caution ; the latter 
 are easier of access, though not so plentiful. Golden 
 plover were formerly killed in great plenty by means of 
 a stalking horse. If you fire at these birds as they fly 
 over you, they will dart down for the moment, and 
 spread in every direction ; so that, by taking a random 
 shot with your first barrel, you may often bring down 
 the birds to a fair one for your second. 
 
 If admissible to bring together land and water birds, 
 we may add to this list, the 
 
 * " Qui n'a pas mange de vanneau, ne sait pas ce que gibier 
 vaut." 
 
BIRDS OF PIIEY. 
 
 LONG-LEGGED PLOVER, or LONGSHANKS. Charadrius hi- 
 mantopus L'echasse. 
 
 This plover, and the sanderling, Bewick places by 
 themselves, as a separate Genus, at the commencement 
 of his second volume. 
 
 PREY, BIRDS OF. 
 
 To shoot the various birds of prey, which belong to 
 the falcon tribe, such as buzzards, kites, hawks, falcons, 
 &c. &c., the easiest and most destructive method is to 
 watch the coppices in the breeding season, or induce 
 the boys, by a trifling reward, to find out their nests. 
 You should wait till the female sits hard on her eggs ; 
 arid then go, late in the evening, with some large shot 
 in a duck gun ; by which means you may either take 
 her as she flies out of the tree, or blow up the whole 
 concern by firing through the nest. 
 
 This is a more certain, and a much less cruel way to 
 destroy mischievous birds than by indiscriminately 
 shooting, or catching, them at a distance from their 
 nests ; where, perhaps, their young ones, having been 
 hatched, are left to be starved with hunger. 
 
 Ravens, carrion-crows, magpies, &c., may be killed 
 in the same manner, or poisoned previously to the breed- 
 ing season, by your putting in some of their favourite 
 trees a few joints of horseflesh, well seasoned with 
 arsenic and nux vomica. Another good way to kill 
 these, particularly magpies, is to drive along the road 
 with a horse that will stand fire, and shoot them from 
 a cart, gig, or other carriage. I have known eight or 
 nine magpies killed in a day by this means (about the 
 pairing season), when the keepers were constantly fol- 
 lowing them without being able to get a shot. 
 
QUAIL RABBIT. 225 
 
 QUAIL. Tetrao coturnixLe caille. 
 
 There is no part of this country where we can go 
 regularly out for a day's quail shooting, as in France 
 (where these birds abound in the month of August), or 
 the more southern parts up the Mediterranean, where 
 they sometimes cover the country for miles. The quails 
 are so far plentiful on the left bank of the Tagus, that 
 many of the officers, indifferent shots, while in winter 
 quarters at Vallada, thought nothing of going over, and 
 returning to their dinner with ten or twelve couple, 
 although with every disadvantage in point of guns and 
 ammunition. 
 
 These birds are so scarce in Great Britain, that to 
 find a good bevy of them, and kill three or four brace, 
 is considered as something extraordinary : and, although 
 there is scarcely a sportsman, who has not occasionally 
 met with a few, while shooting partridges in September, 
 yet I have never known any one, who has had much 
 sport with quails in this country. 
 
 RABBIT. Lepus cuniculus Le lapin. 
 
 To shoot rabbits in the evening, sit in a tree ; and, 
 by your being above them, they are not likely to smell 
 you, and will therefore play about close under the tree. 
 Let your dead ones lie till you have done shooting, in- 
 stead of spoiling your own sport by getting down for 
 them. For this work you must take no dog. 
 
 To kill rabbits, feeding in an open warren, keep a 
 few hurdles pitched, and approach or wait for the rab- 
 bits under cover of them ; taking care not to go directly 
 to windward. For a regular attack, however, the better 
 diversion is to ferret the holes, and stand about twenty 
 
 Q 
 
226 REDWING ROCKBIRDS. 
 
 yards off, very quiet, with your gun. This is more 
 amusement for a man who is fond of shooting, than 
 netting the rabbits ; and the shots are not so difficult 
 in this way, because a rabbit, when bolted by a ferret, 
 does not, in general, go off so fast as when started by a 
 dog. All other rabbit shooting is so well known, that 
 my fancying I could give instructions on the subject 
 would be like the Lisbon barber informing Baretti that 
 grapes grew in Portugal. Though one word more (by 
 the by) : In shooting a rabbit, always consider the 
 foremost half 'of him as your target, or he will probably 
 be shot in a slovenly manner ; and if there is an earth 
 near, most likely scramble to it, and make his escape. 
 
 REDWING, SWINEPIPE, or WIND THRUSH*. 
 Turdus iliacus Le mauvis. 
 
 The redwing is a smaller bird than the fieldfare, and 
 not so wild ; but its habits are much the same as those 
 of that bird. 
 
 When redwings appear on the eastern coast, they as 
 commonly announce the approach of the woodcock, as 
 does the arrival of the wryneck that of the cuckoo in 
 the south. 
 
 ROCKBIRDS. 
 
 Those, which are commonly called rockbirds, are 
 the various tribes of the Guillemot and Auk or Pen- 
 guin Genus, which, previously to the month of May, 
 assemble by myriads, to breed among the cliffs that 
 surround the British Isles. For brevity's sake, they 
 
 * The last of these three is in many places the provincial name 
 given to the missel bird, or storm thrush. 
 
ROCKBIRDS. 227 
 
 are here placed collectively under the above name ; and 
 suffice it to say, that those most commonly shot, and 
 the eggs of which are most in requisition, are the razor- 
 bill and puffin of the Auk kind, and the common wil- 
 lock of the Guillemot kind. The puffins are most 
 plentiful at the back of the Isle of Wight, and St. 
 Alban's ; the others on the cliffs near Eastbourne and 
 Dover : but, for a farther variety, we must go more 
 towards the North of Great Britain. 
 
 Although birds of this description can only be used 
 for the sake of the feat hers, or to barrel for dog's meat, 
 yet many of the best sportsmen are tempted to amuse 
 themselves with the diversion of " Rockbird shooting," 
 from the number of shots that may be got in a day, 
 and the uninterrupted opportunity of practice, and trials 
 of skill. For this purpose, large parties of pleasure are 
 made about the months of June and July, when, instead 
 of taking only a full powderhorn and shotbelt, it fre- 
 quently becomes necessary to be prepared with a clean- 
 ing rod, and an extra supply of ammunition. 
 
 The time selected for killing these birds should be 
 either before they hatch, or after they have brought 
 down their young to the water, where they are able to 
 shift for themselves : otherwise those, who destroy the 
 old birds, have to reproach themselves with the cruelty 
 of leaving the young ones to starve upon the rocks. 
 
 On approaching the stupendous cliff, in which these 
 birds each deposit their one large egg, you see them, 
 for miles and miles, blackening the air like swarms of 
 bees : and what with the screaming of the gulls, the 
 hollow croaking of the cormorants, and the various 
 noises of the penguin tribe, you hear the caverned 
 rocks in constant echo with discordant sounds. 
 
 Q2 
 
228 ROOK. 
 
 \ 
 
 On getting nearer, you will see the main body of 
 the willocks and puffins standing, like ranks of soldiers, 
 along the chalky chasms, but at such a height, as not 
 only to be out of shot, but indifferent to the sound of a 
 gun. Your plan, therefore, should be to let some one 
 start, so as to be on the heights by the time you have 
 arrived below. Having anchored your boat at a distance, 
 where the birds sufficiently lower their flight, make a 
 signal to the person above ; who, by letting down about 
 a hundred yards of line, with a piece of wood, a stone, 
 or a bell at the end of it, will immediately put their 
 armies to the rout, and keep them constantly pouring 
 down upon the sea. To kill these birds, you must ra- 
 ther pick your shots, and fire well before them, as they 
 fly with great rapidity, take a very hard blow, and your 
 eye is apt to be deceived in distance, after gazing on a 
 back-ground of chalk, which is, perhaps, two hundred 
 yards in height. After all, however, the rockbirds will 
 not always come near enough for you to make any ex- 
 traordinary number of shots without missing, unless 
 you descend in a basket, &c. (as I mentioned, when 
 speaking of cormorants), in the manner by which the 
 men collect their eggs, and gather samphire. 
 
 I remember, when a party went to shoot willocks 
 near Dover, that those who were under the cliffs could 
 scarcely get a bird to fly low enough ; while one person, 
 who stood above, and fired down, very soon exhausted 
 all his ammunition, without missing a single shot. 
 
 To take all chances at rockbirds and seafowl, with 
 a small gun, use shot No. 3, instead of- No. 7. 
 
 ROOK. Corvus frugilegus Lefreux. 
 
 Let those who find amusement in shooting perchers 
 
RUFF SNIPES. 229 
 
 (or young rooks) be careful how they fire among rick- 
 yards and buildings, and always avoid loading their 
 guns with either paper or tow. For this kind of shoot- 
 ing, therefore, the safest and best kind of wadding is 
 leather. But as this pastime is most frequently fol- 
 lowed by those who never use a punch, or perhaps do 
 not even know what the word " wadding" means, let 
 me only advise, that they be requested to put green 
 moss, or leaves, on their powder and shot, instead of 
 using paper, which is so very liable to set fire to the 
 buildings. Young rooks, by being first skinned, and 
 then soaked all night in cold spring water, make pies, 
 which are worthy the notice of the most scientific 
 gourmand. 
 
 RUFF. Tringa pugnax Le combattant. 
 
 Ruffs are birds of which the males are seldom found 
 two alike in plumage, and of which the females are 
 called REEVES. 
 
 As I before observed, when classing them with the 
 knots, they are easier caught than shot in any great 
 quantity. It is ludicrous to see these birds dancing 
 round the hillocks in the spring, and particularly when 
 they dance into the springes that are set for them. 
 
 SNIPES. 
 
 Of these there are the three following sorts : 
 
 THE GREAT, or SOLITARY SNIPE. Scolopax media La grande 
 becassine. (As Buffon does not notice the bird, we are to pre- 
 sume that this must be the French translation.) 
 
 THE COMMON SNIPE, SNITB, or HEATHER-BLEATER. Scolopax 
 
 gallinago La becassine. 
 THE JACK SNIPE, JUDCOCK, JETCOCK, or GID. Scolopax gal- 
 
 llnula La petite becassine. 
 
230 STAltLING. 
 
 To kill./adk-snipes, a pointer that will stand them is 
 the greatest possible acquisition, as they always lie so 
 very close that you are liable to walk past them. These 
 little snipes are easiest killed in a light breeze, or even 
 calm weather, as in a gale of wind they fly more like 
 butterflies than birds. Nothing teases a poking shot 
 worse than jack-snipes; but to one who has the knack 
 of pitching and firing his gun in one motion, they are, 
 generally speaking, not much worse to shoot than other 
 small birds, except in boisterous weather. 
 
 The jack-snipes are the best eating of all the tribe. 
 
 The " old hand" therefore keeps the jack for his own 
 eating, and sends the fine-looking full snipe to his friend. 
 As with pheasants, the lien is the best on the table; 
 the cock the prettiest bird for a present. 
 
 STARLING, or STARE. Sturnus vulgaris L'etour- 
 neau. 
 
 The time to shoot starlings by wholesale is just be- 
 fore the dusk of the evening, when they come down to 
 roost among the reeds. Here they assemble in swarms, 
 that darken the air; and, for some time, keep up a 
 chatter, which even surpasses that of Frenchmen in 
 their warmest political debates. 
 
 Having swept down some dozens with your duck- 
 gun, let their heads be immediately pulled off; as this 
 will, in a great degree, prevent their having a hitter 
 taste. 
 
 Starlings are very good when stewed with rice, or 
 made into a curry. 
 
 Before I conclude under the head of Starlings, I must 
 ask leave to become my own trumpeter, in order to name 
 a shot that I made at these birds, which will give some 
 idea as to the manner in which they swarm together : 
 
STARLING. 231 
 
 Happening, in November, 1825, to have my punt afloat 
 on Lord Rodney's pond, at Alresford, I loaded my new 
 double swivel-gun with a pound of small shot in each 
 barrel* ; and, a little before daylight, paddled across to 
 a retired part of the pond, where the reeds were literally 
 swarming with these birds. Having placed the punt 
 " stem on," so as to command the eastern light, and 
 shoot well clear of the reeds, I gave a little signal, as 
 previously agreed on, to Mr. Macilwain (who, with 
 Captain Hill, was in another punt behind) to discharge 
 both barrels of my little double gun. On hearing this 
 report, up sprang the whole army, consisting, I should 
 say, of every starling in Hampshire, and making the 
 valley echo like a peal of thunder. No sooner had they 
 cleared the reeds than I opened my battery, and cut 
 such a lane through them as was thought scarcely pos- 
 sible ; and the quantity of feathers which came flying 
 back to leeward, I could compare to nothing but a fall 
 of black snow. What number were killed and wounded 
 we never could ascertain, from the extreme difficulty of 
 getting the birds that fell among the reeds and quag- 
 mires, but we fairly bagged two hundred and forty- 
 three, as fast as they could be picked up ; and the work- 
 men, w r hen the reeds w r ere cut down, declared that they 
 found between two and three hundred more : for this, 
 however, I have only their w r ord ; though there is no 
 reason to doubt it, as we all felt confident that, at least, 
 five hundred fell to this one volley ! 
 
 It may be unnecessary to add, that the army of 
 
 * A pound and a quarter of shot, with two ounces and a half of 
 powder for each barrel, is the proper coast-shootiug charge for this 
 gun. 
 
232 STARLING. 
 
 starlings took care not to quarter at Alresford the next 
 night. 
 
 *#* Many people " can't swallow the Starling story." No ! nor 
 could they an orange, unless dissected ; so now let us dissect the 
 " Starling story." Those who doubt that starlings will sometimes 
 assemble " ten thousand strong" let them ask any fat-man : that 
 a huge swivel-gun will shoot with three times the force of a little 
 game-gun refer to the schedules of trial: that there are 19,200 
 grains in 21b. of No. 8 shot count an ounce of it and see: that 
 less than five grains would kill one starling with a common gun 
 ask any sportsman : that the gun which killed these birds weighs 
 but little under 200lbs. ask Tom Fullard, who made the barrels. 
 Then where is the miracle ? Why the miracle is this that people, 
 for want of one minute's calculation, should consider what is a matter 
 of course as an impossibility ! and that gentlemen who witnessed the 
 performance should be laughed at when relating the circumstance ! 
 In justice to them, I feel it right to explain it. But for my own 
 part, I should not have wasted ink on the subject ; because any good 
 judge would know what large guns are capable of doing; and there- 
 fore a writer who gave false information would not only have his 
 book soon found out, and crushed, as it ought to be, but himself ex- 
 posed and hooted at for a quack. The thing speaks for itself. But 
 I find it more difficult to comply with my friends' request to be 
 serious on the subject, than I should do to go and kill another such 
 a basket of starlings. While on the strain of scepticism, I should 
 observe, that the account of Buckle killing thirty-five geese at a shot 
 was ridiculed, though he tells me he did it by night and on the mud. 
 This may, or may not, be true ; but I saw Captain Ward, with one 
 pound of shot, pick up twenty geese, and lose nearly as many more, 
 by day and in the water; which for difficulty is treble the perform- 
 ance, in comparison with the other; as any old gunner will tell you. 
 But as to these matters, it would be as unreasonable to expect the 
 editor of a newspaper (who perhaps never saw a stanchion-gun fired), 
 to pronounce a fair judgment on the performance of a coast-gunner, 
 as to expect that a coast-gunner (who perhaps can scarcely write his 
 own name) would compose a leading article for a newspaper. If some 
 of our journalists were informed of sixty and seventy wildfowl having 
 been killed at a shot, they would scarcely find ink enough for their 
 notes of admiration ! And yet I can assure them from the best 
 
WILD SWAN. 233 
 
 authority that such things have been done, though I admit but very 
 rarely ; and they are every day less likely to occur, from the increased 
 number of shooters. 
 
 SWAN, WILD, or HOOPER. Anas cygnus Le 
 cygne sauvage. 
 
 If these are not two kinds of hoopers (besides the 
 newly discovered species of wild swan), there is, at all 
 events, a singular variety in the one, as will appear by 
 the following observations: In 1822 I killed three at a 
 shot one an adult male, and two young birds ; the 
 latter, not having attained their white plumage ; and in 
 all of these the space above the bill was bright yellow. 
 In 1829 I killed, at a shot, three more (besides wounding 
 a fourth that escaped wing-broken), and these, above 
 the bills, were all of a pale flesh colour, though one of 
 the three, brought home, was an old white bird. Shortly 
 after, I killed two more, an adult female with bright 
 yellow, and a young one with the pale colour. Thus it 
 appears that, whether male or female, young or old, some 
 have the yellow, and some the pale colour. Putting all 
 together, in 1828, 1829, and this year, I killed about 
 twenty more, and have occasionally observed this variety. 
 Again Mr. Leadbeater tells me that the Linnaean society 
 have discovered another distinct species, it being con- 
 siderably smaller, and internally different from the 
 common hooper ; and that there are not above four 
 stuffed specimens of it in Europe ; one of which he con- 
 gratulates me on having. On the strength of this event, 
 they have enlisted a W into the Latin language, and 
 christened the bird Cygnus Bewickii, Mr. Leadbeater 
 being sponsor for the correctness of the statement. 
 
 Since writing the foregoing observations, I have been 
 favoured with the perusal of an admirable treatise, 
 
234 WILD SWAN. 
 
 published by the very gentleman who made the dis- 
 covery William Yarrell, Esq. F.L.S. Here all the 
 internal dissections are developed in the most scientific 
 manner, and elucidated by lithographic drawings. But, 
 as natural history is not our subject, I will conclude 
 with a superficial extract from the work alluded to. 
 " Several examples of this new species are now ascer- 
 tained to be in British collections. The museum of 
 the Cambridge Philosophical Society contains one. 
 There is one in the possession of Edward Lombe, Esq., 
 of Great Melton, who has an excellent collection of 
 British birds. A third was shot in the winter of 1827- 
 28, by Colonel Hawker. These three were preserved 
 by Mr. Leadbeater. A specimen was also killed in 
 February, 1829, near Haydon-bridge, upon which bird 
 some remarks have been lately made before the Natural 
 History Society of Newcastle, by Mr. Richard Wingate 
 of that town." [These, I suppose, are the four speci- 
 mens to which Mr. Leadbeater alluded.] Mr. Yarrel 
 then adds, " I have also had the pleasure of presenting 
 three specimens, which furnished part of the materials 
 for this paper, to the collections of the British Museum 
 and the Linnaean and Zoological Societies." 
 
 " It is my intention, and on this occasion I anticipate 
 the accordance of every British naturalist, to devote this 
 species, which, I trust, I have proved to be distinct and 
 unnamed before, to the memory of our late unrivalled 
 engraver on wood, the justly celebrated Bewick." 
 
 Our naturalists are no less indebted to Mr. Yarrel, for 
 his anatomical discoveries, and the good taste he has 
 evinced by rendering so just a tribute to our immortal 
 Bewick, than to Bewick himself, for his unrivalled en- 
 gravings in ornithology. 
 
TEAL. 235 
 
 The hoopers are, at certain times, easier of access 
 than some other wild birds ; and if, when flying, they 
 are fired at directly under the hollow of the wing, or, 
 when swimming, through the head, they may be stopped, 
 at a reasonable distance, with a common double gun 
 and small shot ; perhaps even farther than other wild- 
 fowl, as, when struck in the body, they become helpless 
 from their weight, and their heads are less likely to 
 escape between the shot than those of smaller fowl. 
 But if, through eagerness, you happen to fire carelessly 
 at their upper coverts, you may as well try to penetrate 
 a woolpack, unless you have very heavy shot, or a ball. 
 But more about hoopers-shooting when we get afloat. 
 Since the last edition, I tasted a hooper that had been 
 kept three weeks, then hung up, with some onions in 
 him, and buried for several hours. It was one that I 
 gave my skipper, Read ; and he, not being able to 
 find a, customer for it, reserved this bird for what he 
 called his " Sunday's blow-out." He sent me a piece 
 to try, and really it was very good. I conclude, there- 
 fore, that a chef with half the genius of Mr. Ude would 
 make a hooper go down as well as a haunch of venison. 
 
 * TEAL. Anas crecca La petite sarcelle. 
 
 As a brood of teal, including the old ones, usually 
 amounts to no more than six or seven, they are most 
 commonly seen in very small numbers ; unless they have 
 collected on decoy ponds, and are driven from them by 
 hard frosts, when they will appear on the adjoining 
 rivers, in flocks of twenty or thirty together. 
 
 Of all the prizes that a wildfowl shooter could wish 
 to meet with, a flock of teal is the very first. Inde- 
 pendently of their being by far the best birds of the ivhole 
 
236 WIGEOX. 
 
 anas tribe, they are so much easier of access, and re- 
 quire such a slight blow, that no matter whether you 
 are prepared for wildfowl, partridges, or snipes, you 
 may, at most times, with very little trouble, contrive to 
 get near them ; and this being once done, you have only 
 to shoot straight to be pretty sure of killing. 
 
 I have seen teal " duck the flash," though never but 
 once, and then I had rather a slow shooting gun. 
 
 If you spring a teal, he will not soar up, and leave 
 the country, like a wild duck, but most probably keep 
 along the brook, like a sharp flying woodcock, and then 
 drop suddenly down : but you must keep your eye on 
 the place, as he is very apt to get up again, and fly to 
 another before he will quietly settle. He will frequently, 
 too, swim down stream the moment after he drops, so 
 that if you do not cast your eye quickly that way, in- 
 stead of continuing to look for him in one spot, he will 
 probably catch sight of you and fly up, while your at- 
 tention is directed to the wrong place. If the brook in 
 which you find him is obscured by many trees, you 
 had better direct your follower to make a large circle, 
 and get a-head of, and watch him, in case he should 
 slily skim away down the brook, and, by this means, 
 escape from you altogether. You should avoid firing 
 at random, as this may drive him quite away from your 
 beat. 
 
 * WIGEON, WHEWER, WHIM, or PANDLED WHEW. 
 
 Anas Penelope Le canard siffleur. 
 Wigeon * either choose their mates, or detach them- 
 selves into small trips preparative to so doing, by about 
 
 * Strictly speaking, we should say " wigeons" in the plural 
 number, as well as " pigeon*." But so generally is it the custom, 
 
WIGEOX. 
 
 Valentine's day ; and therefore killing many at a shot, 
 after this time, is generally only to be done when they 
 are fighting together, or in the event of cold weather. 
 
 among those who have any thing to do with wildfowl, to leave out 
 the s here, that the introduction of it feels to me like hearing a 
 "flock of partridges," or a "fox's tail." Let me, therefore, see if I 
 can scrape up any authority for having thus deviated from the rules 
 of our language. Yes! by the way; the plural of substantives 
 ending in out should have an s; and yet, by habit, all modern sports- 
 men say, for the plural, " trout" and not " trouts." Well then, 
 let the shooter, as \vell as the fisherman, appeal for a licence to kill 
 languages. 
 
 Now therefore to the comparison : It may be argued, that al- 
 though in old works we read of " fishe*," yet in modern language, 
 or rather by habit, which gives u sort of licence, the word t fish, 
 speaking collectively, is generally used without a plural. Most 
 people, for instance, would say " a basket of fish" or " the river is 
 full tfjish" notwithstanding the plural of other nouns ending in sh 
 should have the addition of es to distinguish it from the singular 
 number. For instance, " dishes," " wishes," and so on. Again, 
 speaking of them separately, some fish have, and some have not, 
 an s for their plural ; as, for instance, " herrings," " pilchards," 
 u sprats j" on the other hand, t( carp," " tench," u mackerel." 
 
 In comparison, too, I observe, that the word " wildfowl" is used 
 without a plural (and yet translated in Latin, vohtcrzs palustms), 
 notwithstanding we put a plural when the first syllable, or rather 
 the adjective, is not used. For example, in speaking of poultry, we 
 should say " a couple of fowls." We have, it is presumed, there- 
 fore an equal right to say " wigeon^ " teal" "plover," though, 
 on the other hand, we should say " wild-duck*," " dun-bird*," 
 " curlew*." 
 
 Our lexicographers it appears still spell WtDgeon with a d; I 
 suppose, because birds of this kind are not so much in the fashion- 
 able world as pigeons, and therefore the word has escaped the 
 modern polish, or been neglected, which is the case with most things 
 that belong to absentees. Mr. Bewick spells " wigeon" without the 
 d. I shall, therefore, take the liberty of following his example, 
 under the idea that lexicographers are not gods, but men ; and 
 
238 WOODCOCK. 
 
 The wigeon, for coast night shooting, is like the fox 
 for hunting it shows the finest sport of any thing in 
 Great Britain. We shall, therefore, hereafter make the 
 pursuit of this fowl one of our leading subjects. 
 
 WOODCOCK. Scolopax rusticola La becasse. 
 
 Although many sportsmen consider, that there are 
 two distinct kinds of woodcocks, and Latham describes 
 three, yet they are more to be considered as mere 
 varieties of this bird, than any species that can be sepa- 
 rately distinguished from it. 
 
 The feather of the woodcock, which is so acceptable 
 to miniature painters, is that very small one, under the 
 outside quill of each wing : to be sure of finding which, 
 draw out the extreme feather of the wing, and this 
 
 therefore as liable to leave room for future improvement as are all 
 other students and authors. 
 
 As the word pigeon was taken from the French, the d here should, 
 I presume, never have been introduced, though we see it in the 
 English translation of Anton Ernst Klausing's German dictionary, 
 taken, as he states, from Nathan Bailey's English dictionary : (but, 
 perhaps, from some very old edition). I have, however, seen it spelt 
 with a d in subsequent works. The other bird was formerly spelt 
 Widgen, as somewhat nearer to the Saxon, from which it was pro- 
 bably derived, [[See Scott's Bailey's Dictionary, in 1755, which says, 
 " prob. of pissenV (wiggend) " Sax. Fighting"] ; and then, I be- 
 lieve, changed to widgeon. We may, therefore, it is presumed, 
 follow up the improvement, and erase that consonant which is super- 
 fluous to the pronunciation ; since it has, of late, become the custom 
 to do so with other words. 
 
 A thousand apologies for (if I may use a vulgarism) such a long- 
 winded note on one word, as this is quite unnecessary when a work 
 is in the hands of a reviewer, or any other liberal reader. But I 
 have inserted it merely for the amusement of the word-catcher; or, 
 in other words, the little gentleman who looks more at the leaves on 
 the tree than the design of the landscape. 
 
TO PRESERVE BIRDS. 239 
 
 little one will then appear conspicuous from its sharp 
 white point. 
 
 To prove, that woodcocks, on having migrated into this country, 
 will repair to the same haunts for a succession of winters, I shall 
 mention a circumstance, not as having pilfered it from Mr. Bewick 
 or Mr. Daniel, but because it was related to me by Mr. Pleydell 
 himself, when I was at Whatcombe House, where the bird is now 
 preserved. In Clenston Wood (a covert belonging to the above 
 place, in Dorsetshire), a woodcock was taken alive, in one of the 
 rabbit nets, in the month of February, 1798. Mr. Pleydell, after 
 having a piece of brass marked, and put round its left leg, allowed 
 the bird to be set at liberty; and, in the month of December follow- 
 ing, he shot this woodcock, in the very same coppice where it had 
 been first caught by his gamekeeper. 
 
 Although it is here wished to abstain from all anecdotes, that may 
 not be considered of some little use in the way of information, yet, 
 while on the subject of woodcocks, I shall take the liberty of men- 
 tioning one circumstance, that occurred to myself on the 25th of 
 January, 1810. It was, soon after, very correctly stated in a news- 
 paper ; but, no wonder, considered by many as an absurd and im- 
 probable assertion ; and for this reason I shall, in quoting the para- 
 graph here, add, that the circumstance took place in the presence of 
 the Rev. W. Nourse and two other gentlemen. " A few days ago, 
 a woodcock flew up the lawn, and dropped close before Longparish 
 House, in Hampshire ; and was shot from the window, by Captain 
 Hawker, who, having been wounded in Spain, was there confined to 
 his room. What makes the circumstance more remarkable is, that 
 it happened in a country where it is very rare to see three of these 
 birds in a season ; and that a friend of his had laid a bet, he would 
 be well enough to shoot a cock before the winter was over." 
 
 TO PRESERVE AND CHOOSE BIRDS, 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 To distinguish specifically the foregoing birds, I 
 refer my readers to Bewick ; presuming, as I have re- 
 peatedly hinted, that no one, who has the least interest 
 
240 TO CHOOSE BIRDS. 
 
 in shooting, either as a sportsman or a naturalist, could 
 willingly be without such a portable, cheap, and yet 
 such a very superior work. 
 
 If you shoot a curious bird, arid have not the means 
 of getting it stuffed while fresh, you may preserve the 
 skin of it for many months by putting therein dry tow 
 and powdered ginger. May and June are the worst 
 months for the moth; and just then camphor is a good 
 addition. But for MOTH, in EVERY STATE, the never- 
 failing, though poisonous REMEDY, is CORROSIVE 
 SUBLIMATE, dissolved in SPIRITS of wine. To skin 
 a bird, open him either on one side, or down the back. 
 
 I have, as proposed at the beginning, marked only 
 those of the broad-billed birds which are fit for the 
 table; and this has been done as a caution against the 
 imposition of marketmen and poulterers, who, for in- 
 stance, would have little hesitation in serving you with 
 a couple of gray geese, or burrough ducks, by way of 
 a " delicate bottom dish for your second course." 
 
 Although it is not meant to dwell here on a subject, 
 which more properly belongs to a cookery book, yet it 
 would be very hard not to have some consideration for 
 many, who would rather see one bird roasted and well 
 frothed up on a table, than ten thousand springing 
 from a stubble, or feeding under the moon. Let it 
 therefore be observed, that, in choosing birds, you 
 cannot be guided better than by selecting those, which, 
 of their kind, are the heaviest in weight and the least 
 beautiful in plumage. 
 
 Young birds may be distinguished by the softness 
 of their quills, which, in older ones, will be hard and 
 white. The females are, in general, preferable to the 
 males ; they are more juicy, and seldom so tough. For 
 
TO CHOOSE BI11DS. 241 
 
 example, a hen pheasant * or a duck is to be preferred 
 to a cock pheasant or a mallard. The old pheasants 
 may be distinguished by the length and sharpness of 
 their spurs, which, in the younger ones, are short and 
 blunt. Old partridges are always to be known, during 
 the early part of the season, by their legs being of a 
 pale blue, instead of a yellowish brown ; so that, when 
 a Londoner receives his brace of blue-legged birds in 
 September, he should immediately snap their legs, and 
 draw out the sinews, by means of pulling off the feet, 
 instead of leaving them to torment him, like so many 
 strings, when he would be wishing to enjoy his repast. 
 This remedy of making the leg tender removes the ob- 
 jection to old birds, provided the weather will admit of 
 their being sufficiently kept ; and indeed they are then 
 often preferable, from having a higher flavour. 
 
 If birds are overkept their legs will be dry, their 
 eyes much sunk, and the vent will become soft and 
 somewhat discoloured. The first place to ascertain 
 if they are beginning to be high is the inside of 
 their bills, where it is not amiss to put some heather 
 straw, or spice, if you want them to keep for any length 
 of time. Birds that have fallen in the water, or have 
 not had time to get cold, should never be packed like 
 others, but sent openly, and dressed as soon as possible. 
 Partridges are often spoiled in September by being put 
 to ferment in a large bag or pannier, which is car- 
 ried by men on horseback. 
 
 It may perhaps be asked, by some one, on seeing the 
 
 * Provided it is not a very dark-coloured one, which would de- 
 note its being an old barren hen. Such birds, by the way, should 
 always be destroyed as vermin, because they take to sucking the eggs 
 of the others. 
 
 R 
 
242 TO CHOOSE BIRDS. 
 
 frontispiece (for which, by the way, it has long proved 
 difficult to select any thing original in common field-shoot- 
 ing), why are the partridges carried on a pole ? The 
 reason is this : if you put many birds together in a bag, 
 when the weather is hot, and fag about with them, 
 particularly on horseback, the under ones, at all events, 
 are only fit for entrees, or cats' meat. If you hang 
 them up in any thing still they are liable to be shook, 
 as well as to have their heads pulled off. But a pole, 
 from requiring two people, cannot be otherwise than 
 steadily carried ; and thus your birds are kept cleaner 
 than by other means. Here we have a hint for both 
 the chasseur and the gourmand. 
 
 Sportsmen are often heartily abused by their ac- 
 quaintance (I cannot yet bring myself to hackney the 
 word friends quite so fluently as I ought to do) for 
 sending them " tough and good-for-nothing game," 
 while all the blame should, in many instances, rest with 
 themselves, or their pudding-headed cook, who, may be, 
 dresses an old pheasant, or hare, the very day after it 
 was killed, or perhaps, while engrossed in a story or ar- 
 gument, leaves it to roast away, till their remains neither 
 juice nor flavour. 
 
 All game, &c. should be kept till properly tender ; 
 or, if wanted in a hurry, it may be picked, wrapped 
 up in a cloth, and thus buried in the earth for a few 
 hours, before it is dressed. This is the custom abroad, 
 where I have supped on wildfowl, perfectly tender, that 
 were killed since an early dinner on the same day. 
 
 Birds, that are dressed so soon after being killed, as 
 scarcely to have become cold, are more tender than if 
 put by, for a night, and afterwards not kept long 
 enough. On the other hand, if you want them kept a 
 
TO DRESS WILDFOWL. 243 
 
 very long time, for any particular purpose, powdered 
 charcoal (for game, venison, or any thing) is the best 
 recipe that I have yet been able to procure. 
 
 Keep your game in a safe, or a well secured larder, 
 to avoid flies : and to get rid of rats, you have only to 
 leave out, for their supper, a red herring, which you 
 must first split open, and then occasionally heat before 
 the fire, while you put over and into it about as much 
 corrosive sublimate of mercury as would lie on a half- 
 crown. The rats, when they have eaten of this, will 
 shortly afterwards adjourn to the water ; and, instead 
 of returning, there drink themselves to death. This is 
 a far more certain recipe to destroy rats than the mer- 
 curial ointment, which was before named in this work. 
 It may be worth while to observe also, en passant, that 
 the corrosive sublimate of mercury is a never failing 
 remedy to destroy bugs, if mixed with spirits of wine, 
 and well worked, with a paint brush, into the joints 
 and crevices of furniture. But you can never depend 
 on completely annihilating the breed of them, till you 
 do away with papering the walls of town bed-rooms. 
 
 N. B. Be very careful how you handle, or where 
 you leave, this preparation, it being POISON. 
 
 Q. What has this last recipe to do with sporting ? 
 
 A. The citizens have been enlightening us country 
 shooters with a new system of instructions for killing 
 our game, and therefore the least that I can do in return 
 is to give them a short recipe for killing theirs. 
 
 With regard to dressing birds there are so many 
 various methods, for which every cook or epicure has 
 his favourite receipt, that it would be absurd to enter 
 on the subject ; but, as so many fail in adapting their 
 sauces to wildfowl, I shall take the liberty of giving 
 
244 TO CHOOSE HARES. 
 
 one that has been preferred to about fifty others ; and 
 was, at one time, not to be got without the fee of a 
 guinea. 
 
 RECIPE FOR SAUCE TO WILDFOWL. 
 
 Port wine, or claret . . . . 1 glass. 
 
 Sauce a la Russe* (the older it is the better) 1 table spoonful. 
 
 Catsup . : V . ; . . 1 ditto. 
 
 Lemon juice V : ; . . . .1 ditto. 
 
 Lemon peel . ... . . . .1 slice. 
 
 Shalot (large) r . . . . 1, cut in slices. 
 
 Cayenne pepper (the darkest, not that like 1 . . 
 brickdust) . . . . } ^ 
 
 Mace . . ;. . . . .1 or 2 blades 
 To be scalded, strained, and added to the mere gravy, which comes 
 
 from the bird in roasting. 
 To complete this, the fowl should be cut up in a silver dish, that 
 
 has a lamp under, while the sauce is simmering with it. 
 Let a goose, or any strong or fat wildfowl, be roasted with the ad- 
 dition of a small onion, and a pared lemon, in the inside -, as this 
 
 will draw out the strong fat, and give the bird a milder taste. 
 
 Hares and rabbits, when old, have blunt claws ; are 
 broad across the back ; their ears are very tough ; and, 
 when cut, their Jlesh curls up, and remains dry. The 
 first joint of their foreleg is larger and stiffer than in 
 young ones, and their jawbones are very hard. In 
 young hares and rabbits all is the reverse to this : their 
 ears are easily torn, and their jawbones may be cracked 
 with the forefinger and thumb. 
 
 * Sold by Hill, in Albemarle-street ; successor to Mr. Aveling, 
 who first introduced this sauce. 
 
HAVE been such a universal subject for every sporting 
 writer, that scarcely a word can be said about them, but 
 that of which we may find the counterpart in some 
 publication or other. Every one has his own caprice, 
 or fancy, about pointers, setters, and spaniels ; and we 
 meet, almost every day, with some fresh man, who has 
 got the best dog in England. 
 
 Let it be observed, however, that, with all the per- 
 fection to which we have brought both the breeding 
 and breaking of these animals, we are not always suf- 
 ficiently particular. In the one we are apt to let them 
 degenerate for want of a proper cross; and, in the 
 other, we are too well contented (provided they have 
 " plenty of hunt in them") with their merely being 
 broken well to back and stand, without regarding the 
 importance of their lying down to charge, and being 
 stanch from chasing hares, or rabbits. Putting the 
 credit of our dogs entirely out of the question, we for- 
 get the number of shots they spring by committing 
 such faults. 
 
 If you want game, take old dogs. Young ones, 
 however fleet and well broken, know little more than 
 the A B c of their business, while old ones are up to 
 every kind of trick. 
 
246 
 
 DOGS. 
 
 I shall now give engravings, of a check collar, and 
 an iron puzzle, that will, at once, do more towards dog- 
 breaking than a whole treatise, which would be re- 
 dundant to those of my readers who are sportsmen, and 
 set all the others asleep. 
 
 CHECK COLLAR FOR BREAKING POINTERS, &c. 
 
 EXPLANATION. 
 
 A. Pin which screws out, to let the dog's head in. The rope, 
 on being suddenly pulled, draws the rings into a corner of the 
 triangle ; and almost chokes the dog, by the pressure of B. B. 
 
 IRON 
 PUZZLE 
 
 for ditto ; 
 
 to be put on with two leather straps : the hind one to be buckled 
 over the dog's head ; and the fore one round his lower jaw ; so as 
 for the cross to project under the front of it. 
 
DOGS. 247 
 
 I shall, however, make one observation, which is, 
 that a dog is far more likely to become a first-rate 
 one, by being made a companion of, and corrected 
 by rating and shaming him, than by being kept 
 entirely away from the breaker, except to be taken 
 tmthe field, and there flogged for every fault he com- 
 imts. I had a friend in Dorsetshire, who was not only 
 one of the best shots that ever lived, but who had, per- 
 haps, the very best dogs in Europe, and I know this 
 was his plan. 
 
 [In the fourth edition, I observed that any one who 
 had been much in the west of England would know 
 who I meant ; but I now sincerely regret to add that 
 this gentleman died in 1825. While he lived, the 
 public mention of his name might have been thought 
 a liberty ; but now that he is no more, I feel it a duty 
 a tribute due to his memory. The sportsman alluded 
 to was Bayles Wardell, Esq., who, take him for every 
 thing, was one of the very best shooting sportsmen that 
 ever went into a field ! To say of any man that he 
 was the best shot in England, would be as bold an as- 
 sertion as to say that there was any man in England 
 who could shoot better than Mr. Wardell !] 
 
 With regard to spaniels, they are, nine times in ten, 
 so badly broken in, as, in general, to be only fit to drive 
 a large wood ; but, if taught to keep always within 
 half a gunshot, they are the best dogs in existence for 
 working among hassocks and briars. They should be 
 trained very young, or they require an unmerciful deal 
 of flogging ; and it is sometimes advisable, at first, to 
 hunt them with a forefoot tied up in the collar. 
 
 If you have occasion to punish a dog, which I should 
 
248 DOGS. 
 
 recommend having recourse to as little as possible, never 
 kick him, for by such means you may do him an injury. 
 I know a sportsman in Hampshire who had the mis- 
 fortune to lose his dog by giving him one unlucky kick ! 
 Always, therefore, flog your dog with a whip or switch. 
 To do this, and, at the same time, avoid the risk of his 
 getting loose, or biting you, hold his head between your 
 knees, by which means you properly secure him, and 
 have a full command of his back, without being liable 
 to strike him in a tender part. 
 
 If an obstinate dog will not come out of cover when 
 repeatedly called be silent then he will begin to listen 
 for you and, through fear of being left behind, will 
 most likely come sneaking out, so as to be caught for a 
 timely flagellation. 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND DOGS. 
 
 Here we are a little in the dark. Every canine brute, 
 that is nearly as big as a jackass, and as hairy as a bear, 
 is denominated a fine Newfoundland dog. Very dif- 
 ferent, however, is both the proper Labrador and St. 
 John's breed of these animals ; at least, many cha- 
 racteristic points are required, in order to distinguish 
 them. 
 
 The one is very large ; strong in the limbs ; rough 
 haired; small in the head; and carries his tail very 
 high. He is kept in that country for drawing sledges 
 full of wood, from inland to the sea shore, where he is 
 also very useful, by his immense strength and sagacity, 
 among wrecks, and other disasters in boisterous weather. 
 
 The other, by far the best for every kind of shooting, 
 
DOGS. 249 
 
 is oftener black than of another colour, and scarcely 
 bigger than a pointer. He is made rather long in the 
 head and nose ; pretty deep in the chest ; very fine in 
 the legs ; has short or smooth hair ; does not carry his 
 tail so much curled as the other ; and is extremely quick 
 and active in running, swimming, or fighting. 
 
 Newfoundland dogs are so expert and savage, when 
 fighting, that they generally contrive to seize some vital 
 part, and often do a serious injury to their antagonist. 
 I should, therefore, mention, that the only way to get 
 them immediately off is to put a rope, or handkerchief, 
 round their necks, and keep tightening it, by which 
 means their breath will be gone, and they will be in- 
 stantly choked from their hold. 
 
 The St. John's breed of these dogs is chiefly used on 
 their native coast by fishermen. Their sense of smell- 
 ing is scarcely to be credited. Their discrimination of 
 scent, in following a wounded pheasant through a whole 
 covert full of game, or a pinioned wildfowl through a 
 furze brake, or warren of rabbits, appears almost im- 
 possible. (It may, perhaps, be unnecessary to observe, 
 that rabbits are generally very plentiful, and thrive ex- 
 ceedingly, near the sea shore. It, therefore, often hap- 
 pens, that wigeon, as they fly, and are shot by night, 
 fall among furze brakes, which are full of rabbits.) 
 
 The real Newfoundland dog may be broken in to any 
 kind of shooting ; and, without additional instruction, 
 is generally under such command, that he may be safely 
 kept in, if required to be taken out with pointers. For 
 finding wounded game, of every description, there is not 
 his equal in the canine race ; and he is a sine qua non 
 in the general pursuit of wildfowl. 
 
 Poole was, till of late years, the best place' to buy 
 Newfoundland dogs; either just imported, or broken 
 
250 DOGS. 
 
 in ; but now they are become much more scarce, owing 
 
 (the sailors observe) to the strictness of " those 
 
 the tax-gatherers." I should always recommend buying 
 these dogs ready broken ; as, by the cruel process of 
 half starving them, the fowlers teach them almost every 
 thing; and, by the time they are well trained, the 
 chances are, that they have got over the distemper, 
 with which this species, in particular, is sometimes 
 carried beyond recovery. 
 
 If you want to make a Newfoundland dog do what 
 you wish, you must encourage him, and use gentle 
 means, or he will turn sulky ; but to deter him from 
 any fault, you may rate or beat him. 
 
 I have tried poodles, but always found them inferior 
 in strength, scent, and courage. They are also very 
 apt to be sea-sick. The Portland dogs are superior to 
 them. 
 
 A water-dog should not be allowed to jump out of a 
 boat, unless ordered so to do, as it is not always re- 
 quired ; and, therefore, needless that he should wet him- 
 self, and every thing about him, without necessity. 
 
 For a punt, or canoe, always make choice of the 
 smallest Newfoundland dog that you can procure ; as 
 the smaller he is, the less water he brings into your 
 boat after being sent out ; the less cumbersome he is 
 when afloat; and the quicker he can pursue crippled 
 birds upon the mud. A bitch is always to be preferred 
 to a dog in frosty weather, from being, by nature, less 
 obstructed in landing on the ice. 
 
 If, on the other hand, you want a Newfoundland 
 dog only as a retriever for covert shooting, then the case 
 becomes different ; as here you require a strong animal, 
 that will easily trot through the young wood and high 
 grass with a large hare or pheasant in his mouth. 
 
39tsea$es m Bogs ; 
 
 ARE so universally prescribed for, and in so many dif- 
 ferent ways, that it will be needless to treat on any 
 thing farther than the most common evils that happen 
 to them ; the Distemper, the Mange, Sore Feet, getting 
 lamed by Thorns, &c. &c., with the prescription, which 
 I have found to answer best for each. 
 
 DISTEMPER. 
 
 To enumerate the various recipes for this sometimes 
 incurable disease would require a volume ; but, of all 
 that I have yet tried, none has answered better than the 
 one I shall here give ; and, as the remedy is so innocent, 
 it may be safely administered, where there exists even 
 a doubt as to a dog having the distemper. 
 
 The following prescriptions are each about a dose for a full grown 
 pointer. They must, of course, be increased or diminished in pro- 
 portion to the size and strength of the dog. 
 
 RECIPE. 
 
 Opium . . . . .3 grains. 
 
 Emetic tartar (an invaluable medicine) . 5 grains. 
 
 To be given at night. 
 
 Repeat the dose, every third night, till the dog is 
 recovered ; taking care to keep him in a warm place, 
 
252 DISTEMPER. 
 
 and always fed with a warm liquid diet, such as broth, 
 gruel, &c. 
 
 If the nostrils should discharge, have them washed, 
 or syringed, twice a day, with a lotion of alum, or sugar 
 of lead ; putting about half an ounce of either to a pint 
 of water. 
 
 The following is a recipe, which no bribe could tempt 
 the vender to part with ; but, by means of some very 
 clever chymists, I have ascertained it to be simply as 
 follows: (after some trouble in discovering the pro- 
 portions, and discarding the ingredients by means of 
 which it was disguised in a pill.) 
 
 RECIPE. 
 
 FOR A HALF GROWN POINTER : 
 
 Jalap powder . < . . 25 grains. 
 
 Calomel . . . . 5 grains. 
 
 Made into a pill with a little gum water. 
 
 FOR A FULL GROWN POINTER : 
 
 Jalap powder . . . .30 grains. 
 
 Calomel . . . . .8 grains. 
 
 Mixed as above. 
 
 One of these doses, mixed with butter, or in a small 
 piece of meat, should be given to the dog every other 
 morning, on an empty stomach. The food should be 
 light, and easy to digest ; and the lotion, if required 
 for the nostrils, should be observed here, as before 
 mentioned. 
 
 Notwithstanding the trouble we had to discover this 
 simple recipe, I should prefer the one first given, be- 
 cause there is less chance of a dog taking cold with 
 that, than with any kind of mercurial preparation. 
 
DISTEMPER. 253 
 
 Since my earlier publications, I have been favoured 
 with the following recipe from Dr. Taylor, of East Yar- 
 mouth ; and from its great repute, as well as that of 
 the gentleman to whom I am indebted for it, I am in- 
 duced (though I have not yet tried it) to give this recipe 
 insertion. 
 
 RECIPE. 
 
 Gum gambouge . . . .20 grains. 
 
 White hellebore powder . . .30 grains. 
 
 To be made in six balls. 
 
 One to be given to a full grown dog, six following mornings (or half 
 the quantity to a puppy)- 
 
 The dog to be kept warm, and fed on milk and gruel. 
 
 By an anonymous letter (for which I beg leave to 
 thank the author of it, whoever he may be), I was in- 
 duced, with the able assistance of a medical sportsman, 
 to try, as a preventive to the distemper, the vaccine 
 inoculation. We made the experiment on several dogs, 
 and we could not afterwards hear that any one of them 
 had taken the distemper. But whether this was the 
 effect of chance, or whether the remedy can always be 
 depended on, I must leave to the decision of those 
 persons, who are better versed in the diseases of dogs 
 than myself. At all events, the remedy is so innocent, 
 that there can be no harm in trying it; and I shall 
 conclude under this head, with the insertion of the 
 letter, which, after what I have said, it would be neg- 
 ligent to omit. 
 
 " SIR; 
 
 " As a stranger I know not what business I have to 
 trouble you, but, from the subject of my letter, you will, as a sports- 
 man, probably pardon the intrusion. I should tell you I have lately 
 purchased your l Instructions to Young Sportsmen,' and I do not in- 
 tend to flatter, when I say, it is by far the best book on shooting I ever 
 
254 MANGE. 
 
 read. And since from its originality, and excellence, I have no 
 doubt it will go through another edition, I am induced to hope you 
 will, in a future edition, say something on a preventive of distemper 
 in dogs, which has been lately tried, if after a trial you should Jind 
 it to answer. About two years ago, when in Sussex, I had frequently 
 heard at table, that inoculating a dog with the cow-pox virus would 
 prevent it from having the distemper. About half a year after- 
 wards, having a pointer puppy, a few months old, I inoculated it. 
 The dog has never had the distemper yet ; but since dogs sometimes 
 escape this cruel disease till old age, and sometimes entirely, this can 
 be no proof. However, you may possibly deem the supposed pre- 
 ventive worth a trial ; and, as no one is a greater friend of the dog 
 than I am, it would afford me the sincerest pleasure if you should find 
 it succeed, and make it known. After reading your publication, Sir, 
 no one can doubt of your being a sportsman, and as such you must 
 feel an affection for your faithful companions in the field; and since 
 this will plead for me, and I shall ask your bookseller whether he 
 cannot make this reach you without putting you to the unnecessary 
 expense of postage, I shall make no further apology. But I am, Sir, 
 " Most respectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient humble servant, 
 " London, October, 1816. ' CANIS AMICUS. 
 
 " P. S. I should observe, the part where I inoculated my dog 
 was on the inside of the foreleg, under the shoulder. It was done 
 by cutting a very small place with a pair of scissors, and rubbing the 
 bone, or quill, charged with the virus, into the wound. From the 
 appearance of the wound, a few days after, I was afraid the virus 
 had not taken effect, but I have been told that this slight appearance 
 is usual. 
 
 " P. Hawker, Esq." 
 
 MANGE, COMMON OR RED. 
 
 RECIPE. 
 
 f 
 
 Sulphur vivum . . .4 ounces. 
 
 Hellebore powder .' . . 2 ditto. 
 
 Bay-berry powder . ' . . .2 ditto. 
 
 Spirits of turpentine . . . 1 ditto. 
 
 Hogslard (to form it into an ointment) . { pound. 
 
SORE FEET. 255 
 
 The dog to be first washed with lime water ; and, 
 when dry, to be well rubbed with some of the ointment 
 on the parts affected. The washing and dressing to be 
 repeated every two days. 
 
 Give the dog half a drachrn of nitre and a drachm of 
 sulphur daily, for ten days. 
 
 It will be best to keep the dog free from getting very 
 cold or wet during this process, which, by the by, very 
 rarely fails to cure in two or three applications. 
 
 The following is another remedy, during the progress 
 of which dogs may be worked, or even go in the water. 
 The simple article required for this can only be pro- 
 cured on the sea coast. 
 
 Rub the parts affected every other day with the strongest bitters, 
 which are extracted from the salt, and are to be had at the salt- 
 urns, by the name of glauber. This kind of embrocation may 
 be kept, for some time, in bottles, if wanted to send inland. 
 
 SORE FEET. 
 
 To keep a dog's feet hard and sound, the best way is 
 to wash them with brine, or pot-liquor, every day after 
 coming in ; because, if once suffered to get raw, they 
 are so apt to smart (and particularly if any thing is 
 applied), that the dog makes them worse, by gnawing 
 and biting at them to allay the itching. 
 
 If any farther remedy was required, I should prefer 
 the following 
 
 RECIPE. 
 
 Oil of vitriol . .5 drops. 
 
 Tincture of myrrh . . . .1 ounce. 
 
 A little of which should be applied, with a feather, 
 after first washing the feet. 
 
256 THORNS PHYSIC STRAINS Oil BRUISES. 
 
 THORNS. 
 
 " For thorns," says Mr. Daniel, " a plaster of black 
 pitch is the best cure for man, horse, or dog ; and has 
 succeeded after all other things have failed." I must, 
 however (to speak as I have found it), observe, that a 
 poultice of linseed meal surpasses every remedy I have 
 yet tried, provided the thorn cannot be extracted, or cut 
 out. But if the thorn can be got rid of, I should let 
 the dog complete the cure with the most healing of all 
 applications his own tongue; by which there is no risk 
 of softening or irritating his feet. 
 
 PHYSIC 
 
 Should be given to dogs before they begin their hard 
 work. Nothing is better than a mixture of one ounce 
 of jalap and a pint of syrup of buckthorn. With a 
 large table spoonful of this mixture every dog should be 
 drenched twice in each of the two weeks preceding the 
 sporting season. The dogs should also, in hot weather, 
 have some pieces of brimstone in their water-troughs. 
 If people would only take this trouble, we should not 
 so often hear of dogs going mad, or dropping down 
 dead in the field. 
 
 STRAINS OR BRUISES. 
 
 I have always found, that an immediate and long 
 continued application of water, as hot as it can possibly 
 be borne, is, in these cases, the best fomentation that 
 can be applied to man or beast. 
 
POISOX. 257 
 
 After this, you may use, with wet rags, the following 
 saturnine lotion : 
 
 RECIPE. 
 
 Acetated lead ,V . ... 2 ounces. 
 
 Vinegar, and water, of each . . \ pint. 
 
 Mixed together *. 
 
 When the inflammation is completely removed, rub 
 the parts with the following embrocation : 
 
 RECIPE. 
 
 Soft soap V . . '. . 1 ounce. 
 
 Spirit of wine ' : i* ' ''" " ' - j - l -.- 1 ditto. 
 
 Oil of turpentine v* . *' ' - 1 ditto. 
 
 Green elder ointment . * 1 ditto. 
 
 POISON. 
 
 Give, as soon as possible, 
 
 Emetic tartar, dissolved in warm water, 15 grains : 
 
 and, after this has taken effect, 
 
 Castor oil ; V . . 2 ounces; 
 
 keeping the dog warm during its operation. 
 
 * I think it proper to express my thanks for an amendment to this 
 recipe in the " Sporting Magazine,'' which, I am proud to see, 
 speaks so handsomely of this work - } though, by the way, I regret 
 that I should have led the editor to suppose I am attached to 
 the old game-laws. On the contrary, though I wished the^ at all 
 events to be made clear, yet I always disapproved of them. 
 
 " The medical advice in the diseases of dogs is rational, but we 
 would not advise any one to depend on the Turpeth mineral, as a 
 cure for madness." [This is Mr. Beckford's remedy, and merely 
 quoted by me.] ' ' In the embrocation for strains, the water should 
 be omitted, and the quantity of vinegar doubled. Distilled vinegar, 
 decomposing the lead entirely, makes the neatest, if not the most 
 efficacious medicine." 
 
258 BITE OF A MAD DOG. 
 
 BITES OF VIPERS, &c. 
 Apply the following mixture : 
 
 Green elder ointment, and savin ointment, equal quantities. 
 Let the dog be kept on a low and cool diet. 
 
 I have been told, by a friend in Norfolk, that the 
 fat of vipers, taken out, boiled down, and kept (like 
 goosegrease) is a never-failing remedy for this, and 
 almost every other, poison ; but that it gives pain on 
 the first application. From the confidence I have in 
 every thing which this gentleman states, I am induced 
 to insert the recipe ; but, not having tried it, I cannot 
 answer for its efficacy. 
 
 BITE OF A MAD DOG. 
 
 If a dog is bitten, or suspected to have been bitten 
 by a mad dog, let him immediately be conveyed, with 
 the greatest caution, to some very detached place ; and, 
 in the latter case, if no remedy is used, a short time will 
 determine whether he has been bitten or not. 
 
 The following is the recipe preferred by Mr. Beck- 
 ford, than which, it is generally considered, nothing 
 can be more effectual. (That is to say, if any medicine 
 in existence can be depended on for this horrid disorder.) 
 It is simply 
 
 Turpeth's mineral *, 1st morning .... 8 grains. 
 
 , 2d morning . . . . 16 grains. 
 
 , 3d morning .... 32 grains. 
 
 The dog should be bled the day previously to taking the first dose; 
 which, as well as the others, should be given on an empty stomach. 
 
 * Strong doses of this medicine from fifteen to thirty grains, for 
 two or three days successively have been recommended in violent 
 cases of the distemper, and performed great cures. 
 
BITE OF A MAD DOG. 259 
 
 He may have warm broth or pot liquor in the afternoon - } but nothing 
 else during the three successive days of his taking the medicine. 
 Let the Turpeth's mineral be given in a piece of butter, and care 
 taken that the dog does not throw it up again. 
 
 Mr. Beckford, in his " Thoughts on Hunting," says, 
 " The whole pack, belonging to a gentleman in my 
 neighbourhood, was bitten ; and he assures me, he never 
 knew an instance of a dog, who went mad, that had 
 taken this medicine" 
 
 I am now induced to add something further on this 
 subject ; though, as yet, unable to vouch for its efficacy. 
 
 Hearing of a recipe to cure hydrophobia, in the pos- 
 session of Mr. Potter, I made a point of having an in- 
 terview with him, who has since favoured me with, and 
 also given me leave to publish, the following letter : 
 
 " 1 1 , Old Compton Street, Soho, 
 
 June 4th, 1830. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " In compliance with your request, I beg leave to 
 submit the following. The remedy of Mr. Coster, an eminent 
 French surgeon against hydrophobia is Take two table spoonsful of 
 fresh chloruret of lime, and half a pint of water ; mix them well 
 together; and, with this wash, bathe constantly the wound, taking 
 care that the wash is frequently renewed. Continue this treatment 
 for one or two hours, or more, in proportion to the extent of the in- 
 jury. In this process, the chlorine gas seems to be the active agent, 
 decomposing, by an energy peculiar to itself, the almost omnific virus, 
 the cause of hydrophobia. 
 
 " 1 have the honour to be, 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " Your very humble servant, 
 (Signed) WILLIAM HORATIO POTTER, 
 
 *' Operative C/iemisl*." 
 " To Col. Hawker, &c. c." 
 
 * Cutting out, or burning, the part, has I believe been the ordi- 
 nary mode of treatment in cases of this frightful disorder; and 
 
 S 2 
 
260 OBSERVATIONS ON MAD DOGS. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON MAD DOGS. 
 
 With regard to mad dogs in the metropolis, it is the 
 general opinion, and particularly of foreigners, who 
 visit our country, that this evil chiefly arises from a 
 want of the dogs being properly supplied with water. 
 For instance in Paris, what with the fountains, and 
 the dirty water forming kennels in the middle of the 
 streets, there is always a plentiful supply for dogs. In 
 many parts of Italy, where there is not that advantage, 
 the inhabitants make a point of having little holes to 
 receive water for the dogs, as a preventive of hydro- 
 phobia. Again, in Lisbon, where there are droves of 
 large dogs, without owners, that literally run wild about 
 the streets, and are tolerated, because they act as 
 scavengers, to rid them of the filth, there is always a 
 plentiful supply of water; and, if I remember and 
 understood the language right, some of the inhabitants 
 told me that they were obliged, under penalty, to put 
 out a supply of water for the dogs. Now in all these 
 hot countries hydrophobia is very rare ; arid yet in 
 London, no sooner does even the warm weather com- 
 mence, than we are in alarm with mad dogs. It could 
 therefore, at all events, do no harm to try the experi- 
 ment, now that we have a regular police, who could 
 attend to it. But if this should prove ineffectual, and 
 our climate be still destined to this annoyance, we 
 should have recourse to more severe measures; and 
 declare war against all the useless mongrels that infest 
 
 therefore I dare not presume to recommend any substitute; though 
 I have thought it right to give publicity to the foregoing letter, from 
 the reported excellence of the prescription. 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON MAD DOGS. 261 
 
 the metropolis. Among the many lamentable cases of 
 persons and animals getting bitten by mad dogs, we 
 may safely say that nineteen in twenty of them originate 
 from people keeping useless curs, which they turn loose 
 to forage on the town, and for which there is paid no 
 tax. (I always invoke the tax-gatherers, when I want 
 to get rid of a nuisance ; but, Lord knows, for no other 
 purpose !) Let me suggest, therefore, that every one 
 should have on his dog a collar, with the name and 
 address, by which the owners of dogs may be found, 
 and made to .answer for any depredations committed 
 by, or default in payment of duty for, them. A muzzle 
 may be added ; or a penalty for not having one. Let 
 all dogs that are found loose without collars be taken 
 by the police, and advertised in their district ; and if, 
 within a certain time, no one comes forward to take 
 charge of a dog and pay the tax (which, if an animal 
 of any apparent value, plenty of people would be glad 
 to do, on speculation, or for the chance of reward from 
 the owner), let the magistrate have the full power of 
 passing sentence of death. This may appear cruel ; 
 but the riddance of useless curs is a minor evil when 
 compared to the distressing events that have so lately 
 occurred in the metropolis. It may be asked, how are 
 the dogs to be caught ? But it would be bad policy to 
 publish the many ways which there are of doing this, 
 at the risk of giving finishing lessons to dog-$tealers. 
 
 June 24th, 1830. In consequence of more distressing cases that 
 have just occurred, I have been induced to hastily pen down the 
 foregoing suggestions, with which there is barely time to save in- 
 sertion, under the head of " dogs/' for the sheet on which the 
 printer is now waiting; and on which, therefore, I have no time for 
 reflection. But if these observations should lead to any better 
 
262 TO GIVE DOGS A FINE COAT. 
 
 measures, I shall then have fully gained the desired object ; and 
 therefore shall not care how ridiculous they may be thought, or in 
 what a slovenly manner they may be sent to the press. While 
 writing this " article/' (as an editor would say), a little before mid- 
 night, " our" ears have been, the whole time, assailed, by a grand 
 philharmonic of Marylebone dogs, producing such a serenade of 
 complicated canine counterpoint, as " we" defy even a modern com- 
 poser, or the monosyllable-gentleman himself, to have dovetailed 
 into a symphony. 
 
 TO PHYSIC MODERATELY, AND GIVE A 
 FINE COAT TO, DOGS. 
 
 Take a small handful of the leaves of the wood-laurel ; 
 boil it in a quart of water, till reduced to a pint, and 
 mix it with sufficient liquid food to serve five or six 
 dogs. This given, about once a month, in hot weather, 
 I have found to answer better than any thing ; but, as 
 the wood-laurel in any great quantity is poison, it must 
 be used with the utmost caution. 
 
 If a sportsman had his pointers rubbed down and 
 brushed every day, immediately after they came home, 
 and particularly if wet or cold, they would not only have 
 fine coats, but be serviceable to him at least half as long 
 again. This I have proved beyond all doubt. 
 
 I here conclude all that I shall say relating to " dogs," 
 as the subject has already been done ample justice to by 
 Mr. Daniel, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Johnson, in their in- 
 teresting publications on field sports ; and, though the 
 last named, yet not the least, by William Augustus 
 Osbaldiston, Esq., in his admirable work, which is called 
 the " British Sportsman." On the merits of this gen- 
 tleman's work (putting aside some of the plates) I cannot 
 forbear making a few remarks, although he is (perhaps 
 
WORKS TREATING ON DOGS. 263 
 
 I should say was) an utter stranger to me. I bought 
 his book when I was a lad, many years ago, and I can- 
 not say that I have since met with any thing more 
 purely original. Mr. Osbaldiston's " British Sports- 
 man," it is evident, is faithfully drawn from nature, by 
 a thorough-bred sportsman in the field, instead of being 
 imperfectly copied from other works, by a hackney quill- 
 driver in the metropolis. This work, in short, as well 
 as Bewick's, may be considered as one of the fine old 
 standards, from which many a book-pirate has torn the 
 colours that he sails under ; or, as the peacock, in whose 
 feathers have strutted half the jackdaws in the book- 
 making world. 
 
preservation of 
 
 HAVING said enough on the destruction, let me now 
 proceed to the preservation of game. 
 
 A man, who, as a friend, had been hospitably enter- 
 tained, or, as a stranger, accommodated with a day's 
 shooting, would scarcely deserve the name of a gentle- 
 man, if he afterwards, clandestinely, set his foot on the 
 ground of one, to whom he was thus far indebted ; and 
 it is, therefore, extremely illiberal to infer, that a good 
 shot cannot sport like a gentleman ; or that, when in- 
 vited to shoot, he would destroy an unfair quantity of 
 game ; so far from it, a first-rate sportsman takes a pride 
 in showing mercy to what is in his power, and piques 
 himself upon strictly conforming to what he thinks 
 would please his host, and being called a " nice gentle- 
 man" by an honest gamekeeper. Not only this, but, 
 from being cool and steady, he has better nerves to 
 withstand all temptation, than a raw shot, who has 
 scarcely any command of himself on springing a for- 
 bidden bird. There are many 'squires, however, so 
 hoggishly tenacious of their game, that, in spite of all 
 reason, they continue their prejudice against a cracked 
 shot so far, as studiously to avoid his acquaintance ; be- 
 cause there are some greedy destroyers, who take an 
 unfair advantage of their own skill and their host's in- 
 dulgence; and, on the other hand, correct men, who 
 
PRESERVATION OF GAME. 265 
 
 have been known to kill an immense bag of game, at 
 his particular request, for the supply of an election 
 dinner, or some other reasonable purpose. 
 
 Thus many lords of manors, who would rather lose 
 an ounce of their own blood than a brace of their phea- 
 sants, have been striving to preserve every head of game 
 by day, while the poachers, unmolested, were clearing 
 it by wholesale during the night. Sometimes, too, not- 
 withstanding all their caution, their manors are invaded 
 even by day, with old stagers from a garrison, who 
 select market days, when the tenants are absent, and 
 windy weather, when they can manoeuvre to leeward 
 and outflank the keepers. 
 
 Others again manage to create a diversion in favour 
 of their trespass, by having the keepers drawn to op- 
 posite points, with the discharge of double guns and 
 pistols ; or, getting some bad shots, on promising them 
 a share of the booty, to throw themselves in the way of 
 the lookers out, and occupy their whole attention ; first 
 by running away to give them a chase that will prolong 
 their distance from the real point of attack ; and then, 
 by warmly arguing in a wrong cause, so as to engross 
 their attention with a triumphant explanation of their 
 own knowledge, and their prisoner's ignorance in the 
 game laws. 
 
 Many gentlemen poachers have, by running away, 
 through pretended fear, drawn a gamekeeper off his 
 boundary, who, being possibly there followed by his 
 dogs, and having only a gamekeeper's licence, becomes 
 so far in doubt as to his own safety against information, 
 that he is too happy to compound for the day's sport 
 being finished in peace, by those before whom he may 
 have committed himself. 
 
266 PRESERVATION OF GAME, 
 
 Some, with a polite bow and shrug of the shoulders, 
 have pretended to be foreigners, who do not understand 
 a syllable of English, arid by this means deterred keepers 
 from asking those questions, which, if once put, the 
 usual penalty of twenty pounds would bind them to 
 answer. 
 
 Others, regardless of either word or credit, most faith- 
 fully assure the keepers, that they have got leave from 
 their master, inquire after his health, pretend to be on 
 the most intimate terms with him and his acquaintance, 
 and (probably, knowing him to be from home) have 
 even had the effrontery to call at his house, in order to 
 give still more plausibility to their word. A keeper 
 should, therefore, always serve the notices on every one, 
 who is not perfectly well known to him. This may be 
 done with a degree of respect and civility, that could 
 offend no gentleman, and would often be the means of 
 outwitting many, who are regardless of all pretensions 
 to that name. 
 
 Some attempt to carry their point by sheer bullying ; 
 threatening to box with, or shoot the keepers, and 
 (under a hope that their masters would not offer them- 
 selves as a target to every puppy who came to poach on 
 them) talk of " satisfaction " " pistols " " fighting in 
 a sawpit " and hold forth vaunting proposals, in which, 
 if they were once taken at their word, they would, in 
 all probability, like most bullies, or soi disant heroes, 
 who prattle too much about " fighting," be the very first 
 to sport the white feather ! They are not all men of 
 war who strut about with colossal brass spurs, and 
 ten shillings' worth of hair, like a magpie's nest, pasted 
 round their jowls. 
 
 Though last not least, among the successful plans of 
 
AND TRICKS OF TRESPASSERS. 26? 
 
 the day poacher, is that of taking a double gun, and an 
 old steady pointer, when travelling, and cutting out the 
 game from the farther end of the preserved fields, 
 which flank the turnpikes (as a cruiser would a flotilla 
 from under a battery) : or, if the fields are so large that 
 he might be coursed and caught, simply to draw them 
 within a short run of his carriage. A keeper, in this 
 case, would do well to gallop quietly round to some 
 likely field in advance, for which our friend would be 
 pretty sure to turn out again ; and here the keeper, by 
 hiding himself, might pop on him, with all the ne- 
 cessary articles to put an end to his progress. For 
 stopping one, who carries a gun to shoot birds feeding 
 as he travels along the road, the better way would be 
 to tie down the innkeepers, by a threat of withdrawing 
 your custom, not to allow their postboys or coachmen 
 to stop for such purposes ; and, through a fear of getting 
 in a scrape, these men would most likely contrive to 
 pass by, or frighten up the game. If you owe a greedy 
 shooter a grudge, give his dog, in hot weather, a carte 
 blanche at a large tub of buttermilk, just before he takes 
 the field. He will then have many points ; but few 
 birds. 
 
 It would far exceed the limits of this work to insert 
 every ruse de guerre that is successfully practised, for 
 a tolerable shot to come home with a full bag. All 
 keepers and lookers out, therefore, should be constantly 
 on the alert, and made strictly acquainted with the 
 game laws, at least as far as they relate to themselves ; 
 but although this may be learnt by a little conversation 
 with almost any attorney's clerk, or a few written in- 
 structions, yet not one in ten knows how to serve a 
 
268 PRESERVATION OF GAME, 
 
 notice correctly, or even the most common points of 
 what so materially concerns the duties of his situation. 
 
 Keepers should be as widely distributed as possible, 
 by which means a marauder would have some difficulty 
 to steer clear of them all ; but these men (like markers) 
 are too apt to get idling and chattering together, instead 
 of minding their business. Each gamekeeper would do 
 well to have with him a witness, for which, any com- 
 mon labourer would be sufficient; and, above all, a 
 spy glass, by which he would most likely be able to 
 distinguish any man, who might beat him by being 
 longer in the legs than himself, or having a horse which 
 was a better fencer than his own ; and who he may, by 
 this means, be able to recognise hereafter, so as to find 
 him out, and serve him with notices. A few words 
 more, with regard to gamekeepers : 
 
 Be careful how you trust any of them with guns, 
 under the pretence of their killing vermin ; for it is an 
 undoubted fact, that many of those, who are considered 
 very honest men by their employers, are yet so much 
 the contrary, that they will take every opportunity to 
 destroy game, when not under the immediate observa- 
 tion of their master. For instance a gamekeeper is 
 in a covert : he fires his gun, and pockets a pheasant or 
 a partridge, or kills a hare and conceals it: his master, 
 who is perhaps not out of hearing of the gun, comes 
 up and says " John, what did you shoot at ? " "A 
 
 d d hawk, sir," replies the trusty guardian of the 
 
 preserves. " Did you kill it, John?" " Oh, no, sir, 
 he was too far off; but I'm sure I properly peppered 
 him." " Where is he now?" " Lord bless you, sir, 
 he 's been out of sight these five minutes ! " 
 
AND TRICKS OF KEEPERS. 
 
 Be very cautious whom you trust with fowling-pieces ; 
 they are not so often required, as keepers would wish 
 to persuade you they are; and do not be led away 
 with the mistaken notion, that it will be a protection to 
 your game to have a dozen fellows running about with 
 guns in their hands. It may be asked, How then are 
 the various kinds of vermin to be destroyed ? To which 
 I would answer, that, if a keeper cannot effect this by 
 means of traps, gins, poison, and the various other 
 artifices, he is by no means qualified for his place. 
 And, with regard to hawks and other mischievous 
 birds, these underlings have only to keep a sharp look 
 out, in the breeding season, to find their nests, and 
 then take the head keeper, or some one proper to be 
 trusted with a gun, to shoot them. 
 
 In case it should be considered unsafe for keepers to 
 go their nightly rounds without fire-arms, I should rather 
 recommend the use of pistols than guns, though I have 
 little doubt but a fierce dog, and a sabre or a bludgeon, 
 would effectually answer the purpose of defence against 
 poachers. If you have reason to expect a gang of 
 poachers, that may be too strong for your keepers, let 
 some one go through your covers, and thrash away at 
 all the trees till he has driven the pheasants from their 
 roost. Having then spoiled the night's sport, you may 
 go home and sleep in peace. This was the plan of 
 my friend, the late Mr. Ponton, who, with only one 
 regular keeper, had plenty of pheasants, in the midst of 
 poachers. 
 
 The real way to keep up a good stock of game, we 
 may rest assured, is, first, to be well guarded against 
 such incursions as those previously alluded to. Se- 
 condly, to get the poachers watched at their own 
 
270 TO KEEP UP A GOOD 
 
 houses*, by concealing people during the night, near 
 loth their front and back doors; also to have, up the 
 road, an eye on the stage-coaches; and, above all, some 
 spies over the waggoners, who are often their very 
 employers, and who are enabled to smuggle to London 
 both your game and poultry, not only better concealed, 
 than if sent by the coach, but in much greater quan- 
 tities. Thirdly, to keep on good terms with the farmers, 
 who, it should be remembered, have a right to tread, 
 on their own ground, though the nest of & partridge or 
 pheasant be under their feet! 
 
 In a few words, a gentleman, who, living on his 
 estate, is liberal and popular with his neighbours, his 
 tenants, and the poor, will seldom have much difficulty 
 in preserving his rights of every kind. Few will be 
 disposed to infringe on them, while every one is ready 
 to offer assistance for their protection. But, on the 
 other hand, the tyrant, hated and despised by all, when 
 shot over by day, poached on by night, or even robbed 
 of his property, becomes only the laughing-stock of his 
 villagers, who would perhaps rather succour than in- 
 form against the offenders ! 
 
 Nothing will keep pheasants at home better than 
 stacks of buck wheat, oats, white peas, or barley ; pro- 
 vided you dispose of them IN coverts, where there is 
 access to water. It is equally as well known, that high 
 
 * These men often frequent what are called bough houses (un- 
 licensed places, where beer is sold) ; and here it may be contrived 
 to discover the whole gang, by having them closely watched, or 
 buying over, for a spy, or keeper, some well-known old poacher. 
 In short, if these fellows are never lost sight of, they must be taken 
 sooner or later ; but if only hunted in thejields and woods, they may 
 escape their pursuers, till they have nearly stripped a manor. 
 
STOCK OF GAME. 271 
 
 turnips will be a shelter for your partridges, as that 
 Swedes will attract hares, and strong furze be the means 
 of preserving game of every description. 
 
 I may add, that woodcocks have been often collected 
 together by decayed apples. This discovery was first 
 made in consequence of their having frequented the 
 orchards in some parts of Dorsetshire, where they have 
 appeared in numbers, and are called " ditch-owls." 
 
 In the three last editions, I observed, that there re- 
 mained much to be done for the effectual preservation 
 of game, to which the legislature would no doubt at- 
 tend, when matters of more serious consideration were 
 happily adjusted ; and the game laws would, in all pro- 
 bability, undergo the improvement, for which there was 
 (and as yet is) ample scope. Let us, therefore, still 
 hope that something will be done in parliament. In 
 the mean time, I shall hereafter take the liberty of in- 
 troducing a few observations on the subject, under the 
 head of " Game Laws." 
 
[GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR.] 
 
 I OBSERVED, in the two last editions, that with re- 
 gard to a duck-gun If a sportsman could afford to have 
 one of the very best that could possibly be turned out 
 of hand, he would, I was confident, get better served 
 by Mr. Joseph Manton, than by any one in the trade ; 
 because his fine boring and other finishing were done 
 entirely by picked workmen in his own house, under 
 the immediate eye of himself, or his agents. Here he 
 had rooms, with a good light to work in, and the very 
 best of tools, and other conveniences, instead of having 
 the different parts of the gun hawked about the streets 
 from one poor journeyman to another ; at the risk of 
 ultimately requiring patchwork, in order to disguise 
 from the customer their not fitting together in a sound 
 and workmanlike manner. 
 
 [Notwithstanding this establishment of Mr. Manton 
 has been broken up, I have reprinted the foregoing ob- 
 servations, as a hint for other tradesmen to follow his 
 example.] 
 
 If, on the other hand, the shooter is content with a 
 good serviceable duck-gun that will kill well, and answer 
 every purpose, arid is not au fait enough to send his 
 own specific directions to Birmingham, he has only to 
 
DUCK GUNS. 273 
 
 go to the fountain head at once, and order Mr. Fullerd 
 to send him a barrel ready-bored for shooting., and then 
 get it fitted up to his own fancy by any tolerable me- 
 chanic*. 
 
 My reason for preferring this plan is, because I know 
 by experience that if Fullerd is left alone, he can bore 
 a barrel to shoot well ; but when interfered with, he 
 becomes a mere journeyman who dares not open his 
 mouth, insomuch that if he was ordered to bore a barrel 
 like a blunderbuss ; a bugle ; or a gas-pipe ; no matter 
 which he must do it. 
 
 It has been a grand object with some gunmakers to 
 suppress the reputation of Fullerd, and also of Lan- 
 caster, when he served the trade, by punching their 
 names out of the barrels, and putting on their own. 
 This may be all fair when barrelmakers are only em- 
 ployed for the rough work ; but this is frequently done 
 even when they have finished the boring, and completed 
 almost every part of the barrels, and breechings, except 
 the mere polish with sand-paper. It therefore often 
 happens that, for this second baptism, and a few dandy 
 ornaments, which are quite out of character for duck 
 guns, the customer is made to pay an enormous per 
 centage above the fair trade profit. Several of these 
 gunmakers declare to me that they get nothing by what 
 
 * I know but one man capable of fitting up a very large duck gun 
 without specific directions from the shooter Mr. Burnett of South- 
 ampton, who has, for these last five years, been working for gentle- 
 men-gunners under the directions of Buckle, Singer, and other pro- 
 fessors of those secrets afloat which it would take a dandy-gunmaker 
 more time than he can spare to learn. Mr. Burnett is not only a 
 clear-headed ingenious workman, and most reasonable in his charges, 
 but also a g6od practical shot. 
 
 T 
 
274 DUCK GUNS. 
 
 they call "making!" duck guns. Very well, then: if 
 so, by placarding the following name, where it cannot 
 be punched out again, I shall be doing them essential 
 service. 
 
 WILLIAM FULLERD, (removed to) No. 57, Compton- 
 stree,t, Clerkenwell. His brother Tom is partner, fore- 
 man, and factotum, and as good a large barrel forger as 
 ever faced a fire, or swallowed porter. 
 
 (But with regard to common sporting guns, the case 
 alters ; because the fitting up of them is now pretty well 
 understood by every one; and they require so many 
 little appendages that the least trouble, as I before ob- 
 served, when speaking of them, is to go at once to a 
 gunmaker or a pawnbroker.) 
 
 Many will tell you, that a large gun will do no more 
 execution than a small one ; and, by the same rule, they 
 may say, that a gun will kill no farther than a pistol. 
 
 The advantage of a duck gun is, that it will carry 
 large shot more compactly ', and may be fired with double 
 or treble the charge for a piece of an ordinary size. 
 You are therefore enabled to use the largest shot, with 
 the same advantage, that No. 7 may be fired from a 
 double gun ; by which means, at a large object, you 
 may kill considerably farther; and, in a flock, many 
 more birds at a shot. 
 
 In comparing small shot from a double gun , as having 
 the same advantage over large, that a pin, with a mo- 
 derate pressure, would have over a nail, in piercing the 
 feathers of game, by the same argument it may be said, 
 that large shot, from a duck gun, would have the effect 
 of the nail driven by a hammer through the strong 
 bones and feathers of wildfowl. A large gun, to carry 
 twice as much as a small one (say three or four ounces), 
 
DUCK GUNS. 275 
 
 should not weigh less than 12, nor exceed \Qlbs. arid 
 be used with No. 1 or 2! shot ; and the same proportion 
 of powder as before recommended. One to carry five 
 or six ounces should not weigh less than 18, nor exceed 
 QQlbs., and be used with A or B shot ; and so on in pro- 
 portion; but this is the most that can well be fired 
 without a rest. 
 
 The recoil of a duck gun can only be checked by 
 weight of metal, and there are two ways to dispose of 
 it: the one, immense thickness, whereby the gun may 
 be short, portable, and easily managed ; and the other, 
 considerable length, by which you may kill farther, and 
 take a much more accurate aim. The former was the 
 plan of Mr. Joseph Manton, the latter is that of Mr. D. 
 Egg : and, in order to partake a little of both advan- 
 tages, I should steer between the two, and have my 
 barrels never less than three feet eight, nor more than 
 four feet four inches, unless I used a rest; by which 
 means a gun being top-heavy is rendered quite the re- 
 verse of objectionable. In this case, I should adopt the 
 plan of Mr. D. Egg, as the best in every respect. (Since 
 the first edition of this book was published, Mr. Joseph 
 Manton had generally adopted the proportions therein 
 recommended, and made some of the best duck guns 
 that could possibly be turned out of hand. He declared 
 to me, that he gained a more perfect knowledge of his 
 business by making duck guns, than by any other branch 
 of practice.) 
 
 A broad heel-plate contributes greatly to lessen the 
 recoil; and, in some of the largest sized shoulder guns, 
 a sponge has sometimes been found necessary, to prevent 
 the guard from cutting the second finger. 
 
 As to the best length for duck guns that are used 
 
 T 2 
 
276 DUCK GUNS. 
 
 without a rest, and must therefore be made to mount 
 tolerably well ; I will lay down a simple rule for those 
 of every size : viz. measure the barrels of your best 
 double gun, and see how many times they are in length 
 the diameter of the punched wadding ; and order your 
 duck guns to be never less than from four to six more 
 diameters in proportion. That is, if your double gun, 
 of fourteen gauge, should be of the common length, 
 (2 feet 8 inches), which is forty-four diameters, let 
 your duck gun of seven gauge, and of 13lbs. weight, be 
 never less than from 3 feet 65 to 3 feet 8 inches ; (or, 
 if you can manage 4<feet, so much the better;) and so 
 forth on a still larger scale. The latter gun at forty- 
 four diameters would be 3 feet %$ inches, but with this 
 length it would scatter more at long shots ; and, if 
 properly loaded (say with 3| ounces of shot), would, by 
 flying up forward, be felt too severely to the shoulder. 
 
 Recollect, that although the same ratio might hold 
 good for guns, yet neither the weight of the atmosphere 
 nor the muscular power of a man can be made to serve 
 in proportion. If a duck gun is too large in the caliber, 
 in proportion to its weight of metal, it will recoil con- 
 siderably ; and if too small, it will not have the desired 
 effect of allowing the shot to lie compactly together. 
 
 A gun fired from a rest is felt more than if held out, 
 because the left hand, when grasping it, checks the re- 
 coil. The stock of a heavy duck gun should be more 
 bent than that of a common gun, as, when we are holding 
 out a great weight, it is not so easy to lower the head: 
 and it should also be observed, that the curve in the 
 stock tends to lessen the recoil. 
 
 I have of late years had the duck gun stocks, which 
 I use on the coast, made with a pistol grip, and whipped 
 
DUCK GUNS. 
 
 277 
 
 with waxed end, round the handle, similar to a cricket 
 bat, which rather lessens the jar ; and the upper part 
 of the but very much cut away, in order to prevent it 
 from hurting the shoulder bone. I also paint and 
 varnish the stock, by which means it does not get 
 cracked, after being wetted with salt water. The gun- 
 makers' stocks I found were always a great plague on 
 this account, as well as from the trouble of keeping them 
 in order, after being exposed to the spray of the sea. 
 Add to which, they recoil most unmercifully, and are 
 therefore only fit for light charges. I should always 
 have these stocks rather short ; as one that would mount 
 well in a shooting jacket, would be unmanageably long 
 in a gunning dress. 
 
 The following is the average of several shots, tried at 
 twelve sheets of thick brown paper, to ascertain the 
 difference between two common duck guns, and a very 
 superior double gun, made by Mr, Joseph Manton. 
 
 Large duck gun ..... 
 Smallest ditto 
 
 WEIGHT. 
 
 LENGTH. 
 
 GAUGE. 
 
 Pounds. 
 14 
 
 12J 
 
 9 
 
 Feet. Inches. 
 4 67 
 4 5j 
 
 2 8 
 
 7 
 14 
 
 Duck guns > 
 Double gun \ 
 
 WITH No. 2. SHOT. 
 
 Yards. 
 60 
 
 45 
 
 In the 1st 
 sheet. 
 32 
 20 
 
 34 
 26 
 
 Through the 
 12ch sheet. 
 25 
 18 
 
 34 
 
 26 
 
 Double gun 3 
 
278 DUCK GUNS. 
 
 The large guns were loaded with precisely double 
 the charge of the small gun, which is one-fifth less than 
 that with which they always killed best. 
 
 The paper was nailed up close to a sheet of water, 
 and two men placed to observe the effect ; which was, 
 that the outside shot (that which flew wide of the 
 paper) appeared to be driven with much more force 
 from the heavy guns, and, of course, spread a much 
 larger surface. 
 
 This proves, that although, if both accurately levelled, 
 the difference between a wildfowl gun and a small gun 
 is riot so very considerable, at a single bird ; yet, from 
 the immense circle, which the large gun spreads, you 
 have more chances of killing with an indifferent aim ; 
 and, of course, in a flock (as before said), would kill 
 many more birds at a shot. 
 
 At the same time an opportunity was taken to prove 
 the advantage of shot lying compact ; viz. after loading 
 the double gun with a full charge of powder, and 
 placing within the muzzle a round of pasteboard, I put 
 thereon forty-five grains of No. 7 shot, shook them all 
 into one tier on the wadding, and, after having laid on 
 them another round of pasteboard, carefully rammed 
 down all together: the result was, that, at thirty 
 yards, twenty grains were well distributed in a news- 
 paper. 
 
DUCK GUNS. 
 
 279 
 
 Subjoined is another trial, made in 1820, between the smallest 
 sized duck guns, and fourteen gauge double guns (at thirty-eight 
 yards), with twelve sheets of thickest brown paper put up afresh for 
 each shot. 
 
 
 Number 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 
 of Grains 
 
 through 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 
 in 1st 
 
 12th 
 
 
 
 Sheet 
 
 Sheet. 
 
 
 
 j 
 
 00 
 
 *: 
 
 o 
 
 eg 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 X 
 
 1 
 
 -w? 
 
 02 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ffl 
 
 ec 
 
 
 
 <N 
 
 CO 
 
 
 C Old Joe (a gun never yet 
 beat, for its regularity of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 pattern -on the paper), 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 156 
 
 143116 
 
 73 
 
 74 
 
 80 
 
 1 Most 
 
 
 
 111 
 
 14I.M or: 
 
 9 ** 
 
 71 
 
 / ^ 
 
 70 
 
 72 
 
 C rccMil'ir 
 
 With oz. and 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 A 
 
 /" 
 
 i ** 
 
 3 rc gU-""- 
 
 half No. 5. 
 Shot. 
 
 A newer gun of precisely the 
 same size, right barrel . . 
 Ditto, left barrel . . 
 
 189 
 145 
 
 150 
 122 
 
 124 
 145 
 
 62 
 54 
 
 86 
 69 
 
 41 
 80 
 
 I Closest in 
 \ 1st Sheet. 
 
 
 
 Detonating gun, right barrel 
 Ditto, left barrel 
 
 166 
 164 
 
 127 
 137 
 
 124 
 128 
 
 102 
 82 
 
 89 
 90 
 
 91 
 72 
 
 Strongest*. 
 
 2 oz. and half 
 
 r A 131b. gun (7 gauge, 4 feet 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 j 
 
 only of No. 
 
 barrel), by D. Egg . . . 
 
 175 
 
 164 
 
 172 
 
 128 
 
 122 138 
 
 
 3 Shot, in 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 heavy sin- 
 gle guns. 
 
 A lOlb. detonating gun (7 
 gauge, 3 feet barrel) . . . 
 
 162 
 
 170 
 
 145 
 
 120 
 
 104 
 
 142 
 
 t 
 
 One shot, for trial, against 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 heavy single guns, with 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 No. 3, in Old Joe, to show 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 that even the best double 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 guns will not throw large 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 shot like duck guns . . . 
 
 88 
 
 
 
 71 
 
 
 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS A damp, windy day; and therefore much against the 
 force of powder. The eighth part of a sheet of letter paper was pasted on every 
 front sheet, as a bull's eye ; and, on an average, received about five grains of shot. 
 All the barrels were made by Charles Lancaster, except the one of Mr. D. Egg, and 
 were well worked and dirtied previously to being tried. The same measure of powder 
 as of shot. 
 
 * On Mr. Joseph Manton's first principle, which was discarded from being so 
 troublesome to clean ; and which owed much of its strength to having more weight 
 of metal ; and so small a vent-hole, that it was repeatedly missing fire, 
 
 t Recoiled severely, if loaded higher, from being too short in proportion to the 
 
280 
 
 DUCK GUNS. 
 
 In comparison with the table of shots originally 
 given, I am now enabled to add, the performance of 
 a duck gun, made expressly to my order by Mr. 
 Joseph Manton, the barrel of which was prepared by 
 Lancaster. 
 
 WEIGHT 
 
 LENGTH. 
 
 GAUGE. 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 m 
 
 Feet Inches. 
 
 4 2 
 
 Not quite an 
 inch. 
 
 With four ounces and a half of No. 2 shot, well 
 shaken down, after being put in the barrel, and an 
 equal measure of powder strongly wadded: 
 
 Yards. 
 
 In the 1st sheet. 
 
 Through the 
 12th sheet. 
 
 60 
 
 50 
 
 48 
 
 45 
 
 92 
 
 92 
 
 The following table of a gun trial, which I have 
 just found among my papers, and which I perfectly 
 remember making (though I see it is without date, and 
 without the size of the target or the shot being speci- 
 fied), may yet prove as well worth insertion as any, 
 because it plainly shows the decided advantage in the 
 increased size of guns. 
 
 bore, and therefore would not answer my purpose for wildfowl. This gun was made 
 to my order by Mr. Joseph Manton, and is the same with which Mr. Osbaldiston, 
 in 1824, won a five hundred guinea match, and since that, several others. This 
 gentleman refused one hundred and fifty guineas for the gun. 
 
DUCK GUNS. 
 
 DISTANCE SIXTY YARDS. 
 
 Through a double 
 In 1st half quire of brown 
 sheet. paper. 
 
 Best double gun, 91 bs. . . 4 . j ..- 4 
 
 Fisherman's old gun of 121bs. (com- 
 mon breeching) . . . 8 . . 3 
 
 Joe Manton's duck gun, 17^1bs. 14 . . 14 
 
 An old Birmingham swivel gun 
 
 (common breech) about 701bs. 40 . . 38 
 
 Query. Does this corroborate the assertion, then, that a small 
 gun will kill as well as a large one ? 
 
 For shooting in windy weather, and killing birds 
 that would dive at a flash, there can be no question as 
 to the superiority of detonating duck guns. 
 
 In loading a duck gun, the farther you wish to 
 reach a flock of birds, the more powder and the less 
 shot you must put ; because you may often make good 
 a few random shots into flocks of wildfowl, by putting 
 a considerably larger measure of powder than of shot ; 
 when by the usual mode of loading, you might only 
 hear the shot rattle on the wings of many, without 
 bringing down a single bird. 
 
 To conclude this subject, it need only be observed, 
 that the same directions as those before given will 
 hold good for the -choice, care, and cleaning of duck 
 guns. They cannot, however, be made to balance 
 quite so well as guns on a small construction, without 
 an unmanageable quantity of lead ; and, in these, the 
 scrollguard, or, what is far better, as I before observed, 
 a pistol grip to the stock, may be adopted, in order to 
 prevent the right hand from being driven against the 
 
282 DUCK GUNS. 
 
 face, in the event of a recoil. But, if they should have 
 been loaded some time, it is best to loosen the charge of 
 shot, which, otherwise, would be felt severely. 
 
 If one of these guns should be laid aside for a season 
 or two, your filling it with mutton suet will entirely 
 prevent rust. 
 
mafee an olti <6tm sijoot tocll. 
 
 THIS may be done, if the barrel be of sufficient sub- 
 stance ; of tolerably good iron ; and perfectly sound ; 
 first by boring it'* (as before mentioned) so as to have 
 friction downwards, and this gradually relieved for- 
 ward; secondly, by putting in a chamber plug (vide 
 plate) ; and, thirdly, by giving immense strength to 
 the mainspring of the lock. 
 
 This recipe may not only be worth the observation 
 of those who cannot afford a new gun, but useful to 
 officers on service ; who, from not wishing to increase 
 their baggage, when constantly engaged, take no gun 
 with them ; and are, perhaps, after a summer's cam- 
 paign stationed in winter quarters, where they have 
 plenty of leisure, and the finest shooting, though with 
 no other fowling-piece than a regimental musket. This 
 was the case on the expedition to New Orleans, in the 
 country near which place the wildfowl were innumerable. 
 
 A regimental armourer (even if he had the means) 
 might not be perfectly master of the boring ; and if he 
 was, where, on service 9 would he get a lathe ? but the 
 perforated plug and the strengthening of the main- 
 
 * In a stout barrel, even the deep flaws may be easily got rid of, 
 by means of making it red hot, and beating them in, before you fresh 
 bore it. 
 
284 TO MAKE AN OLD GUN SHOOT WELL. 
 
 spring would very much accelerate the firing of a 
 musket ; and some of these barrels, if properly loaded, 
 often make a very .effectual substitute for a duck gun ; 
 and particularly if eased a little at the muzzle by the 
 hard working of sand-paper. (This, by the way, would 
 be very near the right bore for a detonater.) 
 
 The proper charge for them would be about two 
 tobacco pipes full of powder, and the same measure of 
 large shot : but, as this had better be regulated by the 
 degree with which they are felt in firing, I shall lay 
 down a rule, which, by the way (with a very trifling 
 alteration, according to circumstances), may be applied 
 to all duck guns, and most other guns, that are fired 
 with a flint-lock. 
 
 Load with POWDER and SHOT by EQUAL MEA- 
 SURE in as large a quantity as can be fired with ease 
 to the shoulder ; putting your WADDING STRONG on 
 the FORMER, and LIGHT on the LATTER. 
 
 As this alteration is all inwardly, it cannot affect the 
 appearance of the musket ; and (omitting the boring) 
 it would, if kept clean, be all the better for his majesty's 
 service. The perforation of the plug, however, should 
 not be too small ; and particularly in cases where it may 
 become necessary to use it with cartridge powder. 
 
 Before concluding the observations on improving 
 common guns, it may not be amiss to mention the fol- 
 lowing circumstances : An old fisherman, in the country 
 where I was residing, had killed more wildfowl than 
 any other man on the river, with a gun which he had 
 picked up for thirty shillings. A few seasons previously 
 to his death, he gave up shooting, and I bought this 
 gun, from the reported excellence of the barrel, which 
 fully answered my expectations. Finding, however, 
 
TO MAKE AN OLD GUN SHOOT WELL. 285 
 
 that the plug and touchhole were rather too much worn 
 to be safe, I had them both replaced by the same 
 country maker who put a new stock and lock. The 
 barrel afterwards shot so slow and weak, that it was 
 perfectly useless ; on which I sent ifc to be altered by 
 Mr. John Manton, who very civilly undertook the job; 
 and, by putting in a common chamber plug, and. fresh 
 perforating a common touchhole, made this gun shoot 
 so admirably well, that it was not till I had received five 
 best finished duck guns from London that I could get 
 one to equal it. 
 
 We are often laughed at for our expenditure in guns, 
 when an old gamekeeper will sometimes beat them all 
 with a " piece" that has scarcely a choice, whether to 
 prefer firing, or being fired at with it. I admit, that 
 if his barrel happens to be well bored, his mainspring 
 strong, and his touchhole and chamber plug well put 
 in, there will perhaps be very little difference in the 
 killing, between his "piece" and the best gun that ever 
 came out of London. But if we consider, that the ex- 
 cellence of a lock and soundness of a barrel, although 
 not absolutely requisite in killing, are indispensably 
 necessary for the safety of our persons ; and that, al- 
 though practice may bring a man to point accurately 
 with a broomstick, yet we must allow the advantage, 
 not to say the comfort and neatness, of having our guns 
 turned out in a handsome arid workmanlike manner. 
 
Uucfc 
 
 No. 1 and 2 for a seven gauge, and A. or B, for a 
 Jive ditto, or cA bore, are preferable to the very largest 
 shot, by the same reason that No. 7 is best for game. 
 
 Mould shot alone, therefore, in any caliber less than 
 that of a stanchion gun, is like No. 1 in a double gun : 
 it may do wonders, for which you relinquish the cer- 
 tainty of what other shot will do. 
 
 To prove, that even one of these pellets may be 
 carried off by a wildfowl, I should mention the cir- 
 cumstance of having seen a brentgoose, which, after 
 having been brought down, flying, with No. 2, was dis- 
 covered to have, under the wing, an old wound, con- 
 siderably more than an inch deep : and out of this was 
 taken one of the largest mould shot, which had rolled 
 up in feathers, and formed a sort of tent. 
 
 The following is a table of what I find the best shot 
 for wildfowl: 
 
 No. 
 Common sporting-guns; or what the 
 
 gunners call " Pop "-guns . 3 for fair 1 j 
 
 1 long ) S 
 
 Shoulder duck-guns 1 for fair 1 j 
 
 A long J s 
 
DUCK SHOT. 287 
 
 No. 
 
 Punt-guns 3 for starlight. 
 
 1 for fair shots (or in the dark, 
 when birds are wilder than 
 in starlight). 
 
 Packed by regular layers in car- C S. S. G. Above 100 yards, 
 tridges < L. G. Wild random shoot- 
 
 ( S. S. C 
 JL. G. 
 I ing. 
 
 A. or AA. are the best for geese, particularly by day, 
 provided they are so tame as not to require S.S.G. In 
 my second edition, I talked of mixing shot ; but have 
 since had reason to doubt whether it answers so well. 
 
 General Shrapnell tells me, that some man in Ireland 
 had contrived to imitate his shells, or spherical case 
 shot, with which he did wonders at the wildfowl. I 
 have been favoured, by a gentleman in Kent, with the 
 recipe for making and adapting them to small guns. 
 But lest it might prove improper to publish it (which 
 I could not well and clearly do without an engraving) 
 I shall say no more on the subject, but leave this ad- 
 mirable invention as the valuable property of the British 
 ordnance. 
 
To avoid book-making, I shall now cancel six pages, 
 the experiments for which had cost me much time and 
 expense, and say no more about paper, pasteboard, cork, 
 leather, &c. &c., but, in a few words, name what I have 
 proved to be the best wadding for duck-guns. For all 
 shoulder duck-guns use Wilkinson's felt wadding, about 
 a third in thickness the size of your caliber. But for 
 long punt-guns, and all other water-guns that are opened 
 behind, you will find that, after all, nothing beats a 
 tight-wound ball of the best picked oakum ; because 
 it springs to every gradation of the caliber. I could 
 publish fifty original pages on the subject, but who 
 would take the trouble to read them ? and what would 
 be the use of this, after the sporting world has done me 
 the honour to confide in what I recommend ? 
 
Boots 
 
 ARE absolutely necessary for those who shoot in wet 
 places, or wait, in cold nights, for wildfowl ; and, if 
 good, will effectually repel the water for a long time. 
 
 Water boots, that I have always found to answer, are 
 made (for thirty shillings a pair), by a Mr. Cox, in 
 Poole, whose principal business is their exportation to 
 Newfoundland. Mr. Short, of East Yarmouth, is also 
 a particularly good maker of these boots, and is so 
 clever in other parts of his business, that he is in the 
 habit of sending boots and shoes to gentlemen above a 
 hundred miles on the other side of London. Some of 
 the fen sportsmen call him the " Emperor of the boot- 
 makers." 
 
 All boots, for going in the wet, answer much better 
 if kept at least half a year before they are worn; and 
 they should afterwards never be suffered to get too hard. 
 Water boots should be invariably worn over an extra 
 pair of coarse yarn stockings, without which you do not 
 give them a fair trial. 
 
 So far from being hard to the feet, they are the 
 softest possible wear, and may be made very light. 
 They should always be made to draw, when required, 
 very far above the knees, in order to protect them from 
 cold or wet. Nothing, by the way, would answer so 
 
 u 
 
290 WATER BOOTS. 
 
 well in rain or snow for stage coachmen, if these gentle- 
 men would just then condescend to wear them. 
 
 Various dressings are recommended, though, perhaps, 
 almost any grease may answer ; but the first and most 
 effectual application might be tar, tallow, and bees' 
 wax, melted (not too warm), and then poured into the 
 boots ; which, after having this shaken into every part 
 of them, should be hung up to let it run out. By this 
 dressing, and the sacrifice of the first pair of stockings 
 that follows it, we may walk in the river with more 
 comfort than a " Swell-kiddy" would cross the street 
 after a shower. 
 
 This recipe, however, though a double defence, I do 
 not mean to say is absolutely necessary; for I have 
 latterly found that neafsfoot oil answers every purpose. 
 
 As another good recipe, I should prefer the following 
 one : 
 
 RECIPE. 
 
 Drying, oil ..... 1 pint. 
 
 Yellow wax . . fjEjfili . . 2 ounces. 
 
 Turpentine . . . .2 ounces. 
 
 Burgundy pitch . . . . .1 ounce. 
 
 Melt these over a slow fire, and then add a few drachms of essential 
 oil of lavender (or thyme). With this your boots are to be rubbed 
 with a brush, either in the sun, or at some distance from the fire. 
 The application must be repeated, as often as the boots become dry 
 again, until they are fully saturated. 
 
 If your heel should become galled by walking in a water-, or any 
 other, boot, you will immediately remedy the inconvenience by ap- 
 plying a piece of gold-beaters' skin, and over that a little court 
 plaster, in order doubly to defend the part. But even in this trifle 
 there is a right and a wrong way of going to work. Instead of cutting 
 with scissors, and merely wetting the plaster, let it be for a moment 
 
WATER BOOTS. 291 
 
 heated by thejire, as well as wetted, being previously stamped with 
 a wadding-punch, by which means, from having no angles, or corners, 
 it will stick as fast as your own skin ; provided that, when on and 
 dry, you put over it a little cold cream, or any kind of grease, in order 
 to repel the damp. 
 
 The application that has been usually recommended to me by 
 surgeons is diachylon-plaster, which, in cold weather, curls up, and 
 torments you so much in walking, that you soon become lame again, 
 and then wish the doctor at Jericho. Go to Godfrey's, or some other 
 first-rate chemist, in order to get the sticking plaster in perfection, 
 as many a one has poisoned his skin by not having the genuine 
 article. 
 
 Let this edition supersede the recipe for cure, by 
 giving what is better, a preventive. 
 
 Get a square silk pad, similar to a kettle-holder. Then have 
 sewn, on two opposite corners of it, pieces of list long enough to go 
 twice round, and tie on, the ancle. No wrinkle of a water-boot can 
 then cut or bruise your " tendon Achilles," or back sinew, pro- 
 vided you secure the pad firmly, by putting it over your common 
 stocking, and under your yarn stocking. I was stupid enough not 
 to think of this plan till 1828. Thus, if we were to shoot for a cen- 
 tury, we should always be finding out something useful ; however 
 frivolous it may appear, when mentioned to a reader who is not in 
 immediate want of it. 
 
Bressmjj for 
 etc. 
 
 TAKE a piece of Indian rubber, about the size of a walnut : cut it 
 in small pieces, and put it into a phial with four ounces of highly 
 rectified spirits of turpentine. Cork it up for about a fortnight 
 (more or less, according to cold or hot weather), and shake it every 
 day. When this mixture has come to a consistence about the thick- 
 ness of treacle, it is fit for use. You may then work it, with a paint 
 brush, into leather, rope, or what you please. But, when used for 
 the soles of shoes, leather trunks, or any thing that does not require 
 flexibility, you should add, to this composition, three times the 
 quantity of copal varnish. The most effectual mode of application 
 is to anoint, not only the outside seams, but also the whole inside of 
 the soles. 
 
 If you want this dressing in a hurry, and an extra expense is no 
 object, you will find that aether, or naptha, will dissolve Indian 
 rubber, and dry, much quicker than spirits of turpentine. The 
 powder colours, for painting, either with or without oil, will mix 
 perfectly well with this composition. 
 
 The foregoing recipe was given me (just in time to 
 publish it, but too late to make a proper trial of it), 
 by Mr. Cornelius Varley, who tells me that he sent it, 
 many years ago, to the Philosophical Magazine. Not 
 wishing, however, to enter it without some kind of in- 
 vestigation, I applied to Mr. Fisher, the celebrated 
 chemist in Conduit-street, who was good enough to 
 make for me as many experiments as the limited time 
 
WATER-PROOF DRESSING FOR SHOES, &C. 293 
 
 would admit of. The preparation which he found to 
 mix the best, was three oz. of 'Indian rubber, boiled for 
 about three hours, in a pint of linseed oil*, which thus 
 became immediately of a good consistence ; but it re- 
 quired such a time to dry, that he afterwards found it 
 necessary to add spirits of turpentine. In short, it has 
 long been known that the solution of Indian rubber is 
 a valuable recipe for making things waterproof. But 
 there are so many ways of doing it; and, perhaps, 
 among them all, the best not yet discovered, that we 
 must, for the present, dismiss the subject by merely 
 giving the hint, with the hope of putting our speculators 
 on the scent, to bring to perfection what would be to 
 their own advantage, and worthy the notice of the 
 public. 
 
 * This comes very near to the recipe given in our former editions, 
 and now very much in use, for dressing Russia duck. 
 
Corns, 
 
 To walk with corns, and without torture, get a piece 
 of chamois leather, spread with diachylon plaster. Cut, 
 with your wadding-punch, as many rounds as will form 
 a sufficient thickness to prevent the boot or shoe from 
 pressing your stocking on the corn ; for the reception 
 of which you must punch a small hole through the 
 centre. By this simple contrivance, I have known 
 many a dot-and-go-one gentleman start off as bold as a 
 dog just uncoupled. 
 
for fflSSStttofotol Roofing, 
 
 IF you attempt to go out for wildfowl, without being 
 properly clothed, you will not only frighten them away, 
 and kill nothing, but you will experience those very 
 miseries which are merely imaginary with persons who 
 do not understand this pursuit. How many do we see, 
 who fancy that they would catch their death by cold if 
 they went out at night for a few hours in a punt : and 
 yet these very people are in the habit of doing what is 
 ten times more dangerous : walking in a wet day from 
 the west end of the town to the city, with thin boots, 
 without galoches, and in cotton stockings ; and there, 
 perhaps, with damp feet, sitting on business for a whole 
 morning ! 
 
 Having mentioned that water boots should, even for 
 walking, be worn with an extra pair of coarse yarn 
 stockings, I should advise those, who go out in cold 
 nights, to have their boots made easy enough to admit, 
 instead of these, a pair of the thickest wads. They 
 should reach nearly up to the middle. This will be 
 found quite enough, provided the under stockings are 
 of the warmest quality. Such, for instance, as the 
 " Sanquhar hose," that are sold (and, I believe, were 
 first introduced from Scotland to London) by Mr. 
 Otley, in Sidney's Alley. Having put on the boots, 
 
296 DRESSES FOR 
 
 there must then be drawn over all a pair of short loose 
 sailcloth * (or, if cold frosty weather, Flushing-coating) 
 trowsers. This, and only this, will defy the cold, and 
 have its solid comforts, by not only keeping off the 
 sleet, or snow, but any little spray that may fly from 
 the splash of the windward oar. 
 
 It is needless to say, that (except the feet, which we 
 have already defended) every part of the body should 
 be clothed in flannel. 
 
 With regard to farther covering for the body, could 
 we ensure not getting wet, leather would, perhaps, be 
 the warmest; but, at all events, the waistcoat, both 
 before and behind, should be made of either shag, or 
 Bath-coating, which certainly, taking all weather, an- 
 swers best, and is the most comfortable. Under the 
 waistcoat, should be worn a Flushing-frock, and over 
 it, a short jacket, of either drab cloth or swanskin. 
 But the sheepswool wove into cloth (an article which 
 the guards of coaches bring me from Exeter) I now 
 find beats every thing ; this material, however, is too 
 thick for the sleeves. The cap may be made of cloth, 
 or any thing you please ; because a Welsh wig may be 
 " shipped" when going into birds; and, by the way, 
 kept on, with the cap, if the weather is so cold as to 
 require it. Mr. Lloyd, 13, Old Bond-street, has in- 
 vented an excellent, though simple, defender for the 
 chest (which he calls an " Anglesey") ; and a large 
 shawl handkerchief may be worn over the collar. A 
 
 * Sailcloth is so strong, so durable, and such a good defence 
 against rain, that it answers better than any thing for making game 
 bags ; or defending the mahogany gun cases of those who would 
 wish to avoid the expense of leather; and, if dressed with tar, it 
 makes the best possible gun-cover. 
 
WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 297 
 
 pair of worsted wristbands (sold by the name of " muf- 
 fatees") should be worn with cloth gloves, and, over 
 gloves and all, a large and long pair of double swanskin 
 cuffs, which are as warm as any muff, and may be drawn, 
 or shook, off in an instant, when you want your right 
 hand for the trigger. 
 
 Which of the two colours for the jacket and cap is to 
 be used will depend on whether you have sun or moon ; 
 on which occasions you and your boat should appear in 
 a light drab, or you will occasionally shine so much, as 
 to be quite conspicuous. But at all other times abluish 
 white is indisputably the best colour; except in star- 
 light or snow. Then you cannot possibly be too white ; 
 insomuch, that a clean linen frock and cap might take 
 you forty yards nearer to your birds than even flannel 
 or swanskin. All further covering, such as a cloak, 
 white hat, &c., may be at your own option, as you 
 would, of course, " douse" it when you began to " work 
 to birds ;" and, indeed, the greater part of that before- 
 mentioned would be too warm, except for one who had 
 nothing to do but attend his gun. 
 
 I shall now add one recipe for a surtout, by way of a 
 dread-nought, which, as wet weather has of late years 
 been " so much in fashion," will, I trust, be doing 
 service, not only to gunners, but to every class of the 
 community, except the tailors, who might lose business 
 by it, and their satellites the dandies, who would faint 
 at the sight of it. It is but fair that the man who 
 gave me the recipe should be immortalized by its intro- 
 duction, and not I, who am the mere copyist. I got 
 it at Winterton, in Norfolk, from the factotum of all 
 the wet work, one Larry Rogers, who calls it his 
 " Sou'wester,' 9 and gets it all for nine shillings. In 
 
298 DRESSES FOR 
 
 this dress, with water boots and overalls, every thing 
 (but a man's eyes, which he may defend with goggles, 
 and his mouth and nose, which he may fortify at 
 Messrs. Fribourgs') is as independent of rain as was 
 once! a Corinthian " Charley" in his watch-box. Add 
 to this, it is so light and convenient for the arms, that 
 you may walk, ride, row, or take any exercise without 
 being heated, as with other surtouts. Oil-skin might 
 do likewise ; but this very soon wears out, and comes 
 to six times the price. [In case the logician should 
 condemn the arrangement of this latter sentence, I must 
 humbly beg leave to argue that he would be wrong ; 
 because it is the fashion to wear out the coat first, 
 and joy for it afterwards I mean if paid for at all.] 
 
 Now to the point : 
 
 Make, with an article called Russia duck (which, as 
 well as swanskin, should be previously wetted and dried, 
 to prevent shrinking), a loose over-all frock coat, and a 
 hood ; or a cap, with a flap behind, similar to a coal- 
 heaver's hat, and dress them as follows : 
 
 Take three quarts of linseed oil, and boil them till 
 reduced to two quarts and a half, the doing which will 
 require about three hours; and when the oil is suf- 
 ficiently boiled, it will burn a feather. The addition of 
 some Indian rubber was suggested to me ; but of this 
 I did not make a trial ; because the dressing (for 
 Russia duck), answered so well without it. When the 
 oil is quite cold, take a clean paint-brush, and well work 
 it into the outside of the whole apparel, and it will soon 
 find its way to the inside. Let the apparel then be 
 put out in the air every dry day, for a fortnight or three 
 weeks ; and, at the expiration of that time, provided 
 the oil on it be thoroughly dry, take the remainder of 
 
WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 299 
 
 your prepared oil, and give it the second coat, which 
 will dry much quicker than the first. 
 
 I was told that one coat of oil would do, as the 
 dressing could be renewed at pleasure. The difference, 
 however, was this : The first coat would barely stand 
 a hard day's rain ; but after the second coat was on, 
 this garment, if held up, would hold gallons of water as 
 tight as the pail from which I poured them. 
 
 In short, this recipe has, after six years 9 trial, proved 
 to answer so well, that I have no doubt if it had been 
 disguised, and " set a going" by some gentleman who 
 was a " dab" at preaching, puffing, and wall-chalking, 
 he might soon have made a little fortune by it, and set 
 up for an E-S-Q. ; with his " cad," and his " cab," and 
 his , &c. 
 
 N. B. Tell the person who boils the oil to beware of 
 getting burnt ; and let him do it out of doors, or he 
 might run a risk of setting your house on fire. Add to 
 this, the smell of it, when boiling, is a great nuisance ; 
 although the dress, after being thoroughly dry, will 
 retain scarcely so much of it as common oil-skin. 
 
 This garment, if made double-breasted, with buttons 
 only on the right side, and none on the sleeves, which 
 should be sewn close, is, without exception, the best I 
 ever used for throwing a casting-net. In addition to 
 the coverings herein named, I find that a very large 
 old umbrella, fitted up with brown Holland, (and thus 
 oiled, if you like), is the greatest possible comfort and 
 shelter to those who go in a punt. Moreover, it makes 
 a capital mizen-sail when going before the wind ; and 
 is a complete shield to you and your man, from the 
 shaking of a wet dog, should you have no following- 
 boat to rid you of this annoyance. 
 
300 DRESSES FOR 
 
 Here, I conceive, is all the covering that can be re- 
 quired for real wildfowl shooting ; and as for the little 
 pastime of tramping the water-meadows, or waiting for 
 the flight, I need only observe, that wearing a hat, and 
 particularly a black one, should be avoided, and drab 
 is, on the whole, about the best colour. For the latter 
 pursuit, the shooter should have a gunning-coat, lined 
 with shag, that has pockets convenient for loading ; a 
 flap to fall over his lock, and a quaker's collar, which 
 will not interfere with his gun. [The pattern for this 
 coat, and the recipe for the Sou'wester, I have given to 
 Messrs. Christie and Davis, 49, Poland-street.] This 
 coat, with a shawl handkerchief, should be worn over 
 his shooting jacket ; and, of course, not put on till he 
 ceases to be in motion ; or he might, otherwise, get 
 heated, and take cold. 
 
 If he wishes to sit down, never let him be so im- 
 prudent as to sit on the damp ground, but have either 
 a hand-basket or a bag full of straw, or something of 
 this kind ; and the lower his seat, the "better he will 
 be able to shoot at fowl when they are going over his 
 head. 
 
 The foregoing directions, I trust, explain all that is 
 requisite on the subject ; and, in this article, as well as 
 in many others, I have to beg pardon for the style in 
 which I have written. But in a work where the poor 
 author is left without a single muse to inspire him, the 
 subject will often become, both to the writer and the 
 reader, like a dreary journey, where any trifling ob- 
 servation may be admissible to lighten the way. For 
 instance, when we give a dissertation on water boots, 
 hot oil, and Russia duck, the hero of his own tale might, 
 it is presumed, crave a little indulgence for what the 
 
WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 301 
 
 sceptic might consider playing the fool with his pen ; 
 or, in another point of view, taking the advice of jEsop 
 to the Athenian philosopher, and unbending that bow, 
 which, the sceptic himself admits, has been already 
 strained too hard by the generality of authors and 
 traveDers. 
 
Co preserve Running Ciotf)e0 from 
 ti)e 
 
 To keep your gunning-dresses, and indeed all other 
 cloths, furs, &c. free from the moth, let them be sewed 
 up in a bag of brown Holland, or other linen, which if 
 sewn tight, and kept dry, will rarely ever fail to pre- 
 serve them. But, if you wish to be doubly sure, you 
 may put, in the bag with them, equal quantities of 
 camphor and carbonate of ammonia. A bladder filled 
 with turpentine is another good remedy. 
 
Co preserve <uns from ^alt Water. 
 
 FOR this recipe I shall copy Mr. Daniel, from whom 
 I took it. 
 
 " Three ounces of black lead, half a pound of hogs' 
 lard, one quarter of an ounce of camphor, boiled upon 
 a slow fire ; the gun barrels to be rubbed with this ; 
 and, after three days, wiped with a linen cloth. Twice 
 in a winter will keep off the rust, which the salt water 
 is otherwise sure to be continually bringing out from 
 the iron." 
 
 This recipe I had adopted, ever since taking it from 
 Mr. Daniel's " Rural Sports ;" and, up to 1822, found 
 it to answer infinitely better than any thing I had 
 before tried. 
 
 In that year, however, I was recommended to use 
 mercurial ointment, which, I find, gives less trouble, 
 and answers quite as well, if not better. 
 
 When on the sea, always use neafsfoot oil for every 
 part of your gun, except the works of the locks; because 
 sweet oil has not body enough to repel the effect of the 
 salt water. 
 
 I have lately found this to answer so well as to be- 
 come a very good substitute for the other dressings. 
 
 If the salt water should have stained your barrels, 
 you will, I think, find yellow soap and warm water the 
 best recipe to restore their colour. 
 
304 TO PRESERVE GUNS FROM SALT WATER. 
 
 My reason for now using neat's foot oil is, because I 
 have found that linseed oil is apt to stain the barrels, 
 Nothing can surpass the neat's foot for every part of a 
 gun, except among the works of locks, for which it has 
 too much body. 
 
pouting. 
 
 THIS amusement is generally condemned, as being 
 only an employment for fishermen, because it sometimes 
 interferes with ease and comfort ; and bucks (who shoot 
 as they hunt, merely for the sake of aping the Adonis 
 at breakfast, or recounting their sport over the bottle) 
 shiver at the idea of being posted, for hours, by the side 
 of a river, or anchored, half a night, among the chilling 
 winds in a creek. 
 
 This, however, is only the actual service of the sport* 
 as it may, like all others, be enjoyed with moderation. 
 
 The usual way of sallying forth, for this purpose, is 
 to drive to an inn on the coast, call the waiter, who 
 recommends an honest boatman, for whom the boots is 
 immediately despatched. On his arrival, he sees how 
 eager you are to set sail, fixes his price accordingly, 
 shows you thousands of birds, where he knows a boat 
 can never get at them, obliges you with a few of his 
 own killing, at double their value, and your day ends 
 with a ten pound bill, and, perhaps, bagging a couple 
 of sea gulls. 
 
 If even there was a chance on the shore, or in a fen, 
 to see a flock of fowl well pitched ; send a gentleman- 
 sportsman after them, and he generally comes back 
 without a bird ; while a common fellow would get a 
 shot, and kill three or four. Why is this? The gentle- 
 
 x 
 
306 WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 
 
 man thinks his cracked shooting is to do every thing, 
 and will not go low enough, for fear of dirtying his 
 knees ; while the rustic, not minding dirt, or any thing 
 else, pulls off his hat, crawls to the fowl, and is gene- 
 rally as sure of getting, as the other is of not getting, a 
 good shot. 
 
 The average of shooting, on the coast, is now far 
 inferior to that in many private rivers and ponds, by 
 reason, that, where the wildfowl contribute to the winter 
 subsistence of the fishermen, they are for ever followed, 
 and not only by them, but every vagrant, who can raise 
 &few shillings to purchase an old musket ; so that, on 
 their appearing in numbers, there is generally assembled 
 a levy en masse, who, by indiscriminately firing at all 
 distances, make them so difficult of access, that, although 
 thousands may be seen, few will fly or let you come 
 within reach. 
 
 Indeed, the sport is sometimes so completely ruined, 
 that I have heard the poor men, who earn their liveli- 
 hood by it, express a most earnest wish, that some kind 
 of licence was required, which they could pay for ten- 
 fold by the number of shots that are now spoiled by 
 the idle, drunken, mischievous rabble, that frequent 
 the alehouses about Christmas, for the nominal purpose 
 of wildfowl shooting. These fellows would, by this 
 means, be deterred from infesting the shore, and the 
 poor fowlers would be better paid for their hard labour : 
 add to which, this would prevent the depredations that 
 are not unfrequently committed by these armed vaga- 
 bonds. As it is, however, the lords of manors may 
 forbid their carrying guns, or otherwise trespassing, 
 in parts where the tide does not flow, such as the waste 
 land, &c. 
 
WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 307 
 
 In some, though now very few, retired places, where 
 all this is not so much the case, the diversion of what 
 is called flight shooting is excellent to those who are 
 neither prepared nor disposed to follow wildfowl in a 
 more scientific manner. I shall, therefore, endeavour 
 to give a few hints on the subject. 
 
 It is well known, that the generality of wildfowl keep 
 constantly passing in small " trips" about the dusk of 
 the evening; and that, after having collected in the 
 night, they return in a few large flocks at, or before, 
 the dawn of morning. No plan for a small gun, there- 
 fore, answers so well as to wait then patiently for them, 
 and fire as they pass to and fro. They will, at these 
 times, seldom take notice of one who stands against a 
 bush or bank, provided he remains perfectly still, is not 
 conspicuously dressed, and wears a seal's-down, or other 
 kind of cap, instead of a hat. If such places are not 
 to be found, an ambush may be easily made. Thus 
 situated, he will be able to distinguish the different 
 sorts of fowl, long before they come within shot, and 
 be struck with the wild retirement of the scene. He 
 will observe the whistle, which announces the approach 
 of wigeon the similitude to a storm of the rapid flying 
 dunbirds the shrill sounding pinions of the wild ducks 
 and the mournful notes of the plover, with the roar 
 of a bursting surge, and discordant screams of sea-fowl. 
 Flight shooting is always followed with most success 
 in very boisterous weather, provided the course of the 
 birds happens to be against the wind ; as this not only 
 obliges them tojly low, but doubles them well together. 
 You may then keep two guns employed faster than 
 yourself and a servant can load them. Never look up 
 while loading ; you can do no good by it ; and you will 
 
 x 2 
 
308 WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 
 
 only put yourself in a flurry ; and, perhaps, break your 
 ramrod. If your man (knowing you have no gun 
 loaded) says, "Look out, sir!" Why I had almost 
 said knock him down. 
 
 Should the weather be clear, and the birds come in 
 high, your best means for getting a good chance is to 
 conceal yourself in a canoe, between the banks of some 
 small creek ; as they will lower their flight on reaching 
 the mud, and, in all probability, give you as many fair 
 shots as you can fire during their arrival ; which may 
 continue about half an hour. Be careful to shoot well 
 forward, and, if they are fifty or sixty yards above you, 
 at least two or three feet before their heads, with & flint, 
 and about half the distance with a detonater. 
 
 In choosing your station, select either a bank or wall, 
 that divides the sea from detached pieces of water, or 
 marshes, or any other point, which can intercept the 
 flight of the birds from their nightly feed. Should 
 their course be generally up some channel, you may 
 there anchor a boat or two, and either conceal yourself 
 in one of them ; or keep your station for the chance of 
 their turning the birds towards you. 
 
 In rough weather, you may sometimes have sport for 
 the whole day, by digging a masked intrenchment at 
 the extreme end of some promontory, that divides one 
 well-stocked bay from another. 
 
 If the coast becomes too much frequented by shooters, 
 and you can hear of a neighbouring pond or lake, take 
 a walk to it in the course of the day, and see if the 
 birds use it at night. This you will ascertain by going to 
 the leeward side, where you will most likely find some 
 of their feathers, which will have drifted to the edge of 
 the water, and which, in case other shooters may be 
 
WILDFOWI, SHOOTING. 309 
 
 coming to explore also, you will do well to gather up or 
 conceal. 
 
 When evening comes, take your station at the part 
 nearest the spring which supplies the pond; or other- 
 wise, anywhere to leeward, with a good light, and 
 there remain in ambush, with your largest gun. 
 
 Here the birds will probably come in faster than you 
 can count them, and you have then only to wait till 
 they are well packed together ; in which case, you 
 would probably get from ten to twenty at a shot. 
 
 If the pond is large, place some one concealed on the 
 opposite side, who (should the birds be feeding out of 
 your reach) will, by a gentle noise, be sure to make 
 them swim across ; but, if he overdoes his part; goes 
 directly to windward ; or shows himself; they vtilljly 
 up. Never fire at random on such occasions. If you 
 wish to make the birds forsake one pond, with the view 
 of their using another more convenient for shooting 
 them, you should put, in the former, either some train 
 oil and quick lime ; a bushel of soot ; or two winged 
 birds, well rubbed over with asafoetida. 
 
 The dunbirds and divers* may be easily known, by 
 
 * So called by the decoymen: These birds have different pro- 
 vincial names on almost every coast: in some places, they are called 
 curres, in others, duckers ; and, by many, are indiscriminately 
 classed with the dunbirds. Their proper names, however, are scaup 
 duck, tufted duck, gadwall, and golden-eye. They are remarkable 
 for their rapidity of flight^ expertness in diving^ and carrying off a 
 great deal of shot. These, as well as the dunbirds, will very often, 
 what is called, duck the flash; that is, pop under water like a dob- 
 chick, and completely escape the shot. If, when shooting at night, 
 you whistle, or make any little noise, before you draw the trigger, 
 they will put up their heads to listen (though they will not^y unless 
 the noise is repeated), and you are then sure to cut a good lane 
 
310 WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 
 
 the disturbance they make in the water, and they will 
 generally swim over the whole of the pond in a few 
 hours ; so that, in moonlight l , you would be almost sure 
 of them. 
 
 Should the pond be frozen over, you might some- 
 times have a very fine shot, by breaking open a large 
 place in the ice, where they would collect together for 
 the fresh water, and most likely be accompanied by 
 duck and mallard. The chief of the shooting on the 
 ponds by night is at the dunbirds, which are vulgarly 
 called redheads; for, with the exception of the tufted 
 and scaup duck, the other diving birds prefer feeding 
 by day. The golden-eyes go out every evening to sea, 
 where, until the winter is nearly over, they will remain 
 all night ; though perhaps tossed on billows in the most 
 tempestuous weather. 
 
 through their ranks. If you see a single curre by day, when he 
 dives you must run and the moment he comes up, squat down. So 
 you may go on till within ten yards of him, and then stand ready to 
 shoot him as he Hies up, which he will do on coming up again, and 
 seeing you suddenly appear so close. There are various contrivances 
 for shooting birds that dive, such as cormorants, grebes, &c. : some 
 fire the moment they come up ; others shoot under them, or under 
 their heads ; and many hide the flash, by putting a shield of paste- 
 board before, or a cover over, the gunlock ; but, after all, the best 
 recipe is to have a good detonating gun. 
 
3Uuncfntt& anti Canoe Quoting* 
 
 HAMPSHIRE LAUNCHING-PUNT. 
 
 A HAMPSHIRE punt is made so light and narrow, as 
 just to hold one person, with a gun of about seventy 
 pounds weight, and six feet in the barrel, fixed on a 
 swivel. This gun is so arranged, that it rests on the 
 bow, and may be raised, or turned a few inches, by a 
 mere stump, which some of the gunners here now have, 
 instead of a but, in order to take up less room in the 
 punt ; and to admit of their firing higher, in case the 
 birds should rise. 
 
 They row with their backs to the gun till they see 
 the fowl, and then turn round on their faces ; lie down, 
 and either work along, with the leaded stick, A., or, if 
 the water be too deep for this, with two paddles, like B. 
 
 On having arrived within shot, they relinquish the one 
 on their right side, which, in order to prevent its float- 
 ing away, is made fast to the gunwale with a piece of 
 string. They then keep straight the punt with the one 
 on the left, while with the right hand they regulate 
 their aim and pull the trigger. 
 
LAUNCHING 
 
 The Hampshire punts are now built rounder at the 
 stern, and the recoil of the gun is received entirely by 
 a knee fixed only to the bottom plank (instead of a cross 
 piece), which is far safer, and decidedly less likely to 
 tear away the sides of the purit. The bottom is now 
 made of one elm plank, an inch and a quarter thick, to 
 which this knee is fixed by bolts and screws ; and, 
 consequently, as there is no recoil on the sides of the 
 punt, every part, but this plank, is made as light as 
 possible. 
 
 DIRECTIONS. 
 
 Puut 14 feet long; bottom 15 inches broad; sides 10 inches high, 
 after increasing to about 2 feet 6 inches at the gunwales. This punt 
 must not exceed 80 Ibs. weight. [A solid block of elm is best for 
 the knee. A 50 Ib. gun, to carry 12 oz., answers best u for all 
 tacks" in launching. The old 70 Ib. guns of these men are too 
 heavy when you get foul of grass and ' * winkles."] 
 
 NEWLY RIGGED MUDBOARD. 
 
 12 inches square. 
 
 N.B. Put your heel to that part of the long rope (or " pot-line") 
 which goes under D, and is spliced both to C and D. Then cross 
 the rope over your instep; put one end of it under D, and the other 
 under C, and then tie them, on the instep, in a hard sailor's knot. 
 
OVER THE OOZES. 313 
 
 As a proof of my former argument against the safety 
 of the Hampshire punts, I need only observe, that, since my 
 second edition, three men (Vincent, Jones, and Tanner) 
 were drowned, and another (Harnet) was killed, by his 
 gun. These regular western channel gunners are now, 
 therefore, become very shy of shooting afloat, for which, 
 by having punts that are so crank, and draw so much 
 water, and guns proportionally so short in the barrel, 
 they have always been the worst equipped of any " big 
 gunners " (as they call themselves) on the British coast. 
 
 They have, of late years, therefore, adopted an en- 
 tirely new mode of getting at the birds, for which that 
 vast track of ooze near Lymington is better calculated 
 than perhaps any other rnud in the world. 
 
 They start off, generally in the afternoon (provided 
 the tide serves, so as to be low enough at the proper 
 time), keeping as close as possible to the shore, and 
 going before the wind, till they arrive at the leeward 
 end of their beat ; the whole track of which, for one 
 night's work, may be about five or six miles. They 
 then go ashore, and either get into a pot-house, if they 
 have a sixpence to spend (which is not always the case), 
 or lounge about the shore till day-light disappears, and 
 the birds begin to fly; having first put all " in order; 99 
 that is, to draw out their mould shot, which they gene- 
 rally have in, for the chance of geese "going down along;" 
 put in smaller shot ; and regulate their gun so that it 
 will bear about eighty yards, when the punt is on the 
 dry mud. No sooner are the wigeon pitched than off 
 they set, in tarpaulin dresses ; and looking more like 
 chimney-sweepers than gunners, crawling on their knees, 
 and shoving this punt before them on the mud. No 
 matter whether light or dark, few birds or many, bang! 
 
314 LAUNCHING 
 
 goes the gun ; and no sooner have they picked up what 
 few birds are readily to be found, or missed the fowl, 
 which they very frequently do, as the punt, by even a 
 few periwinkles, might be thrown off the line of aim, 
 they proceed again ; thus travelling all night (by 
 " launching" over the mud, and rowing across the 
 creeks) in a direct line, similar to the march of an army 
 of coots. I should not omit to mention, that, as the 
 birds will seldom allow them to get into the punt to 
 fire, some of them draw the trigger with a string at the 
 end of the ramrod, and others creep up on one side, and 
 pull it off with the finger. 
 
 A launching punt, in severe weather, may sometimes 
 be used to great advantage by day, when it blows such 
 a gale as to drive the wigeon in, from sea, to the 
 channel's edge, where they shelter themselves under 
 the lee of the mud ; and keep sufficiently in the " wash" 
 to prevent their legs from being frozen. Then it is 
 that a Hampshireman hauls his punt across the oozes, 
 if they are too hard frozen for him to launch her, and 
 gets into one of those little creeks, which, in very rough 
 weather, and at low water, can be approached by no other 
 means. He then paddles down the creek to where he sud- 
 denly pops on his game. If he can then catch the birds 
 clear of the rounding mud, he perhaps makes a capital 
 shot ; and, if not, he is obliged to hoot them up, and do 
 the best he can on the wing. As all this is more or less 
 among the breakers, he frequently half fills his boat in 
 the scramble ; but, as the channel's edge is generally 
 hard and shallow, he is in no serious danger, provided 
 he does not attempt to follow his outward-bound cripples. 
 After having made the shot, he catches up what birds he 
 can get ; and then hauls his punt upon the mud, in 
 
OVER THE OOZES. 315 
 
 order to empty out the water, and proceed for a fresh 
 attack. Thus, by undergoing misery of this kind, the 
 Hampshire launcher may be filling his bag, while a 
 man who could only shoot afloat would be obliged to 
 stay at home. Thus the mud, and the mud only, affords 
 the chance for his sport. 
 
 But when the water flows over the ground, and 
 " knocks up" a sea that would make his little craft 
 totter like a walnut shell, then his reign is at an end ; 
 and the proper gunner, with a long decked punt, would 
 be killing half a sack full, where the launcher " dare 
 not show his nose," by being able to work against a 
 head sea, that would swallow him up ; or, if going to 
 leeward, to ship twelve yards of canvas, and go by 
 him, as a frigate would pass a sand-barge. 
 
 Launching is perhaps the most laborious, and the 
 most filthy work in all the department of wildfowl 
 shooting ; and not only that, but it so ruins the country, 
 that in a very short time it entirely " breaks the haunt 
 of the birds," without having yielded any material ad- 
 vantage to those who adopt the system. As some cor- 
 roboration of this, I need only observe, that a family, 
 who were the leaders in this way, and who (except 
 Read) are by far the best launchers in Hampshire, 
 have of late been reduced to absolute distress for a 
 livelihood ! 
 
 Till about ten years ago, off Lymington was one of 
 the best gunning coasts in England, for this reason 
 
 In THESE PARTS the VERY NORTH-EASTER WHICH 
 BRINGS THE FOWL " CUTS THE TIDES," SO much 
 
 that even at the "full and change" they most fre- 
 quently do not " make over the ground;" and the birds 
 thereby formerly got such a " strong haunt" that, 
 
316 LAUNCHING 
 
 when the tides " lifted " again, from the change of wind, 
 nothing would make them forsake the place. But now 
 the new system has put an end to this ; and sent most 
 of the birds to Poole Harbour, and other places where 
 the mud will not admit of launching. On this point 
 there is a difference of opinion by the two cleverest men 
 in the " profession." Buckle says that " launching is 
 the ruination of a coast." My man (Read) says that it 
 may be had recourse to, without injury to the ground, 
 provided you allow the birds to feed till they are full, 
 before you shoot at them. I am of Buckle's opinion, 
 which is now pretty well proved to be correct, by the 
 ruination of the Lymington country, for all night 
 shooting, except launching. 
 
 I have, therefore, made a great sacrifice in wild sport, 
 by continuing to rendezvous at Keyhaven ; because, 
 on that part of the coast, when the water begins to flow 
 over the mud, at night, the birds, in general, leave the 
 harbour, and fly out to sea ; and even before a single 
 shooter appears afloat! But I became attached to the 
 quarter, from the inhabitants being such as we may 
 hold up for an example to those of other country places. 
 The neighbours are gentlemanly kind hospitable 
 people who know the world, and mind their own busi- 
 ness ; the tradesmen civil and obliging ; and such is 
 the honesty of the half-starved coasters, that I never 
 lost so much as a thowl or a mud-board, in the ten 
 years that I have frequented the place. (Such people 
 deserve a higher encomium than could be penned by a 
 poor scribbler on guns and shooting !) 
 
 With regard to the day shooting in these parts, the 
 state of the Hampshire coast, last winter, was so truly 
 and ably described by " the Admiral" (Buckle) that, 
 
OVER THE OOZES. 317 
 
 after him, any thing I could attempt would fall very 
 short of doing justice to the subject. I must therefore 
 endeavour to recollect what he said to me, one day, on 
 landing at Keyhaven. (After heaving a sigh from the 
 very waistband of his tarpaulin unmentionables ; re- 
 lieving his gorge by the ebullition of some originals, 
 that any boy would have remembered better than his 
 lesson ; and then composing himself, by a smooth-down 
 of the hair;) he commenced, with action suitable to 
 every word, the following oration. 
 
 " MR. HAWKER, SIR, It 's all up with gunning now ! The poor 
 gunners '11 be starved ! The birds '11 be all banished off the coast! 
 I come all the way from Southampton here, and never shot a gun ! ! 
 What with them Itchen Ferry lubbers, in their washing-tubs and 
 the poppers along shore and them young monkeys of boys rowing 
 about to look for cripples and the gentlemen jokers knocking about, 
 at all tacks, in every kind of craft, from Royal yachts down to launch- 
 ing-punts they won't allow the poor birds one minute to pitch ! 
 There they were ! some firing a pound of mould-shot, at every 
 little trip that passed by, half a mile off! Some of 'em had got 
 cannons o' board, to heave boluses after the geese ! and another lot 
 had got half a ship-load of muskets and rifles! But I can't larn as 
 e'er a one among 'em got a bird, except two of my cripples, as got 
 away last night. I should have had a noble shot at them large curres 
 just abreast of Calshot: I suppose there was three hundred of 'em, 
 as thick as ever they could stow; and, just as I let go my starboard 
 paddle, to give it 'em home, some dandy chap pops off at one of them 
 little gulls ! so I rows up, and axes him, if 'twas to be as he was a 
 poor man, how would he like to have the bread took out of his mouth 
 in that there manner ? Well, thinks I, this '11 never do ! so I gets 
 my punt o'board my craft, and sails down to Leap. This was worse 
 and worse here they were on all day, and all night too ! and fellows, 
 from all parts, had come here, to quarter, on purpose for gunning. 
 Well ! the next day, I drops down here, as you see, sir ; and I never 
 could have believed any thing could be so bad as this! I brought up, 
 off Lymington, about low water ; and I'm burnt if there wasn't some 
 chap or other stowed away in every spreader, besides them bird- 
 
318 LAUNCHING SLEDGE. 
 
 frightehers from Itchen Ferry, that had got downhere ; and buried 
 theirselves the same as the launchers do and there they kept peeping 
 out of their holes/' (here he became quite dramatic), lf and popping 
 up their stupid heads, and looking, for all the world, like so many 
 dead people rising out of our St. Mary's church-yard ! This is a 
 precious pretty pass for gunning to come to ! To have all the birds 
 drove away by them as kills none theirselves, nor won't let others, as 
 do know how, kill 'em and by stupes too wot knows as much 
 about gunning, as gunning knows about them ! ! Ah, Sir ! prowising 
 'tis to be so another winter, with the blessing of God, I '11 get off to 
 Wexford in Ireland, or to foreign parts, or somewhere or other, where 
 we can get a few heavy shots in peace ! ! " 
 
 Thus concluding, as he began, with a symphony of 
 hearty oaths, he tapped his tobacco-box, for a fresh 
 " quid," arid held forth on the more cheerful subject of 
 what he had done in better times. 
 
 LAUNCHING-SLEDGE. For a man who goes long 
 distances on the mud, it would of course be dangerous 
 not to have a boat that would carry both himself and 
 his gun , in case he should be overtaken by a quick flood- 
 tide before he could escape. But to one who was con- 
 tent with merely having that, in which, with high land 
 behind him, he could just shove off, and catch the birds 
 under the moon, in such a place as the edge of some 
 river, where the mud is pretty level and clear of holes, 
 I shall prescribe one much lighter, and in which he can 
 never be tempted to endanger his life afloat. The 
 drawing will at once explain it sufficiently, and the 
 only caution that can be required against accident is, 
 that, as his gun must be cocked before he advances, he 
 had better have a bit of cork to intercept the flint or 
 detonater, which can be drawn away with a string (as 
 the noise of cocking a gun might spring the birds), and 
 
SUSSEX MUD-BOAT. 319 
 
 which must not be removed till he has crawled suf- 
 ficiently on one side of his punt to be quite clear, in 
 case the gun should go off. 
 
 This punt is so much lighter than any thing which 
 you can float in, that you may move it with one hand, 
 and by leaning your weight on a hand patten, which, 
 being a little " kammelled" slips along without noise, 
 and with the greatest ease, you may, with good water 
 boots, go two or three hundred yards without getting 
 the least wet. 
 
 The best time for launching is rather before half ebb, 
 after the water has been over the ground, and made it 
 slippery. " Dead low water" is, of course, a bad time ; 
 because you have then great trouble to get your punt 
 upon the mud ; and treble the distance to go after 
 having done this. 
 
 The gunner should not be black like the Hampshire 
 men ; but recollect, that, as all extraneous bodies ap- 
 pear darker, he should be at least a few degrees lighter 
 than the mud, in order to appear precisely of the same 
 colour. Indeed, the lighter the better, if no moon. 
 
 SUSSEX MUD-BOAT. There is another contrivance 
 for traversing the oozes, which is simply a very slight 
 board, with sides, somewhat in shape like the fore end 
 of the Hampshire punt, sawed off, and a tail board, or 
 bench put across it. This is used on the Sussex coast, 
 in places where there are but very few creeks to in- 
 terrupt its progress. The way to manage it is this : 
 The gunner first lays his piece (a large hand gun) into 
 the " mud-boat;" and then kneeling on the bench with 
 one knee, he kicks along with the other leg, and ad- 
 vances with a rapidity that you would hardly credit ; 
 
f320 KEMAltKS. 
 
 and when that leg is tired, he changes it again, and 
 works away as before. Having got pretty near to his 
 birds, he lies down in the " mud boat," in which, if the 
 mud is soft, he can work along with his feet; but if 
 hard, he must " hold on," and shove this kind of sledge 
 before him. He lies close on his chest to fire, and has 
 a stock cut away at the but, which is filled with horse 
 hair. This so much eases the recoil from his collar 
 bone, that (unless in a sharp frost, when guns are apt 
 to strike harder) he can manage to fire half a pound of 
 shot at a time. Birds may be approached much nearer 
 by this means than by any other kind of " launching" 
 as the whole concern is so much lighter, and smaller. 
 
 So much for the new system, by which the ancient 
 mode of shooting on the Hampshire coast, so well de- 
 scribed by Mr. Gilpin, and quoted by Mr. Daniel, has 
 long ago been totally superseded ! 
 
 Although I cannot, for a moment, suppose, that the 
 generality of sportsmen would ever think of adopting 
 this method, yet I have given directions for it, because 
 I am fond of any thing original ; and for this reason I 
 have made it the subject of a little drawing. Here the 
 light launching sledge is in the fore ground ; the Hamp- 
 shire gunner contending with it in the centre, and the 
 Sussex mud-boat looking after other birds in the back 
 ground ; the latter is shown with a man in the position 
 in which he traverses the oozes before he begins to 
 crouch and advance to the birds. In order to tell the 
 story, I have found it necessary to put this, and other 
 subjects, a little " out of drawing." Here I hope the 
 R. A. gentlemen will pardon me, with that liberality 
 which is inseparable from men of talent. 
 
 Since the last edition, Buckle has beat us all, by con- 
 
CANOE SHOOTING. 321 
 
 triving a punt in which he can work himself over the 
 mud without getting out! But, as this would be of no 
 use to gentlemen, and as, by giving an engraving of it, 
 I might only be serving other gunners, to his injury, I 
 shall say no more about it ; particularly as I, of course, 
 make it a rule never to publish the particulars of any 
 thing that I consider as having been explained to me 
 in confidence. 
 
 POOLE CANOE. 
 
 (For shooting from the creeks, with a large shoulder 
 
 gun.) 
 
 The Poole canoe is built sharp at both ends, on the 
 plan of the Greenland whale-boat, except being so flat 
 at the bottom as to draw but about two inches of water, 
 and so light as to weigh only from sixty to a hundred 
 pounds. For this canoe, &c. see the plates and in- 
 structions, with the assistance of which a carpenter 
 ought not to mistake in building one. 
 
 DIRECTIONS. 
 
 Dimensions. From stem to stern, 12 feet; length of bottom, 
 10 feet; bottom, at centre, 3 feet 2 inches; width, at ditto, from 
 gunwale to gunwale, 3 feet 7 inches ; height, 1 1 inches at centre, 
 rising to 13 ditto fore and aft j weight, about lOOlbs. 
 
 N. B. Timbers yew or oak. Bottom to be three pieces of elm or 
 pine, an inch thick. Each side one plank of elm, one-third of an 
 inch thick. Caulk the seams with oakum : then pour in hot rosin : 
 and paint the bottom (outside) with red lead. 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 CANOE SHOOTING. 
 
 CANOE FORESHORTENED. 
 For a guide to builders, if ordered inland or abroad. 
 
 SETTING POLE. 
 The bit of lead round fork makes it sink better. 
 
 POOLE MUD-BOARDS. 
 
 Sixteen inches square. 
 
 Upper side. Under side. 
 
 Put your foot into C, with your heel hard against D ; place one 
 of the small ropes on each side the foot, and under C j then over it, 
 and under D. Having done this, draw the ropes together, as tight 
 as the foot can bear them, and tie them over your instep. These 
 boards are, of necessity, larger, and fitted up with stronger rope, than 
 the others, because the Poole ground is so very soft. 
 
 But the Hampshire boards, with our improvements of double 
 splicing, and having strong pot-line, to " lash" over, are now by far 
 the best, and the quickest to " ship and unship." 
 
CANOE SHOOTING. 323 
 
 In making all canoes for gunning, the builder should 
 be careful to have the bottoms of them a little rounded 
 (say about half an inch of convex, " amidships," for a 
 bottom three feet broad) ; and, what is of still more 
 consequence, a little " kammelled," or sprung ; that is, 
 gradually rising " fore and aft," in order to " give them 
 life." They will otherwise row miserably heavy, and, 
 when they get aground, suck the mud or sand so much, 
 that, in order to get them off again, you might be forced 
 to stand up ; and this would frighten away the fowl. 
 If, however, the bottom of a canoe is too much kam- 
 melled, she will never keep steady in going to birds. 
 Some people, for this reason, leave hollow grooves be- 
 tween the bottom planks. I should say, that to every 
 five feet of plank I would give about one inch of " kam- 
 mel f so that the bottom of the canoe here engraved, 
 being ten feet, would, by holding a string along the 
 centre of the bottom (outside) prove convex about two 
 inches. If a little more, she would be none the worse ; 
 perhaps better ; provided that she drew water enough to 
 give a bearing to every part; otherwise the ends that 
 were sprung would, by being out of the water, " cluck" 
 so much as to make birds swim away in the night. In 
 short, let your draught of water be the chief guide, to 
 regulate the kammelling, or springing, of your punts 
 and canoes. If not required for rough work, or a fixed 
 swivel-gun, I should recommend that the planks be not 
 more than three quarters of the thickness specified in 
 the foregoing directions ; as nothing, provided it be 
 perfectly safe, can be too light for getting to wild birds. 
 It is the large size of a boat, not the substance of the 
 wood, that makes her safe in a sea. If the builder puts 
 some tarred oakum round the heads of the principal 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 CANOE SHOOTING. 
 
 nails, before he drives them in, so much the better. 
 Notwithstanding all that the boat-builders have said, 
 I now find that copper nails are the best. For dressing 
 and painting, vide directions hereafter given. 
 
 This kind of canoe, although built for other purposes, 
 is, on the western coast, generally preferred, for shoot- 
 ing, to one of any other kind. It answers best, when 
 used (no matter whether by day or night), from low 
 water to half, and sometimes to full, flood. You manage 
 it thus : 
 
 Sit down, on some straw or rushes, with your gun 
 by your side, and take with you a small Newfoundland 
 dog. Row about, till you can see or hear a flock of 
 wildfowl on the mud. To find them sitting, if by 
 night, look at first very low, so as to bring the surface 
 of the mud in contrast with the horizon, by which means 
 you will overlook the black edges of the creeks and 
 holes, instead of seeing, and perhaps mistaking them 
 for, birds. 
 
 When you have rowed within three or four gun- 
 shots of the fowl, take in your oars, and reconnoitre the 
 creeks. Having ascertained which is likely to be the 
 best, lie down, and push along with the " setting-pole" 
 (or "gunning-spread"), and, while the mudbanks stand 
 above the little channels, you are so completely hid, that 
 you will seldom fail to get a shot, provided there is a 
 creek within reach of the birds, and you do not go 
 directly to windward of them *. 
 
 * The decoymen can go to windward of the birds by means of the 
 smoke from a piece of dutch twf, or common peat, which, after 
 having it well dried, they are able to carry lighted in the hand for 
 the short time that is required to drive the wildfowl into the pipes. 
 Another recipe, of which some pretend to make a great secret, is a 
 
CANOE SHOOTING. 325 
 
 On arriving sufficiently near, should the water be so 
 low that you cannot present your gun at the birds with- 
 out kneeling or standing up, you must get aground at 
 the side of the creek, or steady your canoe by means of 
 forcing each oar from "between the ihowls into the mud, 
 otherwise the recoil of the gun will set her rocking, 
 and thus you might possibly be tipped out. Having 
 made all fast, rise up and fire. Take care, however, to 
 rise high enough to be WELL CLEAR OF THE MUD, or 
 NOT A FEATHER WILL YOU TOUCH ; and present as 
 follows : By day, or moonlight, if the birds are close, 
 directly at them : or if beyond forty yards, shoot at 
 their heads ; unless they are feeding in a concave place, 
 where the tide has left a kind of plash, in which case 
 you must level rather under them, or you will only graze 
 their back feathers. In starlight take your aim just 
 on the top of the NARROW BLACK LINE, IN WHICH 
 
 BIRDS ALWAYS APPEAR, TO ONE WHO IS LOW 
 
 DOWN ; and when so dark that you cannot see your 
 gun, present, as you think, about a foot over, or you 
 will most likely shoot about a foot under them. 
 
 Should you have been successful, you will, if at night, 
 generally hear your cripples beating on the mud, before 
 
 paste of cowdung and chopped straw , but, before this will ignite 
 properly, it must be baked in an oven for about thrice as long as the 
 time required for making bread. 
 
 All these things may answer very well behind the screen of a decoy; 
 but in a canoe, or punt, the fire could not be so easily concealed, and 
 there would be some danger in lighting it where one, without a re- 
 treat, was sitting on straw, and with gunpowder on board. The 
 burnt turf, &c. may be used with success by a person walking behind 
 the high banks of a pond, or river, who may light it, when required, 
 by carrying on a match a little hy per oxy muriate of potash, and 
 dipping it into a small phial of vitriolic acid. 
 
326 CANOE SHOOTING. 
 
 you can sufficiently recover your eyes, from being 
 dazzled by the fire, to see them. Your man then puts 
 on his mud-boards, taking the setting pole to support 
 him, arid assists the dog in collecting the killed and 
 wounded ; taking care to secure first the outside birds, 
 lest they should escape to a creek. During this time 
 you are left in charge of the punt ; and should, if pos- 
 sible, keep a look out, in order to see if any more birds 
 fall dead, or wounded, from the company, before they 
 have flown out of sight. 
 
 The gunner generally calculates on bringing home 
 the half only of what he shoots, from the difficulty of 
 catching the whole of his winged birds, which he calls 
 cripples, and those that (to use the pigeon phrase)^// 
 out of bounds, which he calls droppers. If birds fly up 
 he generally declines firing, knowing that the moment 
 they are on wing they become so much more spread 9 
 that he could seldom get more than three or four, for 
 which it would be hardly worth while to disturb 
 the mud ; particularly as wigeon, by night, if not fired 
 at, will probably settle again at no great distance. 
 
 The Poole men sometimes go partners, by which 
 means they can, with a very light punt, use two poles 
 at a time, and shove up a creek that is nearly dry, and 
 then fire two guns to a whispered word of command. 
 This they call a " double gun, 1 ' and, by such means, 
 they, some years ago, could frequently secure forty or 
 fifty wigeon at a time. 
 
 But, within these .very few years, Poole harbour, as 
 well as almost every other part of the English coast, 
 has been ruined for all the poor hand-gunners, by the 
 introduction of punt-guns, that carry from one to nearly 
 two pounds of shot ; which, as the sovereign remedy in 
 
CANOE SHOOTING. 327 
 
 the present time, I shall hereafter explain to the very 
 latest improvements. 
 
 The gunners' principal enemy is the curlew, which 
 often springs up from the edges of the creeks, alarms the 
 whole place, and sometimes spoils them an excellent 
 shot. 
 
General Instructions 
 
 FOU 
 
 SEA COAST WILDFOWL SHOOTING, WHEN 
 AFLOAT. 
 
 I SHALL now more briefly explain my reasons for 
 entering into the minutiae of wildfowl shooting. It is 
 very rare to meet a gentleman, that can, or a good pro- 
 fessional gunner that will, give any information on the 
 subject. The art is, therefore, the least understood of 
 any sport in existence. No man, who had a large gun, 
 and could earn five pounds in a day, or night, would 
 be bored with a gentleman for the sake of his five 
 shillings ; and therefore the only man likely to be hired, 
 at a good time for this sport, is some boatman, who has 
 little to recommend him beyond a local knowledge of 
 the harbour; and who therefore requires some one to 
 direct him how to manoeuvre the birds. 
 
 In following wildfowl, it is easier to get within 
 twenty yards of them by going to leeward, than a hun- 
 dred and fifty if directly to windward, so very acute 
 is their sense of smelling. 
 
 The best time, therefore, to have sport with a canoe 
 and a shoulder gun (provided it be low water, or half 
 ebb, while you are hid in the creeks) is in clear, frosty, 
 moonlight nights, when the wind happens to blow to- 
 wards if on as you face the moon. It is then impossible 
 
WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 329 
 
 for the wildfowl to smell you ; and you may, by getting 
 them directly under the light, have the most accurate 
 outline of every bird, and even distinctly see them 
 walking about, at a much greater distance than a gun 
 could do execution. From thus being on the shining 
 mud-banks, they appear quite black, except some of the 
 old cock wigeon, on the wings of which the white is 
 often plainly to be seen. 
 
 It does not. follow, however, that nothing can be done 
 without a Lright moon. So far from it, that the old 
 Poole men, among whom there were, formerly, some of 
 the best shoulder gunners in the kingdom, prefer but 
 little moon, even for the mud. Here, by constant habit, 
 they can easily distinguish the black phalanxes of 
 wigeon from the shades on the places they frequent, 
 and particularly if they are feeding among the puddles 
 which have been left by the tide. (Speaking of what 
 the Poole harbour gunners were, I should not omit to 
 mention, that there still remains one particularly good 
 " hand," who has attended me for some years, during 
 the winter James Read, who came from Greenland, in 
 the Isle of Purbeck, and who, take him for every thing, 
 is one of the most extraordinary performers that ever 
 put an oar in salt water.) In this pursuit, and when 
 not favoured by the best of light, there are a few 
 cautions to be given to an inexperienced shooter. First, 
 to ascertain that the black patch to be seen is a flock of 
 birds, which he will do, by observing the occasional 
 change of feature in the outside of it. Secondly, on 
 approaching them, to be careful that their enormous 
 masses and tremendous noise do not deceive him in the 
 distance, and tempt him to fire out of shot. And, 
 
330 WILDFOWL SHOOTING, 
 
 thirdly, not to be too eager in getting his dead birds ; 
 as it sometimes happens, in hard weather, that the re- 
 mainder of the flock will again pitch down among them ; 
 particularly if he has winged some of the younger birds, 
 which have not the cunning to make off for a creek, 
 like the old ones. In this case, a reserved gun would, 
 probably, more than double the produce of his first shot. 
 It should be understood, that this night shooting is 
 chiefly at the wigeon, as the geese, of late years (since 
 there have been so many shooters), have seldom ventured 
 much in harbour by night ; except sometimes at high 
 spring tides, with a full moon ; and the greater part of 
 the ducks, teal, dunbirds, and such like, repair inland 
 to the ponds and fresh springs, unless driven to the salt 
 " feeding ground" by severe frost. 
 
 A company of wigeon, when first collecting, may be 
 heard at an immense distance, by the whistling of the 
 cocks and purring noise of the hens ; but when they 
 are quietly settled, and busy at feed, you sometimes can 
 only hear the motion of their bills, which is similar to 
 that of tame ducks. 
 
 Wigeon are never so readily disturbed by hearing 
 a noise as by smelling or seeing: in both of which they 
 are very quick ; though, in the latter, less so than many 
 other birds. Sea pheasants and teal are sometimes 
 with them. 
 
 On the Dorsetshire coast, the shooters' terms for a 
 large flock of wigeon are a company ; for about thirty 
 or forty, a bunch or trip of birds ; and, for about ten or 
 twelve, a little knob : a string or skein of geese, and 
 other such provincial appellations. They also call a 
 creek a lake; and the smaller creeks, or drains, latches. 
 

 
WHEN AFLOAT, BY NIGHT. 331 
 
 The former is a general term among people on the 
 coast ; but the latter, in the neighbourhood of Lyrning- 
 ton, is called a " spreader" 
 
 If we can neither find a creek nor a " latch," with 
 sufficient water to set up to birds, it is sometimes 
 thought necessary to put the canoe in one of the latter, 
 and there await the return of the tide, with which we 
 may gradually approach them, as the water flows. But 
 if this advance cannot be made under an hour or two, 
 we may as well go away; and, if no better chance 
 should offer, return to the place when the tide has risen 
 to within one or two hundred yards of the birds, instead 
 of waiting idle for so long a time. 
 
 Here, unless disturbed, they will remain, as long as 
 the tide allows them a place to stand on ; and, as the 
 mud begins to disappear, will concentrate themselves 
 on the last uncovered spot ; where, to use the words of 
 a gunner, as soon as the water begins to " whiten the 
 mud" thousands may be seen, literally wedged among 
 one another, and from whence they are so unwilling to 
 fly, that they will seldom stir till the water actually 
 sets them afloat. With proper management, therefore, 
 you have, at this time, every chance of approaching 
 them. To do this, let your punt or canoe be kept well 
 fore and aft, and lie down in her, as close as having to 
 push, or paddle, her will admit of. But do not advance 
 on your birds till you have just sufficient water to carry 
 up your punt. Then " work up" to them ; and be 
 careful, all the time, to guard against any sudden mo- 
 tion. By attending to this, and having every thing 
 white (except in moonlight, when a drab, or canvas 
 colour, will be less glaring), you may safely approach 
 the unsuspecting mass of fowl, which will, at first, 
 
332 WILDFOWL SHOOTING, 
 
 appear like the indistinct view of an island; and, on 
 getting near, it will look more and more black, till, at 
 last, you will plainly distinguish the shape of the out- 
 side hirds. Now, then, is the critical moment to decide 
 whether your exertions are to be crowned with success, 
 or a severe night's hard labour is to end without your 
 getting a shot. Perhaps, unless you have a " good 
 loom" (that is, high black land) to advance from, the 
 moon may suddenly come forth too bright for this sport. 
 Perhaps some straggling bird may be so near you as to 
 give the alarm ; or perhaps some fellow may ruin all by 
 firing a shot ; and you may have the mortification to 
 hear the sonorous host rising, like a roar of thunder, to 
 take their departure for the open sea. 
 
 On the other hand, you and your boatman may have 
 the good fortune to open your masked battery among 
 their black columns ; and, by cutting a lane through 
 them with a pound of the smallest duck shot, you may 
 possibly secure 50 or 60 tcildfowl as fast as yourselves 
 and a dog can collect them. I formerly recommended 
 the addition of discharging also two large hand-guns ; 
 but it so rarely occurs that we can sufficiently see 
 through the smoke to fire them in time, that I have 
 latterly considered them not worth taking out, except 
 for shooting at low water. (As a proof of what may be 
 killed at one shot when birds are wedged together, I 
 need only say that, on the 9th of January, 1825, my man, 
 James Read, when sent to reconnoitre the creeks about 
 two o'clock in the morning, killed and fairly bagged 
 12 wigeon, 5 ducks and mallards, 2 pintails, and a gray 
 plover, with a common shoulder gun, that cairied only 
 5 ounces of shot. This, however, is such a shot, with 
 a small gun, as I never heard of before, and perhaps 
 
WHFN AFLOAT, BY NIGHT. 
 
 may never hear of again. There were, he thinks, about 
 30 birds in the company. They were all in a lump ; 
 and, to use his own expression, he " got almost o' board 
 'em before he let drive.") 
 
 Having thus succeeded, beware not to let your eager- 
 ness be the means of endangering your personal safety. 
 Many have lost their lives by both having quitted the 
 boat, which might soon drift away, and leave you " an 
 inevitable prey to the returning tide." Let one go out 
 for the birds, taking with him the setting pole, which 
 will not only be useful in supporting him on his mud 
 pattens, and finding out the deep places, but very handy, 
 with the fork at the end, in pinning down the wounded 
 birds. The other person should be all this time close 
 to him in the boat, rowing or pushing with an oar, with 
 which he may occasionally assist in killing the crippled 
 birds that are afloat. 
 
 This opportunity of shooting wigeon may be also 
 taken by going out, when the evening is not too light, 
 at high water, and keeping at a distance till the tide 
 begins to leave the mud; on and round the first ap- 
 pearing part of which the birds will probably collect. 
 
 There is no time of tide at which birds are so easily 
 approached as at, what is called, the "ground-ebb;" 
 because the receding tide makes the shallows, on which 
 they stand, or swim, appear so white, that the birds are 
 easily distinguished, and causes a sufficient ripple, on 
 the deeper water, to give it, at all times, rather a darker 
 colour. Thus the gunner has the advantage of catching 
 his birds in the white water, while the birds have the 
 disadvantage of his advance from the dark water ; by 
 which means we calculate that it is easier to get within 
 fifty yards at the ebb, than within severity yards upon 
 
334 WILDFOWL SHOOTING. 
 
 the flood. I now allude to night shooting, as such close 
 quarters are very rare by day, and particularly with a 
 large company of birds. I cannot repeat too often that, 
 except in a glaring moon and sun, it is impossible for 
 the gunner to have his punt and his dress too white for 
 calm water. To prove it except in a moon, who ever 
 saw a burrough-duck at night ? Look at the hoopers 
 again you may discern those which are under two years 
 old, because they are dusky; but the old swans, not- 
 withstanding their size, are almost, I may say quite, in- 
 visible. While, on the other hand, a wigeon, which is 
 only brown, appears as black as a crow; and a coot 
 looks as large and as black as a chimney-sweeper. 
 (Read this to any old gunner, and he will know, though 
 he may not say, that I have told you right. In short, 
 appeal to the most finished performers, as to what I 
 have asserted on all that relates to wildfowl.) 
 
 On this occasion, the shooters must be provided each 
 with mud-boards, or they may be left all night on the 
 mud, for want of being prepared to haul their boat to a 
 creek. 
 
 [A canoe or punt may be successfully used on a lake, 
 po'nd, or river, by keeping it in parts where the water 
 is shaded with the reflection of land objects, with which 
 a small boat appears so confused, that the birds would, 
 most likely, not perceive it, before you got a fair shot. 
 Be careful, however, not to appear in a colour conspi- 
 cuously different from the background; approach with 
 caution ; and, above all, beware of getting directly to 
 windward of the birds.] 
 
 As the punt and canoe, previously treated on, are 
 used most frequently for night shooting, which, as I 
 before observed, is chiefly at the wigeon (or birds of 
 
HABITS OF WIGEON IN THE NIGHT. 335 
 
 similar habits, that join them in hard weather), I can- 
 not, I trust, class the subject better than by concluding, 
 under this head, with what further remarks may be 
 useful as to wigeon, and reserve those for hoopers, geese, 
 and curres till after we have taken up our heavy artillery, 
 without which but little can be done with these, or any 
 other birds that are commonly killed by day. 
 
 WEATHER. Fog, snow, or any other hazy weather, 
 is very bad, as it makes every thing on the water appear 
 large and black, and then it is that these birds (and in- 
 deed all others) soon take alarm. The novice fancies 
 just the reverse! Fog in the fens and marshes, how- 
 ever, is sometimes the best weather, although quite the 
 reverse on the sea. 
 
 Bright starlight is the very lest of all tinfes for get- 
 ting at birds, as the tide flows over the mud; parti- 
 cularly if there is a little breeze, without wind enough 
 to blacken the shallow water. If a cold black frost, so 
 much the better. 
 
 Even in moonlight, wigeon are easier approached 
 than in hazy weather. In white frosts wigeon are often 
 restless. In rain they are constantly flying and pitch- 
 ing. In very dark weather they are suspicious, and 
 more on the watch than in starlight ; but, if the wind 
 blows fresh enough to drown the noise of a launching- 
 punt, some " heavy shots" may now and then be made, 
 by sweeping the surface of the mud to the sound of 
 where the flock 1^ walking and feeding. But as in 
 dark THICK weather the chances are fifty to one against 
 doing much, I should recommend every gunner in the 
 kingdom to go to bed at such a time. Rest assured, 
 that if all the gunners would allow their birds to get a 
 " strong haunt" in dark nights, it would be pounds and 
 
336 HABITS OF WIGEON IN THE NIGHT. 
 
 pounds in their pocket, before the end of the season, if 
 not the very first week that it became clear and star- 
 light. 
 
 It is not sufficient, however, to be starlight over head 
 only; we must have it clear also round the horizon, or 
 the birds, as in thick weather, will all disperse, and keep 
 walking away from you in different directions. 
 
 In mild weather, wigeon are generally scattered 
 about, like rooks, till after midnight, unless they be- 
 come concentrated by the flow of the surrounding tide. 
 But in cold weather they sit thick together. 
 
 The first night or two of thaw, after a sharp frost, is 
 the best opportunity for this sport. 
 
 Such is the effect that the change of wind has on 
 the movements of wildfowl, that I am induced, as a 
 specimen, to name the following circumstance. 
 
 I was last season detained in London during three weeks' easterly 
 wind, till, at last, I received a pressing summons from my man, to 
 inform me that the coast was swarming with birds. I directed him, 
 by return of post, to have the punt ready to get afloat at nine (it 
 being high water at ten) the night after I received his epistle. I 
 mounted the coach-box at eight the next morning, hoping to break- 
 fast in London and make a heavy shot at wigeon, at above one hun- 
 dred miles from town, before eleven o'clock the same night ; which, 
 had I gone even one day sooner, I should have been almost sure of 
 doing. But, before we had got half way through our journey, the 
 wind suddenly flew from east to west ! and no sooner had we reached 
 the coast than there came on a tremendous westerly gale and rain, 
 which it was impossible to weather that night. The next morning 
 I had the mortification to see the whole atmosphere darkened with 
 birds that were mounted high in the air, and making the best of their 
 way out of the country. The day before my arrival, my man had 
 killed twenty couple, with a light 45 Ib. stanchion gun ; the second 
 day after, not a fowl was to be seen or heard of !! Again, vice versa, 
 I had once been three weeks on the coast without seeing a bird, and, 
 
HABITS OF WIGEON IN THE NIGHT. 3137 
 
 after about ten days' easterly wind, there suddenly appeared at least 
 three thousand wigeon and geese, though we had not seen a single 
 wildfowl the day before ! I had first to weather sixteen blank days ; 
 and then killed one hundred and twelve fowl in eighteen hours ! 
 They talk of the " glorious uncertainty of the law," and I am sure we 
 may " sing out/' by way of parody, on the diabolical uncertainty of 
 the fowl. 
 
 TIME. Was it possible to preserve a public harbour, 
 wigeon should never be fired at till they had fed for 
 some hours, and got well together ; because a shot fired 
 in the evening, when birds are scattered, seldom pro- 
 duces much, and is apt to make them forsake the place 
 altogether. If, indeed, they were left till just before 
 day-break, so much the better. A man who gets upon 
 the mud, or in the creeks, and amuses himself by popping 
 away at evening flight, has, of course, the curse of every 
 regular gunner ; as, by such a practice, he ruins a small 
 harbour in a few nights. Though the best of all shots 
 is when the birds are " on their last legs" before the 
 tide flows high, yet shooting at them when actually 
 afloat is not near so well. They are then more scattered : 
 their feathers are not so open : and shooting them at 
 this time is apt to make them forsake their " feeding 
 ground." 
 
 SOUND. The thicker the weather, the more silent 
 the wigeon, when pitched. A shrill clear pipe denotes 
 a single cock wigeon, as does a long loud " purre" a 
 hen : but when the call of the cock is one short, soft 
 note, and not so often repeated, you may expect to find 
 a company. If so, you will probably soon hear the 
 birds " all in a charm" (that is, in full concert), if you 
 have patience to wait and listen, which a good gunner 
 
 z 
 
338 HABITS OF WIGEON. 
 
 always repeatedly does, every now and then, before he 
 ventures on the final approach. The birds might 
 otherwise steal away, and totally mislead him. When 
 wigeon are " in a charm 9 ' they are not minding you; 
 but when they are quite silent, they are, as likely as 
 not, suspecting an enemy. At this moment, you must 
 keep still, till they open again ; and so on, till you see 
 them ; and then, in starlight, you are generally near 
 enough, 'at all events for a large gun, to give them 
 your royal salute. 
 
 Be sure and choose, if possible, the best background 
 to advance from, in order to disguise your profile from 
 the horizon. Even a black cloud is better than nothing. 
 But if (before the mud is covered) you hear birds 
 walking away, and neither feeding nor " speaking," it 
 is a bad omen. It shows that they have some suspicion 
 of an approaching enemy, and are half inclined to fly. 
 When birds are about one hundred yards off (or much 
 further, in very calm weather), you may hear them 
 feeding; the noise of which, at this distance, is like 
 the falling of a little water, and is often mistaken for it 
 at ebb tide. 
 
 Here are (in the fewest words I can give them) all 
 the necessary requisites for night-shooting; and, if well 
 understood and well managed, you are just about as 
 sure of getting a fair shot (in a favourable time), as 
 you would be with a young partridge to a dead point 
 in standing clover. As to all the old plans of burying 
 punts, casks, &c. &c., they are now of so little avail in 
 almost every part of England, as to be no longer worthy 
 of insertion. 
 
STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN. 339 
 
 STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN. 
 
 I HAVE, by practical experiment, since the earlier 
 editions, found, that the gunmakers have another lesson 
 to learn ! Although a gun of this description must of 
 course be supported by some mechanical means, yet the 
 universal system of entirely confining the gun under 
 the barrel, so that it cannot be relieved even one inch 
 in the recoil, is the worst that can possibly be adopted. 
 It not only (when properly loaded) jars every thing so 
 much as to require extra strength, and therefore extra 
 weight to a punt, which we want as light as possible, 
 in order to go in shallow water ; but the sudden check 
 throws the muzzle so much out of the proper direction, 
 that we are frequently obliged to take level very far 
 under, or over, the mark ; according as the gun may 
 spring, from being either heaviest or lightest forward : 
 and, what is worse than all, this sudden check, at the 
 moment of ignition, materially injures the shooting of 
 the gun in every respect. This experiment was tried, 
 in my presence, by Elijah Buckle, one of the best 
 stanchion-gunners in England, and by far the best I 
 ever saw, who, some time ago, left the coast of Essex 
 for Southampton ; who has been several weeks in my 
 employ ; and to whom I am, most probably, indebted 
 for not having remained much longer in ignorance on 
 the subject. Indeed nothing but ocular demonstration 
 would have convinced me of this argument. What 
 pride and folly it is, then, for any one to hold himself 
 above being shown, even by the most humble indi- 
 vidual ! 
 
 The gun was loaded with a pound of shot, and two 
 
 z % 
 
340 STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN. 
 
 ounces of Messrs. Curtis and Harvey's best coarse 
 powder. I fired from the confined swivel, that is ge- 
 nerally used by the London gunmakers ! in doing which 
 I levelled at least a foot over the object ; arid, by this 
 means (as the water and the paper proved), shot per- 
 fectly accurate. Buckle then fired ; having taken level 
 at the centre of the object, from the swivel : and the 
 whole charge went into the water, before it had gone 
 ninety yards, where the target was placed. I then 
 began to abuse Mr. D. Egg, and said, I hoped that 
 Buckle, as an experienced gunner, and an engineer (he 
 having been a long time in his Majesty's service), was 
 convinced of the fault of the gun ; on which he said, 
 and with justice I own, that both " the London gen- 
 tlemen," and I, had " a little to learn yet." He then, 
 to use his own words, " hove away that humbugging 
 swivel ;" and, by means of a large bolster of sheeps'- 
 wool, fired the gun from his shoulder, with the same 
 charge as before ; which 1 put in myself. He pre- 
 sented as usual, directly at the object, and made such 
 a shot as this barrel had never before been known to 
 make, both for strength and closeness. I then, to be 
 convinced of his veracity, as to taking aim, fired the 
 gun in his way with about ten ounces of shot, not quite 
 fancying the pound to my shoulder. I levelled /, in- 
 stead of over, the mark, and the shot were delivered 
 with the greatest accuracy. The gun, with this charge, 
 went under my arm precisely five inches, as I after- 
 wards measured. If a gun, when fired this way, was 
 to swerve in going back, it would be dangerous ; and 
 therefore the under part of the stock, in order to lie 
 firm on the bench, ought either to be made fiat, or 
 fixed in a piece of wood, that w&sflat at bottom. It 
 
STANCHION, Oil PUNT-GUN. 341 
 
 then occurred to me, that if this gun (of eighty-five 
 pounds weight) was fired with ten ounces from the 
 swivel, it might go so easy as not to interrupt the shoot- 
 ing. I accordingly tried it, and so little appeared to 
 be the recoil, that it could not be felt ; notwithstanding 
 which, by aiming at the mark, the charge was, as usual, 
 from the swivel, entirely under it. On the other ex- 
 treme, I saw a gun fired by the owner of it, Samuel 
 Singer, at Poole (which weighed 141 Ibs.). This was 
 on a swivel, and mounted very light forward, and he 
 told me, that he was always obliged to present very far 
 under the object, or his whole charge went over every 
 thing ; and that he should " douse" the swivel for a 
 rope breeching. The latter, however, is apt to break, 
 and has often proved dangerous. But, since the last 
 edition, I have used my 851b. gun with a rope breech- 
 ing that reaches all the way from, and goes through a 
 hole in, the stem of the punt. The breeching has then 
 so much play as, with the help of a padded but, at the 
 shoulder, to ease the recoil tolerably well. It is, how- 
 ever, not to be compared to the spring swivel ; though 
 the best plan, that I know of, to fire any gun, that is 
 not forged on purpose, for the spring swivel ; because 
 the fore part of the punt then takes the pull, upon the 
 same principle that an arch bears a heavy weight. It 
 was Singer who showed me this plan ; and, for my 
 mode of simply fixing it to the gun, vide plate of the 
 " Invisible Approach." The gun, with a breeching, 
 goes nearly as far back as the rope will stretch (say an 
 inch or two), and then springs forward again for about 
 afoot; unless checked by a notch in the stock, which 
 should butt against the gunning-bench. 
 
 The question the grand object therefore is, how 
 
342 STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN. 
 
 to take off the recoil in the best manner? I mentioned 
 the experiment of the swivel to several of the leading 
 gunmakers, and, although they had all plenty to say on 
 the subject, I could not meet with one who was able to 
 do any thing towards the proper attainment of the 
 object. 
 
 It would take pages to state their different plans. 
 But enough of them : a few lines are sufficient ; and 
 these to say that however plausible their inventions 
 may appear in a counting-house conversation, not one 
 of them would answer all purposes, when fairly brought 
 to trial. 
 
 I was, therefore, notwithstanding all their consulta- 
 tions, turned adrift to seek my own means of accom- 
 plishing the object ; and I shall therefore, under the 
 next head, give a sketch of the plan to which I have 
 had recourse. 
 
 (I must crave the indulgence of nine-tenths of my 
 readers for having trespassed on them with this insipid 
 detail, as I have some few brother sportsmen in this 
 way, who would value it more than all the rest of the 
 book put together. Moreover, it may be the means of 
 preventing accidents, which frequently happen to those 
 who use swivels, and particularly if they do not fix 
 them with judgment.) 
 
 The barrel of a punt-gun, to be in good proportion, 
 should, I conceive (including the patent plug, of about 
 six pounds weight, and from two to three inches in 
 length), be about seventy or eighty pounds weight, 
 from seven to nine feet long, and from an inch and a 
 quarter to an inch and a half bore, according to the one 
 length and weight, or the other. 
 
 The smaller the bore is, in reason, the further you 
 
STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN. 343 
 
 can kill at a small number of birds ; but the larger size 
 of these two shoots the best, and most regular pattern. 
 Any thing beyond that size seldom answers. 
 
 It may, of course, be made on the same proportion to 
 any size ; but, although a gun much beyond this size 
 will kill more birds at a shot, I am inclined to think, 
 from what I saw of the one at Poole, that it will not 
 kill so far in proportion. As some proof that Singer 
 was not very partial to this gun, I need only state that, 
 some months after I saw it fired, I received a letter 
 from him making an offer of it for sale ; which, as he 
 is a man of long experience in the business, I conclude 
 he would not have done, if the gun had perfectly suited 
 him. Not having been able to sell it, when I last saw 
 him, he had then had it lengthened. 
 
 The barrel, in forging and filing, should be left well 
 filled up, and, in every part, substantial. 
 
 NEW PLAN FOR FIRING TWO POUNDS (OR 
 TWO POUNDS AND A HALF) OF SHOT 
 TO THE BEST ADVANTAGE; AND, AT 
 THE SAME TIME, EASING THE RECOIL 
 OF A SWIVEL-GUN. 
 
 As guns to carry a pound of shot at a time are now 
 to be constantly seen on almost every part of the coast, 
 as well as in most of the fen countries, the very few 
 men who formerly had them are now surrounded by 
 rivals; and therefore, in order still to keep the lead, 
 some of them have had recourse to using guns that 
 carry from one pound and a half to two pounds of shot. 
 The recoil, however, from these guns is so tremendous, 
 
344 STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN. 
 
 that most of the men who used them have met with 
 some accident or other, and are therefore giving them 
 up. The desideratum then is to accomplish this with 
 no more recoil, or risk of accidents, than there is with 
 other guns, and thus to have an advantage over the 
 host of ordinary gunners. A plan was suggested to 
 me concerning which I was, for some time, bound in 
 secrecy ; and, lest it might, even now, be thought un- 
 fair for me to publish it, I shall say no more upon it ; 
 except that, although it might do very well in one re- 
 spect, it never would answer in another. If, therefore, 
 I was fully at liberty to explain it, I should consider it 
 a loss of time to do so. 
 
 The plan that I have adopted is as follows : 
 A pair of barrels put together so as to fire two circles, 
 each one partly eclipsed with the other: the one ignited 
 lay percussion, and the other by a flint, by which means 
 the trifling difference of the two separate modes of 
 ignition makes such an immense difference in the re- 
 coil, as to reduce it to a mere nothing in comparison. 
 The eclipsed part of the circles, when the two barrels 
 are fired together, puts into the paper at least a fourth 
 more shot than any one barrel could be made to do ; 
 and the enormous weight of metal not only gives ad- 
 ditional strength to the double discharge, but also to 
 either barrel when you fire them separately, which, of 
 course, you have the option of doing ; and therefore 
 you are never obliged to discharge an extra pound of 
 shot in waste, as with the huge single guns before al- 
 luded to. Moreover, the gun, on my plan, cuts two 
 united lanes through the birds, instead of wasting half 
 the shot in the water, and in the air, which is the case 
 when the charge is contained in one large circle. In 
 
STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN. 345 
 
 short, this plan forms, as it were, a kind of oval to suit 
 the shape of the object : and thus, at the moment that 
 one part of the birds are being killed by the detonater, 
 the others are just conveniently opening their wings for 
 the flint-barrel, though they have not time to rise ; be- 
 cause I have here eased the recoil, and got the barrels 
 together so as to do the business point blank. 
 
 The mode of easing the recoil is by means of a long 
 loop, worked on, between, and under, the barrels ; and 
 the swivel-pin going through a slider, on which rests 
 the whole weight of the gun. The space within this 
 loop (about eight inches), with the exception of an inch 
 and five-eighths that is taken up by the slider, is filled 
 with a spiral spring, which has a play of rather more 
 than two inches ; (and if it had even four or five inches 
 of play, I should think it would be all the better.) 
 Consequently, before any jar can take place to inter- 
 rupt the point blank delivery of the charge, the shot 
 has left the gun, which is, afterwards, brought forward 
 again by the reaction of the spring. The loop should 
 be made of horse-nail stubs, and forged on to the bar- 
 rels. Mine is not so ; therefore if this part fails, the 
 fault lies with Mr. Fullerd, and not with me. Suppose 
 this was to give way ? which would be almost impos- 
 sible, if done as it ought to be then you have a ring 
 in the stock (all of which, except a moveable but, is of 
 cannon metal] with a reserve rope that takes up the 
 recoil immediately. 
 
 It was the opinion of a distinguished officer in the 
 navy, before whom 1 fired this gun several times, that 
 my plan for easing the recoil would answer extremely 
 well for the carronades, or at all events, for the ships' 
 swivels, in His Majesty's service; and I therefore had 
 
346 STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN. 
 
 made a rough model for the inspection of himself and 
 friends. If, however, the Lords of the Admiralty 
 should honour me so far as to think the suggestion 
 worthy of notice, I have only to say that Mr. Westley 
 Richards, of Birmingham, is the mechanic who so ably 
 manufactured the one I have, after the model and in- 
 structions that I sent him. Indeed there is no one else 
 yet capable of executing the order. 
 
 Here is an outline of the plan in question, which 
 has so amply repaid me for the trouble I have had, in 
 overcoming all obstacles, that I shall, under the next 
 head, give directions for it, assisted by explanatory en- 
 gravings. 
 
 Before this gun, &c. was found to answer every pur- 
 pose, it went through several hands : Mr. D. Egg ; 
 Mr. Fullerd ; Mr. Joseph Manton ; Mr. Westley Ri- 
 chards ; Mr. Parsons, of Salisbury, and Mr. Long, of 
 Andover (now with Lancaster) ; besides journeymen in 
 my own employ ; and, consequently, as so many arti- 
 ficers have been separately occupied in completing it, 
 I may safely defy any one of them (before I publish 
 this edition) to turn out precisely the same kind of 
 article, until they have seen, and had explained to 
 them, this gun in Unfinished state. 
 
 Since the 4th and 5th editions, I have tried the gun 
 and punt, in every possible way ; and no plan that I 
 had ever before seen was worthy of being compared to 
 this. I shall, THEREFORE, NOW GIVE engravings of 
 the WHOLE CONCERN ; by which means I shall secure 
 to myself the pleasure of being the first to publish what 
 has cost me much trouble to complete ; and which many 
 are now imperfectly copying, and may perhaps be 
 passing off for their own invention. 
 
PUNT-GUN WITH SPRING SWIVEL. 34? 
 
 EXPLANATION OF MY PLAN FOR EASING 
 THE RECOIL OF A SWIVEL-GUN, CAR- 
 RONADE, OR SHIP'S SWIVEL. 
 
 The following are the dimensions of the apparatus 
 for a swivel-gun, which carries about a pound of shot. 
 But if the apparatus is adapted to a carronade or 
 ship's swivel, it must be -more than proportionably 
 stronger, because a carronacle, from being so very 
 short, has such a severe recoil. 
 
 A. THE SWIVEL, on which the gun rests, and 
 which, it may be observed, is made as short, and com- 
 pact, as the working, up and down, of the gun will 
 admit of, in order to avoid, as much as possible, all 
 extra strain occasioned by lever ; as, of course, the longer 
 
348 PUNT-GUN 
 
 the ears of the swivel, the more severe the strain on the 
 neck, and on every thing else below it. 
 
 / Height, altogether 9^ inches. 
 
 V Thickness of the ears in the thinnest part (where the pin 
 Size. / goes through), each one ^ an inch. 
 
 j Diameter of the upper circle, neck, or collar, 2^ inches. 
 
 f Diameter of the lower cylinder, or stem, 1^ inch. 
 Weight 7J pounds. 
 
 The wooden block of the punt, or whatever the gun 
 is fired from, receives both the neck and the stem, so 
 that on this plan the lever, or strain, operates only as 
 far as the lower part of the ears. 
 
 B. THE SWIVEL-PIN. 
 
 Diameter of the cylindrical part, f of an inch. 
 Length (exclusive of the threads of the screw, and the head 
 and square shoulder) 3 inches. 
 
 C. THE LOOP, which should be forged with, and 
 made as a part of, the barrel ; or, at all events, welded 
 on, so that no recoil could tear off, or loosen it, because 
 
WITH SPRING SWIVEL. 349 
 
 if merely soldered on I would never answer for its 
 safety. 
 
 Length altogether, 10 inches. (If longer, and therefore 
 able to admit a longer spring, I should say all the better.) 
 
 c. A little wedge of elm, or walnut-wood, which is 
 pushed into the mortise, c 9 in order to ease the jar that 
 is occasioned by the slider, G, coming in contact with 
 the hinder part of the loop, on re-action taking place. 
 
 This piece of wood must, of course, be replaced with 
 a fresh one, when nearly worn level with the iron. 
 
 D. THE SPIRAL SPRING, which is closed by the re- 
 coil of the gun, and which, in the reaction, sends the 
 gun forward, and up to its place again. 
 
 Length 6 inches (and if 8 or 10 inches, or more, in order 
 to have so much the further play, I conceive it would be a 
 great improvement on what is here sketched). 
 
 Diameter outside, an inch and half. 
 
 Substance of the wire, of which the spring is made nearly 
 1 of an inch in girth. 
 
 \_In the last edition / mentioned (though would not, 
 till tried, recommend) Fullerd's plan, and a flat 
 spring. This has been since tried and totally failed. 
 A T o springs have yet answered but those of Westley 
 Richards.'} 
 
 E.E. Two ROUNDS OF LEAD, to save the spring, 
 the boss F, and the shoulder of the pin H, from the 
 harder contact of iron. 
 
350 PUNT-GUN 
 
 F. A BOSS, to fill up that end of the spring which 
 has nothing to prevent it from swerving. 
 
 G. SLIDER, of solid iron, on which rests the whole 
 weight of the gun; through which works the swivel- 
 pin B; and into the female screw of which goes the 
 male screw of H, which is the next, and last, comparti- 
 ment here shown. 
 
 H. A LONG PIN, to support the spring, and prevent 
 it from swerving. The thick end, or shoulder, on the 
 left, fits tight into the inner circle of the spring. The 
 cylinder (where the H is marked) is a bit of box-wood, 
 put on to fill up the inside of the spring which, when 
 forced together, by the recoil, brings the rounded end 
 of this wood in contact with the boss, F; for which 
 reason I put before it a piece of thick Indian-rubber, in 
 order to ease the jar. 
 
 [When the recoil takes place, the pin is forced out 
 through the hole in front of the loop C, for as many 
 inches as the spring has play; and this pin, by the way, 
 must have a square point, in order to be unscrewed, 
 with a key, when removed from the slider G.] 
 
 I shall now, to the relief of the reader, as well as 
 
WITH SPRING SWIVEL. 351 
 
 myself, conclude these directions with a sketch of all 
 the apparatus put together, for shooting : 
 
 Intricate as this may appear, in explanation, I can 
 assure my readers that I have used it on salt water for 
 four successive winters, and had no trouble whatever 
 in keeping it free from rust, except having to anoint 
 it, occasionally, with mercurial ointment, and keep it 
 always greasy, by means of working, with a brush, into 
 every part of it, plenty of neat's foot oil. Moreover, I 
 had no occasion to take the apparatus to pieces till the 
 end of each shooting season. 
 
 TRIAL of the great double gun, after being fresh 
 bored by Tom Fullerd and John Hussey, in presence 
 of Mr. Joseph Manton and myself (attended by Mr. 
 Charles Manton, Penn, Hussey, Asell and son, and most 
 of the best workmen), at Bayswater Firing-ground, 
 May 2, 1827. 
 
352 PUNT-GUN. 
 
 Target, 26 sheets of thick brown paper, 2 feet 4 by 
 2 feet 2. Distance, 90 yards. 
 
 Shot No. 1 (but the gun was not more than two-thirds 
 loaded, for want of safe means of fixing it). 
 
 No. of grains in 1st sheet. Ditto through 26th sheet 
 
 Flint barrel . .75 . . .31 
 
 Detonating barrel .64 . . .30 
 
 Both barrels together 102 . . .53 
 
 A round was then fired from the best barrel of a 
 common double gun, at 26 sheets nearly double the 
 size of the above. 
 
 8 ... 
 
 Then a reputed good single gun. 
 
 9 ;> . . 
 
 We then stuck up a very large open sheet of brown 
 paper, in order to try the difference at 40 yards, with 
 
 No. 1 shot. Result 
 
 *y^- 
 fr- One barrel of great gun ' * ' 69 
 
 Ditto of little gun . . . \ V 50 
 
 Ditto of single gun . " .' . . 80 
 
 [N. B. Since this trial, we fired the barrels, at the 
 same distance, from the punt, and on the water, where 
 we could put the full charge of 20 ounces in each 
 barrel; and the result was 
 
 Flint . 106 Detonater . 102, and equally strong.] 
 
 By the foregoing trial we see how ridiculous it is to 
 draw 7 any comparison (which many people are ignorant 
 enough to do) between a common shoulder-gun, and a 
 huge punt-gun ; though the punt-gun had here every 
 disadvantage, by being tilted out of its true aim, every 
 time it was discharged ; as the make-shift, by which I 
 
BEST IGNITION. 353 
 
 fired it, was merely a rough block of elm, with a hole 
 for the swivel ; and on such uneven ground, that I fired 
 every shot in jeopardy, lest the gun should upset and 
 break the locks, not to say a word of breaking my bones. 
 
 BEST MODE OF IGNITION FOR A PUNT- 
 GUN. 
 
 With regard to flint or detonater, I have, till a few 
 years ago, used only the former with a swivel-gun ; but 
 they have both been tried by the men who constantly 
 use these guns, and the far greater proportion have de- 
 cided in favour of the flint. They say that the recoil 
 from a detonater is so sudden as to shake every thing 
 too much ; and also, that the birds, by night, set up 
 their heads at the flash of a priming, just enough to be 
 a much better target ; and, therefore, the detonater does 
 not kill so many. I merely give this report as I had it 
 from some of the best performers. And, as to rain a 
 lock-cover, of either patent leather and sailcloth, lined 
 with flannel, or the leg of an old water-boot (the east 
 Yarmouth fashion), will keep the lock as dry as when 
 in a house, if the shooter leaves it on, and either ac- 
 quires the knack of taking aim under his gun, or has 
 little elevated sights to project above the gun-cover. 
 
 Since the fourth edition I have well tried the detonater 
 with the double swivel-gun, on the plan for which it 
 became necessary. It killed better than I expected, 
 though I was obliged to give up the copper cap to it as 
 not being safe. I, therefore, got Joe Manton to put 
 me a breeching for his copper PRIMERS, which for these 
 
 A A 
 
354 LOADING. 
 
 LARGE DUCK-GUNS answer better than any thing I 
 can describe; because THEY give the only possible 
 means of combining a SHORT COMMUNICATION with 
 PERFECT SAFETY. But, nevertheless, I agree with the 
 gunners that, if I had a single swivel-gun, it should 
 have a flint lock. 
 
 NIGHT CARTRIDGES; 
 
 AND 
 
 Improved Method of Loading a Large Gun. 
 
 The best method, among the old gunners, for loading 
 their punt-guns, was to unship them ; and, after wiping 
 them out, to put the powder in a wooden measure that 
 fitted into the caliber. [Why a wooden measure ? 
 Because if a metal one dropped overboard good b'ye to 
 it !] Then to place the gun perpendicular, leaving 
 the measure in the muzzle ; in order that the powder 
 may fall to the bottom of the breeching. Some used a 
 powder-cartridge, and pricked it through the touch-hole, 
 like a cannon ; but this could only be done with a 
 common breeching. They wadded with loose oakum ; 
 brown paper; pasteboard; or old hat; loaded with shot, 
 in precisely the same manner as with powder ; and 
 then added just enough oakum, or paper, to prevent the 
 charge from getting loose. But this plan always put 
 the shooter to the inconvenience of unshipping his gun; 
 and was, of course, rendered impracticable where the 
 gun was too heavy to be raised from the stanchion. 
 What was the consequence ? The powder and shot were 
 
LOADING. 
 
 355 
 
 not half rammed home ; and the killing, and even the 
 safety of the gun, became a matter of doubt. I shall 
 now, with great pleasure, though it is against my own 
 sport to divulge it, give my new plan to all my brother- 
 sportsmen; and I flatter myself that those who have suf- 
 ficient confidence in my advice to try it, will say that 
 they never loaded with so much expedition or comfort ; 
 and that their large guns never shot so strong, so close, 
 or so regular by the ordinary modes of loading. To 
 the point, then, as I hate preface and prosing. Sup- 
 posing your gun was from 80 to lOOlbs. in weight, and 
 carried a pound of shot. Take the same measure of 
 powder as of shot, which in weight would be about two 
 ounces ; and, with the gun in a horizontal position, 
 put it all the way to the breeching with the loading- 
 spoon A. 
 
 Taking care to keep upwards the black-painted, or flat, 
 part of the loading-rod ; by which you know that the 
 open part of the cylinder must be upwards. The upper 
 part of the rod is made flat, in order iofeel it in the 
 dark, when shooting by night. When the powder is 
 home, elevate the muzzle as much as you can ; turn 
 round the loading-rod ; and, after giving it a shake, 
 draw it out with the black, or flat, part downwards. 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 LOADING AND 
 
 Then reverse the rod, and work the powder well into 
 the centre-hole, with the small end of it, C * ; because 
 when loaded in a horizontal position no wadding what- 
 ever will drive cannon-powder sufficiently home to fill 
 the centre-hole of a solid breeching ; the consequence 
 of which is slow shooting with a flint ; and repeated 
 missing fire with a detonater. (This I never proved 
 till last winter. The want of having discovered it be- 
 fore has cost me hundreds of birds ; and had almost 
 converted me to the opinion of many gunners, that 
 " patent breechings never answer for large guns.") 
 Having thus properly lodged your powder, you have 
 then only to add the wadding; while doing which, 
 elevate the gun as much as you can. 
 
 Now, then, to the plan for the shot. Why did car- 
 tridges always shoot in patches ? Because the thick- 
 ness of the paper interfered with the regular delivery 
 of the shot. Why was not very thin paper adopted ? 
 Because the form of a shot-cartridge could not be pre- 
 served without some substance of paper ; and moreover, 
 without this we could not draw out the charge. But 
 I have now remedied all these little inconveniences, by 
 the most simple means ; and, so far from claiming any 
 credit for the plan, I think we were all in the dark not 
 to have thought of it ages ago. Take, for a punt-gun, 
 
 * C should be small enough to go well into the centre-hole, in 
 order to clean it out, if required. On my plan of loading, the little 
 worm B, which will go well into the centre-hole, will be quite suf- 
 ficient to draw out the wadding, or any thing else. The small end 
 of this loading-rod cannot be too light; because, if heavy, it would 
 overpower your hand, and make you spill the powder in filling it : 
 particularly when loading afloat. 
 
NIGHT CARTRIDGES. 
 
 357 
 
 thin cartridge-paper (or, for a common gun, ladies' 
 curling-paper), and place it thus to the mould, B. 
 
 Roll the mould on a hard board, or table, till the 
 paper has been wound as close as possible round it. 
 Then tuck the corner, C, tight into the concave bottom 
 of the mould ; and afterwards press in all the lower 
 edge, in order to form a bottom. Close it with sealing- 
 wax, which is better than paste ; as that soon gets damp. 
 Having thus formed your cartridge, put the mould, with 
 the cartridge round it, into the receiver, D, and press, 
 or stamp, the mould hard on the table, to equalize the 
 bottom of the cartridge. The receiver should be broad 
 below, in order to stand firm on the table. The dotted 
 lines show its cylinder, which should be just within the 
 size of that of the gun. 
 
358 
 
 NIGHT CARTRIDGES. 
 
 Then take the head of the mould ; and, by giving it a 
 little turn round, it will become disengaged, and draw 
 out, leaving the paper in the cylinder. Put in your 
 charge of shot ; and, while so doing, shake it well down 
 in the receiver ; as this will make it shoot close and re- 
 gular. Take off the receiver, and your cartridge re- 
 mains, formed on the table. You have then only to 
 close the top of it, by turning down the ends as com- 
 pactly as possibly, and tie it together, longitudinally, 
 with a piece of fine sailmaker's twine, in a hard sailor's 
 (not a " grandmother's") knot. Put a piece of oakum, 
 sponge, or any thing that may be held well by the worm 
 of a ramrod. Tie round that another sailor's knot, and 
 your cartridge is completed, thus 
 
 [I had, at first, used curling paper, even for a punt- 
 gun ; but I found that, when a little damp, it would 
 burst in loading; and, although cartridge-paper is too 
 thick for a sporting gun to shoot regular with, yet a 
 punt-gun invariably does well with it ; and particularly 
 with my system of mixing neafs foot oil with the shot.] 
 
 Put the cartridge into the gun with the oakum head 
 upwards, and you may press it down tight with the 
 ramrod, as the smallest and worst of worms will draw 
 
NIGHT CART1UDGES. 359 
 
 it out with the greatest ease ; and in any position, 
 should you wish to unload your gun, change the size 
 of your shot, &c. I made several of these cartridges 
 for a musket, to stop crippled geese with ; and, if I 
 wanted to load in a hurry, I put the oakum end down- 
 wards, without any other wadding, and they shot very 
 well. But, when I had time, I loaded as before di- 
 rected ; and found that even in a shoulder-gun, these 
 cartridges shot better than the common mode of load- 
 ing. If used in a double gun, the oakum heads must 
 fit sufficiently tight to prevent the recoil of one barrel 
 from jarring the charge of the other. But this very 
 rarely occurs with any kind of cartridge, if it fits tole- 
 rably well. I have tried at least two hundred rounds of 
 these cartridges in my huge double gun, and they an- 
 swer so well that I never use any thing else, unless I 
 want Eley's for long wild day-work ; and his cartridges, 
 by the way, would never draw out, till I got him to put 
 on them my oakum top-knots. But for game shooting 
 all these little things are not required ; here we may 
 " leave well enough alone," and be content with having 
 every thing to the summit of our wishes, if we only 
 know how to make use of it. 
 
 For a box to take cartridges afloat, and keep them 
 perfectly, dry, see the one that I have put in the plate 
 with gunning-punt and gear. 
 
 Having now loaded our gun, nothing remains but 
 the priming, for which I should recommend a small 
 pistol-flask, with a top that holds just enough for the 
 pan ; by which means we are not so liable to overload 
 the pan, or spill the powder in the dark. Clean your 
 touch-hole after every shot with a clipped feather ; poke 
 a little of ihe fine priming powder into it, before you 
 
360 CANDLE-CARTRIDGES. 
 
 fill the pan; and always thoroughly wipe out your 
 barrel with a ring-nosed ramrod (as shown in plate 
 with gear) after every shot ; not only for safety's sake, 
 in case of a spark being left behind ; but because you 
 may have to put your gun by, loaded, for a night or 
 perhaps a week before it may be fired again. Here 
 is all that need be said on the uneritertaining, though 
 useful, subject of loading a large gun ; and, when any 
 one will favour me with a better plan, I will not only 
 discard mine for it, but tear from my pages this tedious 
 explanation. 
 
 I cannot resist stating, that when I invented this 
 large gun, many people sarcastically observed, " How 
 can he load it ? " When the spoon and cartridges were 
 contrived then it was, " How is it possible to draw 
 the charge?" Why, without the cartridges I can do 
 this, by drawing the wadding and then shovelling out 
 the shot with the loading-spoon. But the other we 
 can do even under sail, by standing on deck, astride 
 the gun, and using the rod over-handed. What other 
 difficulties can they make out ? Only let me know 
 and I am all ready for them ! 
 
 CANDLE-CARTRIDGES. 
 
 Fill a socket, within the size of your cylinder, with 
 melted tallow, and when it has cooled so far as to be 
 about the consistence of thick cream, pour your shot 
 in, and shake it well together. When nearly cold, 
 close all by a little pressure on the top; and, when 
 quite hard, shut up your cartridge, and you are ready 
 for action. Just go and see how this shoots. Though 
 
FIRING A PUNT-GUN. 361 
 
 I condemn tallow confined in wire, I can see no ob- 
 jection to it when merely covered with light paper. I 
 am indebted to my friend Captain Ward for this dis- 
 covery, and a schedule of its excellent performance. 
 
 FIRING. 
 
 The firing of these guns, at long distances, requires 
 some practice, by reason that, before the shot can travel 
 a hundred yards, the birds, if quick-sighted, will be on 
 the move, particularly if they see the flash. No one 
 had ever the kindness to tell me this, when I first used 
 a long gun ; till, after some time, wondering what was 
 the matter that I could not kill (not being able to see 
 through the smoke), I fired at a mixture of curlews 
 and gulls ; the latter of which were killed, and the 
 others never touched. 
 
 By this I discovered, that the one, being quick- 
 sighted and active birds, sprung before the shot got to 
 them ; while the others, not being able to get out of 
 the way, were killed. A little elevation for the gun 
 (in which a few shots at a mark will direct you), and a 
 pretty good elevation for the springing of the birds, 
 according to what birds they are, is absolutely neces- 
 sary, and practice alone will best teach this. Suffice it 
 to say, however, that a man, to be a good shot, with a 
 large gun, has even more to learn than to shoot well 
 in the field ; particularly when he comes to cross shots 
 at flocks going past, where, sometimes, there may be 
 required a yard of elevation, and ten yards' allowance 
 for the distance they are at, and the rapidity of their 
 flight, 
 
362 FIRING A PUNT-GUN. 
 
 As it becomes necessary, when approaching wild 
 birds, to be well concealed in your punt, you are obliged 
 to fire these guns, lying down as close as possible on 
 your chest. For which some have a wedge to support 
 the breast. If you put your cheek to the stock, your 
 shoulder-bone in contact with the but, or your second 
 finger behind the trigger, you run a risk of having 
 them severely jarred; but, if you manage the gun pro- 
 perly, the sensation, with a light charge, is no more 
 than that of firing powder from a small gun ; and the 
 report, to the shooter, seems a mere nothing. To fire 
 a stanchion gun, put your left hand over the but, and 
 regulate it to the line of aim, while your cheek gently 
 grazes the back of the hand. Put all the fingers of 
 your right hand before the trigger, keeping the thumb 
 out of the way; and be careful not to let your knees 
 come in contact with the timbers of the boat. By ob- 
 serving well these directions, a child might fire this gun 
 with as much safety as the smallest fowling-piece. 
 
 In firing a punt-gun (without any stanchion) from 
 the shoulder, you must lean hard against the upper 
 part of the padded but ; and have the gun as top-heavy 
 as you can possibly overbear, by which means the fric- 
 tion of the stock against the "gunning-bench," and^the 
 check of your shoulder, prevents the gun from running 
 too far under your arm. Never attempt to shoot a 
 barrel so short as six feet in this way, as it might fly 
 up and hurt you. Always try these guns with a quar- 
 ter of a charge first ; and increase the loading with an 
 ounce of shot each round. By this means you avoid 
 the risk of a recoil, as you then gradually ascertain how 
 much ammunition can be fired with perfect ease to the 
 shoulder. 
 
PUNT FOR A STANCHION GUN. 363 
 
 If you are so fortunate as to get a line of birds, shoot 
 rather beyond the first of them, which will then be 
 taken by the lower shot. You may thus (with mould 
 shot) sweep the water from one to two hundred yards, 
 and possibly kill some of them all the way, from one of 
 these distances to the other. 
 
 The advantage of a stanchion gun over a shoulder 
 duck-gun is far more than that of the latter over a 
 common sporting gun ; and so generally has this of late 
 years been found out, that, now-a-days, but little can 
 be done without one, on any part of the English coast. 
 
 PUNT 
 FOR THE USE OF A STANCHION GUN. 
 
 A gunning-punt, which is very narrow, although 
 it may row fast, is extremely dangerous, and will not 
 answer for going in shallow water, which is the grand 
 object, in order to get up to the birds before the tide 
 has flowed high enough to drive them off their legs, 
 and disperse them. 
 
 All round-bottomed punts, such as are used at South- 
 ampton and Itchen Ferry, and most of those at East 
 Yarmouth, are on a bad construction, except merely 
 to sail about with a shoulder-gun ; because they have 
 such unsteady bearings, and are so built, that the gun, 
 and the man's head who fires it, must appear consider- 
 ably above the gunwale. The consequence is, that he 
 frightens away half the birds which he ought to kill ; 
 and can never regulate his gun for shooting in the dark. 
 In short, clincher and carvel built boats are only used 
 
364 PUNT FOR A 
 
 by those, who, whatever they may fancy, are not finished 
 masters of their business. 
 
 All gunning-punts should be as flat as possible in the 
 bottom (except having the necessary " kammelling," to 
 " give them life") ; by which they draw far less water, 
 and are so stiff, that it becomes impossible to capsize 
 them. If an accident did happen, it would be by their 
 filling and sinking, but not upsetting, as the before- 
 mentioned boats might do ; and, as a still further guard 
 against which, these boats may be decked all the way 
 from " stern to mid-ships," and half way round the 
 sides. 
 
 The most destructive gunning-punt, for one hand, 
 that I had seen up to 1824 (when I adopted my new 
 plan), was about nine inches high, and drew scarcely 
 two inches of water, with a man and his gun. This 
 punt should be full three feet broad, from about a yard 
 before the stern ; decked all the way from the gunning- 
 bench to the bow ; and so sharp forward, that, when 
 required, the bow may be shoved for several feet up the 
 edge of the ground, so as for the gun to be raised at 
 the but, rested on the " stem," and fired over the mud, 
 before the tide flows high enough for a large gun to 
 bear in the ordinary way. But, as in this case the 
 recoil must be checked by the shoulder, I have only 
 superficially described the punt, knowing, of course, that 
 very few who shot for pleasure would adopt the system. 
 Moreover, by fully explaining it, I should, instead of 
 serving sportsmen, be only taking the bread from 
 Buckle, the man who showed me the minutiae of it, to 
 put into the mouths of his rivals, whom he says he will, 
 and, I believe, he safely may, give seven years to find it 
 
STANCHION GUN. 365 
 
 out, and be perfect masters as to building this punt, and 
 then knowing how to use that and the gun. Although 
 as much as is here mentioned may, of course, be known 
 by every one who has seen the punt in question. Many 
 boat-builders have seen it, and ridiculed the idea of not 
 being able to go home and make precisely the same 
 thing. Several, however, have been built by them to 
 order, and, as yet, not one has been done right, though, 
 of course, much like it in appearance. There is not a 
 boat-builder in a thousand who knows any thing about 
 punts, as the best gunners generally make their own, 
 and keep the secret to themselves; or, at all events, 
 from the boat-builders, who would otherwise be making 
 them for every shooter in the port. The best way, 
 therefore, is to get an able gunner to find head, and a 
 good inland carpenter, who works much better and 
 neater at this light board work than a boat-builder, to 
 find hands and tools. I never could get a punt that 
 would answer till I did this. 
 
 Several boat-builders have overhauled mine when 
 they could find a chance to do so ; and every one of 
 their productions, that I have yet seen, was quite laugh- 
 able ; though, to all outward appearance, a good imita- 
 tion. If, therefore, they succeed now, it is but fair to 
 infer that it will be through the help of the engraving. 
 
 Having treated further, perhaps, than was necessary 
 on shooting punts in general, I shall conclude with ex- 
 plaining the one alluded to, which I have found to an- 
 swer best, taking in consideration comfort, safety, and 
 every other point requisite for those sportsmen to whom 
 is offered this part of the book. 
 
366 IMPROVED NEW PLAN FOR A 
 
 IMPROVED NEW PLAN FOR A GUNNING- 
 PUNT. 
 
 In 1822 I contrived, and in 1824 built, a punt which 
 I have been using, and improving on, ever since ; and 
 which is now, I believe, rendered as complete as any 
 thing yet invented, for the purpose of carrying the heavy 
 weight of a double swivel-gun, with two men, and gear ; 
 but which, by the way, like sportsmen, dogs, and every 
 thing else, is beginning to be worn out, just as it ap- 
 proaches perfection. Here, however, we have our model 
 to renew from, and perhaps to improve on ; not so with 
 ourselves ; for, after we have been all our lives making 
 the voyage of discovery, and are just arriving off the 
 land-mark of perfection, we are cast away on the rock 
 of declining years ; and thus it is that we are for ever 
 excluded from the port. But enough of the sentimental 
 and now for the punt : She must be decked over in 
 every part, except leaving just room enough for the 
 shooter to lie to his gun, and the man to work to the 
 birds ; in order to do which, without his hand being 
 shown too high, a part of the deck, on each side, must 
 be made to " ship and unship." The deck should be 
 formed of the lightest possible board, and covered all 
 over with strong canvas ; which helps to strengthen it, 
 and renders it doubly water-proof. The only parts of 
 the deck requiring strong support are the front, where 
 a man has to stand, if he loads the gun afloat ; and the 
 place where is fixed on the light metal thowls. The 
 space left open must be surrounded with bulwarks, 
 which continue rising, in proportion as the punt becomes 
 lower forward, to about four inches in height, and end- 
 
GUNNING-PUNT. 367 
 
 ing in a little stem, or second row, that " ships and un- 
 ships." So that, when wanting to go through a sea, 
 you have only to " douse" the moveable back- stock of 
 the gun, and ship this stem-piece, which elevates it 
 well clear of the spray, and keeps the sea from corning 
 into your punt. You must also trig up your gun, in 
 the same way, when rowing stern foremost with two 
 " hands ;" or, otherwise, the man who pulls what then 
 becomes the stroke oar, would have the gun too much 
 in his w r ay to be able to row. He pulls merely by little 
 copper thowls that ship into the bulwarks, and are 
 carried in one small bag, next to the other which holds 
 the spy-glass. See plate. 
 
 The mast ships, on either side the gun, in little cy- 
 linders that should be bored out of a solid piece of elm, 
 and fixed so as to be water-proof. When under sail, 
 both " hands" should get as much " aft" as possible, in 
 order to prevent the punt from " griping ;" and, as she 
 will then be rather " by the stern," the gun will point 
 too high, unless you lower the muzzle. For this pur- 
 pose I have invented a moveable support, on which you 
 may let down the gun ; and then go forward enough to 
 fire it, when running before the wind. 
 
 Where the birds are much used to gunning-punts, 
 firing under sail, from this kind of craft, is a murdering 
 recipe ; because my punt, when under sail, at a fair shot 
 from birds, appears like a large boat some hundred yards 
 off*. When others " set," I sail ; when others sail, I 
 " set." (The only way to take a lead in any thing is 
 not to copy other people, by which you are sure of doing 
 nothing beyond mediocrity!) 
 
 While the stem-piece is on, so much of this punt is 
 shut up as to be well defended from shipping a sea ; 
 
368 IMPROVED NEW PLAN FOR A 
 
 and when the open part is closed with oiled Russia 
 duck, which, by means of two large holes in it, is lashed 
 round the waists of the shooters, she becomes a com- 
 plete life-boat. But this " Esquimaux," as we call it, I 
 never had occasion to use but once ; and then more for 
 trial than from necessity. It, however, makes a de- 
 lightful covering in bad weather. This punt may be 
 made air-tight, and a regular life-boat without the cover. 
 But, on this plan, I found that we were much incon- 
 venienced, for want of room to " stow" away the mast, 
 oars, gunrods, &c., and therefore I opened her again all 
 the way under the deck. 
 
 This punt should be rounded, athwartships, about an 
 inch, and " sprung fore and aft" at least three inches. 
 Mine is about four, by which she has more " life in a 
 sea ;" and I put on a little wooden shoe, just under her 
 bow, which holds her on steady when you run her nose 
 aground ; and saves her from rubbing when landing on 
 a gravelly shore. I have of course also a defence of 
 thin sheet copper. 
 
 Except a few little cross-pieces of well seasoned oak, 
 the floors and timbers should Reformed together out of 
 one piece of tough ash. In order to make these fit 
 without a vacuum, the sides must of course be filled up 
 with angle-pieces. These should be cut to rather a 
 square shape, where the sides and bottom meet, and of 
 course be round inside, in order to meet the hoop 
 timbers. These angle-pieces, being merely to fill up 
 the space, require no strength, and therefore a long 
 piece of deal, or, in short, the lightest wood, is best 
 for them. Light bottom-boards are of course required, 
 in order to protect the timbers, &c., and with them we 
 can have sheepskins, rugs, or many other things more 
 
GUNNING-PUNT. 369 
 
 comfortable, and less likely to lose the " traps" in, than 
 rushes or straw. (For this great improvement in timbers 
 I believe we have to thank the Americans.) 
 
 The sides, " amidships," on this plan, being so very 
 low, may be " flammed" out as much as you please; 
 because they are not more than two or three inches 
 above the water; and the rising deck looks just like 
 the water itself. Thus all that the birds can see " end 
 on" is the bulwarks, which appear much less than even 
 the smallest launching-punt. 
 
 About 7 A inches above the surface of the water is 
 the best height for the gun, in dark nights, or in a dead 
 calm ; but in rough water, the higher the gun is fixed, 
 the more birds you will kill. 
 
 The staunchion should be " shipped" into a block of 
 elm, which ought to be fixed to nothing but the centre 
 plank, and this plank, just where the bolts go through, 
 should be left two inches thick. (The block and centre 
 plank of the punt that I built are carved in one solid 
 piece; but for this I was forced to cut down a fine elm 
 tree on purpose.) The gun should be fixed a little on 
 one side. To do this nicely, put your punt afloat, lie 
 down to your gun, and see that all is " in trim" every 
 way, before you bore the holes for the bolts. By this 
 means of fixing the knee, or block, the jar of the gun 
 is all thrown on one strong point, and every thing else 
 is carried back with it ; and therefore the sides, and 
 every other part of the boat, may be quite as light as 
 those of one which is only required for a shoulder gun. 
 
 Every thing should be slightly tacked together, and 
 balanced afloat, with the gun " shipped," and the 
 gunners on board, before the deck is put on, or the 
 knee fixed ; otherwise when the shooter lies down, to 
 
 B B 
 
370 IMPROVED NEW PLAN FOR A 
 
 the left of his gun, the chances are ten to one that he 
 finds his punt out of " trim." If means of easing the 
 recoil are adopted, the punt may then be made of even 
 lighter materials than the Poole canoe. I need scarcely 
 observe, that a punt, of the same size, which is light, 
 will drown a heavy one; as the latter, for want of 
 " life," labours in a sea, and gets filled ; while the other 
 flies over every thing, without taking in a drop of water : 
 add to which, a light punt may get out of danger, by 
 being hauled across the mud, when the other is obliged 
 to " weather it." But with a TWO hundred pound gun 
 this cannot be done ; and therefore we want a punt that 
 we can " live in." I formerly observed that where 
 nothing but the shoulder had to take the gun, I should 
 prefer my boat principally built of cork, which it would 
 be utterly impossible to sink. One with hoops and 
 canvas would be still better; and, I have no doubt, 
 might be made to answer both for launching and 'float- 
 shooting. 
 
 In approaching birds, the shooter, having nothing 
 else to attend to, may be constantly ready with his gun ; 
 so that, if they fly up, he can always ensure being able 
 to fire before they have risen twenty yards; while 
 another person has only to manage the punt. This he 
 will do by a setting pole, or skulling in a little crotch 
 with a single oar, according to the depth of water. As 
 either the one or the other will be under cover of the 
 front bulwark, they are less visible than working-sticks 
 or paddles at the sides. Paddles on the principle of a 
 bird's foot, and worked inside, would be desirable. 
 
 I have since built a long narrow punt for my single 
 gun, with a rope breeching (as before described under 
 the head of " punt-gun"), that goes through the stem. 
 
GUNNING-PUNT. 371 
 
 This punt will certainly row past the other as fast as 
 if she was moored ; and is much lighter. But I can 
 always get at least twenty yards nearer to birds with 
 the large one, because, from her breadth, she admits of 
 so much lower a deck; and in her I can fire while 
 quite out of sight ; whereas, with the rope breeching, I 
 must put my shoulder to the but, and thereby show my 
 head to the birds. In rough weather, too, these narrow 
 crafts are such " wet boats " as to make shooting more 
 a misery than a pleasure. All punts of this kind should 
 have no iron about them. All the nails, and every thing 
 required in metal, should be of wrought copper, for 
 which reason they cannot be completed in the best 
 manner without considerable expense. 
 
 Let me now conclude this narcotic essay on punt- 
 building by a reference to a new plate, executed, under 
 my directions, by Mr. Varley and Mr. Adlard; with 
 a scale of dimensions, which will, I trust, be found 
 more agreeable than troubling my readers with marks 
 of reference. 
 
 EXPLANATION. 
 
 N.B. Except the detached part of the gun, all here shown is 
 according to the scale ; though the lower view of the punt is, by 
 the perspective, a little thrown out of the proportion for measuring, 
 as well as of her " rakish" (or prettily shaped) appearance. But 
 this has been done in order to show some of the inside. 
 
 1. Broadside of the punt, shut up for the night; or for travelling 
 
 on the carriage. 
 
 2. Moveable support for gun. 
 
 3. Enlarged view from part of the gun, as shipped in the block, 
 
 showing the detonating lock, and the cannon-metal stock. 
 
 4. Travelling carriage on lancewood springs. The fore pieces 
 
 take off (as shown by dotted lines), and then you have only 
 to drag the hind wheels, (see chain ;) roll your punt up, 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 IMPROVED NEW TLAN FOR A 
 
 (see roller in front) ; and then refix the two fore pieces. 
 Put some hay-bands under your gun, lash every thing on 
 with a cart line, and you are then in marching order, for any 
 part of the M r orld. 
 
 5. " Truck," for shipping gun; and conveying ashore that and 
 
 the gear, birds, &c. 
 
 6. Perspective view of the punt, which we will now overhaul from 
 
 stern to stem. 
 
 N.B. Thin copper at each end, in order to cut through the ice. 
 [This proved invaluable last winter /] One skulling-crotch shipped; 
 the other stowed away, in the case, on deck. These should be made 
 fast with a piece of string ; or, being of copper, they would sink, if 
 they fell overboard. Starboard " trap-hatch," unshipped, for skulling 
 or setting. This should be stowed away under the side-deck ; but 
 I have here thrown it overboard, in order to show it. " Cleats ;" to 
 " make fast" sheet. Drawer for u cripple-stopping" ammunition. 
 The moment the gunner has made a shot, he should " douse back 
 stock," " up stem-piece," " on lock-cover," out with his little double 
 gun, from the canvas curtain on the starboard side, and get " right 
 aft" as quick as possible, and pop away at the cripples, while the 
 skipper rows the punt in chase of them. [N.B. Sling this gun so 
 that if it went off it could not injure you or your punt.] The next 
 drawer is for the small articles belonging to the large gun. These 
 drawers should have just over them a small ledge, inside the bul- 
 warks, or the wet will keep dribbling into them. They should be 
 marked with black stripes, or you will have some plague in seeing 
 where to ship them by night. The little marks round the outsides 
 of the bulwarks are meant for the brass studs to which is buttoned 
 on the " Esquimaux" cover. The " stem-piece," (or support for 
 chest, when lying to gun), mudboards, covers, cartridge-box, setting- 
 pole (or " sprit" for sail), loading-rod, sail, and ring-nosed ramrod 
 (or cleaning-rod), conclude all the " traps" that it may be necessary 
 to show ; and then all you require is a few years' practice, in order 
 to make a good use of them. 
 
 N.B. In the original plate I did not put those men which are in 
 the gunning-punt in their proper places for a " cripple chase" 
 because here they have no sea to encounter, and have a dog, and 
 other boats, to help them -, and as this is wholly an explanatory 
 plate, I have left out the men, in order to show better the interior 
 of the punt. 
 

GUNNING-PUNT. 373 
 
 The method of shooting wildfowl which I have last 
 described is the best calculated for the amusement of a 
 gentleman, as he may go out between breakfast and 
 dinner; and, in frosty weather, perhaps kill his twenty 
 or thirty couple in a day, followed by his companions, 
 who may keep at a distance, to enjoy a sight of the 
 sport ; and afterwards join in the " cripple chase." 
 [vide plate]. 
 
 So far superior is this diversion to what people are 
 aware of, that I have never yet met with a solitary 
 instance of one sportsman, who had seen it in perfection, 
 but what was quite elated ; and preferred even a sight 
 of it to the best day's game shooting in the kingdom. 
 It is therefore condemned as an occupation for rustics 
 only by those who know nothing whatever about it. 
 
 Let those, who fancy punt-shooting such a dangerous 
 amusement, compare the accidents that happen in it, 
 with those in fox-hunting, battu shooting, or any other 
 sport, and see in which they most frequently occur : 
 though this pursuit is generally followed by poor men, 
 who have the worst, the others, by gentlemen, who are 
 provided with the best, of every thing. In Poole har- 
 bour, for instance, where the channels, at times, are far 
 more dangerous than in most other places, I should, 
 at a rough guess, say, there were, on an average, a 
 hundred canoes ; and yet, for these last eighteen years, 
 which is as long as I have known the place, I have 
 never heard of but one man being drowned, and he was 
 not only subject to fits, but had left the shore when in 
 liquor. 
 
 I here allude to open punts, than which decked ones 
 are of course infinitely less exposed to danger. 
 
374 SHOOTING FROM A PUNT 
 
 SHOOTING WITH A STANCHION GUN 
 FROM A PUNT. 
 
 Now that we have got the gun and punt together, a 
 few more words as to the shooting : those, who fancy 
 that any one can shoot well into a large flock of fowl, 
 will find themselves in a mistake. There is, I must 
 repeat, much more knack in it than people are, at first, 
 aware of; and, in my humble opinion, it is far more 
 difficult than to kill double shots at game ; because the 
 man, who can quickly pitch his gun on, or just before, 
 a partridge, has so little variation in distance, as the 
 birds are generally from twenty to forty yards off, that 
 without any further calculation, or practice, he might, 
 in a slovenly manner, contrive to knock down the greater 
 part of those at which he fires. But, in the other 
 shooting, the different calculations of elevation, &c., 
 are tenfold more difficult ; and particularly if taking 
 flying shots, at perhaps one hundred yards, from a boat 
 that is rolling and pitching in a sea, and where one 
 inch in aim might make the difference of twenty fowl 
 at a shot, or not touching a feather. All this, however, 
 is best gained by practice, though it may be right to 
 caution the beginner against mismanagement, that might 
 unjustly put him out of conceit with his gun. 
 
 In long sitting shots, he must (as I before observed, 
 arid cannot too often repeat) remember, at long distances, 
 to preserve a little elevation for his gun ; and further, 
 a good elevation for the birds springing at the flash, 
 and perhaps being up before the shot has time to reach 
 them. 
 
WITH A STANCHION GUN. 375 
 
 On going to either hoopers or geese he will, nine 
 times in ten, have notice by the birds themselves when 
 he is to fire, as they, previously to taking wing, draw 
 closer together and set their heads up ; so that he may 
 keep on, even if it were to within forty yards, till they 
 give the signal. And if at night (which is the only time 
 he could get so near) they were still down, he should 
 first take level ; and then, previously to drawing the 
 trigger, make some little noise, and by this means in- 
 duce them to look up, before they receive their " allow- 
 ance." By thus having their feathers open, and their 
 stretched necks for a target, he will kill at least double 
 the quantity that he would do when they were either 
 sitting close down, or flying ; as in the one position 
 their feathers would be closed, and in the other the 
 birds would be much more scattered, than when down. 
 The curres, dunbirds, &c. will generally give notice 
 likewise. The ducks and wigeon not near so well ; 
 and the teal spring instantly, without giving the least 
 notice ; so that in shooting the latter birds, fire as soon 
 as you think you can make a tolerable shot. Always, 
 however, get as near as you can. Rely on it, close 
 quarters is the grand recipe for filling the bag, at this, 
 and all other shooting. You must remember too that 
 the sea, or any water, with a large flock of birds on it, 
 deceives you extremely; insomuch that what many 
 people fancy fifty ', proves to be above a hundred yards. 
 Take a novice afloat, and the first specimen he gives 
 you of his ignorance in the art, is either to fire himself, 
 or endeavour to persuade you to fire, at birds which are 
 very far out of gunshot. 
 
 CURRES. We will now make a few short observa- 
 tions on the birds usually killed in this way. I will 
 
376 SHOOTING BRENT GEESE 
 
 begin with the " curres" (a provincial term for all the 
 various tribe of diving ducks), as they appear about 
 October. These birds, when accustomed to the skir- 
 mishers of the coast, are generally worse to get at than 
 any others ; and you have then often no other alternative 
 than paddling up a winding creek, so as to suddenly 
 pop on them in turning a corner, and fire either sitting 
 or just as they fly up. But when curres are, by frost, just 
 driven to the coast from under the kind protection of 
 some bird fancier's pond, they are a fine prey for a swivel 
 gun ; provided you hide the flash ; get their heads up 
 before you shoot ; and are well armed with little double 
 detonaters, to work away at the " cripples," after you 
 have stocked the water with them, by the discharge of 
 your artillery. For thus finishing the business, the 
 percussion system is a sine qua non, as these birds are 
 sure to " duck the flash 5 ' after, if not before, being wing 
 broken ; and they will, when wounded, shrug them- 
 selves up so much, that you ought to get within fifteen 
 yards, before you give them the coup de grace. Hun- 
 dreds of sportsmen would be glad to lake a punt, and 
 follow you, on a fine sunshiny day, for this purpose ; 
 while you might either sit still and enjoy the fun, or 
 be proceeding for some other attack. But the business 
 must be done as quick as possible ; or one half of the 
 curres will be off, while you are killing the others. 
 Cartridges and all other expeditious means are here 
 desirable. Curres most frequently keep afloat, instead 
 of going on the mud. 
 
 BRENT GEESE. Towards November, or December, 
 we have the brent geese, which are always wild, unless 
 in very hard weather. In calm weather the geese have 
 the cunning, in general, to leave the mud, as soon as 
 
WITH A STANCHION GUN. 377 
 
 the tide flows high enough to bear an enemy ; and then 
 they go off to sea, and feed on the drifting weeds. But 
 when it blows so fresh, that they cannot weather it 
 long enough to feed outside of the harbour, they then 
 continue inside the whole day ; though they most fre- 
 quently take especial care to weather almost any thing, 
 rather than trust themselves there at night; except 
 when they are very short of food. If therefore you have 
 water over the mud for your punt, you may often make 
 a tolerable shot by setting, or sailing, even in mild 
 weather, particularly when the tide has kept up high, 
 and the geese, having become hungry, are just getting 
 their legs, at the first ebb ; and still more so if this 
 happens towards sunset, when they feed greedily pre- 
 vious to leaving the harbour for the night. 
 
 In mild weather prefer following a small flock to a 
 large one. Recollect ', the more pairs of eyes, the wilder 
 the birds. A single goose is termed a "pricked" bird ; 
 that is, turned out of his company, for having a slight 
 wound, which is invariably the case. 
 
 Taking it for granted that my young reader now 
 understands me, as to presenting the gun, I have only 
 to give a few directions on the last, though not the 
 least, thing, to be observed; his getting the geese 
 which he may have shot. They take such a hard blow, 
 that he will, generally, find the greater part of them, 
 that are stopped by the shot, well enough to swim and 
 dive with the greatest agility, and they will all inva- 
 riably make for the heaviest sea that is near. The 
 boat, which follows, therefore, should always keep well 
 on the outside of the birds; and, if armed with some 
 " cripple stoppers" (old muskets, or any small arms), 
 so much the better ; as, while you are rowing after one 
 
378 SHOOTING BRENT GEESE 
 
 goose, the others may all get off to sea. If you are 
 near enough to reach a wounded bird without a gun, 
 take him horizontally across the neck with the edge of 
 an oar, or you may thrash away at him to no effect, till 
 you have splashed yourself from head to foot ; so very 
 hard are the upper coverts of his feathers. In shallow 
 water, where he is not obliged to swim, a good light 
 dog will do more in five minutes, than a party of men 
 could do in an hour. But when once the dog is out of 
 his depth, these birds are so quick in diving, that they 
 will most probably escape from him. 
 
 When it blows fresh and the tides are very high, you 
 will always do best by leaving the geese quiet: 1. Be- 
 cause they are then more dispersed, and there are then 
 more stragglers to catch a view of your broadside : 
 2. because they are so buried in the waves that, if you 
 shoot sitting, the water will intercept the shot ; and, 
 on their flying up, the wind is apt to disperse them, so 
 much that you cannot kill many : and, 3. because they, 
 finding no inducement to stay in one place, while there 
 is no food to be got, have no other employment than to 
 be constantly on the watch. Always, therefore, waif 
 till the " ground ebb ;" and then the birds, having been 
 beat about, and starved, for perhaps all the food, and 
 all the after-flood *, will be so greedy for a good feed, 
 that you will, at this time, get much nearer to them ; 
 and find them well congregated for a heavy shot ; par- 
 ticularly if your punt draws so little water as to enable 
 
 * We have two tides on the Hampshire coast. The first as the 
 water flows in from the Needles ; the second as it comes down the 
 Western Channel. The second is generally two hours after the 
 first; so that, in high tides, the water sometimes keeps up for 
 several hours. 
 
WITH A STANCHION GUN. 379 
 
 you to catch the birds on their legs. Moreover, you 
 will have no difficulty in securing your cripples ; many 
 of which, in a high tide, escape to sea, while you are 
 popping off the others. 
 
 HOOPERS, or WILD-SWANS. When the winter fur- 
 ther advances, and the birds are driven from Holland 
 and the Baltic to the more genial climate of the south, 
 and then followed by severe weather to the refuge they 
 have chosen, their last alternative is to leave the fens, 
 ponds, and decoys, and betake themselves to the sea- 
 coast, in order to avoid starvation. Then, and then 
 only, it is, that all this diversion may be enjoyed in 
 perfection, and without much trouble or difficulty. We 
 have then a variety of all kinds of wildfowl, and sport 
 for every shooter. And it is at such a time as this only, 
 we can expect to see the monarch of the tribe, the 
 hooper, or wild-swan. We had, during the hard winter 
 in 1823, a fine specimen of all this on the Hampshire 
 coast, the flats of which, off Keyhaven and Pennington, 
 were, for some weeks, covered with ice and snow. No- 
 thing could be more novel or beautiful than the appear- 
 ance of the harbour, which was one solid region of ice, 
 crowned with pyramids that had formed themselves of 
 the drifted snow, and frozen like Crystals ; and, on the 
 thaw, the harbour appeared like one huge floating island, 
 as the ice which covered it was carried off by the fall 
 of a high spring-tide. The effect of this huge body, 
 with the wild-swans sitting upon it, while it receded, 
 and looking as if formed by nature for the only inha- 
 bitants of such a dreary region, gave the spectator more 
 the idea of a voyage to the arctic circle, than the shore 
 of a habitable country. When the large bodies of ice 
 were carried off, and nothing remained but those of a 
 
380 SHOOTING WILD-SWANS 
 
 smaller size, the whole harbour was, of course, in arms 
 with shooters, and had almost the appearance of a place 
 that was besieged. The following morning, though it 
 blew very hard, and poured with rain, every one was 
 in arms for seven of the swans that again appeared, 
 anxiously hoping that they might swim, or fly, near 
 enough for a random shot ; though the punters, from 
 drawing too much water, required at least another half 
 hour's flood before they could make the difficult attempt 
 of getting at them in open day. By having a punt 
 which drew less water than theirs, it was, therefore, my 
 lot to have the first chance, if no one fired off a gun, in 
 order to spoil the shot, which is a very common practice 
 on this, and many other coasts. I, therefore, took the 
 precaution of getting well round to windward ; and when 
 I had arrived as much to windward as one dare go to 
 wildfowl, having previously covered myself and my man 
 with clean white linen, and a white nightcap, to appear 
 the colour of the snow, we floated down among the small 
 pans of white ice that were constantly drifting to lee- 
 ward ; and, by this means, had a couple in the boat, 
 and another that afterwards dropped dead, just as the 
 other punts were coming up. This circumstance I think 
 it right to mention, in case it should hereafter be found 
 a useful recipe for getting at very wild birds, though it 
 is with reluctance that I become so much the egotist as 
 to introduce any thing that relates to my own per- 
 formance. In giving further directions about swans, 
 I must observe, that to take a sitting shot you need 
 never be hurried, as these birds never can rise above 
 the level of any swivel-gun till they have beat the water 
 for several yards, in order to get their huge bodies on 
 the wing. To shoot them flying, make all possible 
 
WITH A STANCHION GUN. 381 
 
 haste to row (or if on land, to run) till you get under 
 them, as they fly very low, and will seldom break their 
 course ; and, therefore, may be frequently killed by sur- 
 rounding them with boats, and having a gunning-punt 
 in advance, ready to fire as they pass. We afterwards 
 got two more of them by this means. Be careful, how- 
 ever, always to let a swan pass you, so as to shoot under 
 his feathers, or you may as well fire at a wool-pack. 
 (This, I believe, I named before, as well as that his 
 head must be your target, if you have only a common 
 ' gun.) In 1829, and again this last hard winter, I had 
 excellent sport with the hoopers ; and if the tide, the 
 ice, and the other gunners, would only allow me to 
 proceed, I generally got one, or more, whenever they 
 appeared on our coast. But, before I launched the 
 punt, that has been before described, I thought a great 
 deal of killing two or three hoopers in a season. Before 
 going up to hoopers, put a few large pieces of ice on the 
 deck of your punt, in order to prevent these long-necked 
 birds from seeing into it. If a swan rises out of shot, 
 where he is likely to go entirely away, present your 
 small gun very far before him, and over him, and by 
 thus firing, you will sometimes make him " haul his 
 wind," as a sailor calls it, and come across, a fair shot 
 for your large gun. 
 
 Hundreds of common swans are mistaken for hoopers. 
 In hard weather they are driven from gentlemen's seats, 
 and still more so from the large swanneries ; such, for 
 instance, as that at Abbotsbury, in Dorsetshire. They 
 then frequently repair to the shore ; and by congre- 
 gating in flocks, and there getting driven about and 
 shot at, become quite as wild as the real hoopers, from 
 
382 BOAT SHOOTING, UNDER SAIL. 
 
 which they are difficult to distinguish, unless you hear 
 them hoop. But when near enough to inspect the head 
 you can be no longer in doubt, as the naked skin above 
 the bill in the tame swan is black, and in the wild swan 
 bright yellow. Under two years of age the hoopers, 
 like other cygnets, are not white, but more or less of a 
 dull fawn colour, and then the yellow is much less 
 brilliant ; though still plain enough to distinguish them 
 from swans of the tame species. Moreover, the tame 
 swan has a protuberance just above the bill, where the 
 forehead of the wild swan rises gradually in profile, 
 though it is rather hollow when inspected from the 
 centre. [I write this with a stuffed specimen of the 
 tame swan, and each specimen of the hooper now before 
 me.] 
 
 An octavo volume might be rapidly filled, without 
 reference to any other work, on the mere subject of 
 shooting all the foregoing birds ; but, through con- 
 sideration for my reader's patience, I shall now conclude, 
 sincerely hoping that I have given all the real informa- 
 tion which is absolutely necessary for his pursuit of 
 them. 
 
 BOAT SHOOTING, 
 UNDER SAIL, OUTSIDE OF HARBOUR. 
 
 (As no one, I presume, would go afloat without either 
 having sailors, or being pretty good amateur sailors 
 themselves, it would be needless, as well as difficult, to 
 write otherwise than in nautical terms.) 
 
 We now take our leave of the harbour, and will have 
 
BOAT SHOOTING, UNDER SAIL. 
 
 one cruise out of harbour before we proceed for the 
 shooting system to France. 
 
 To venture after fowl at sea you must have a large 
 boat, with good bearings, that will carry plenty of can- 
 vas. Rowing after them scarcely ever answers; but 
 when it blows fresh, a fast sailing boat may often run 
 in upon geese, and sometimes other birds, before they 
 can take wing ; and after a coast has been for some time 
 harassed by the gunning-punts, I have seen more birds 
 killed under sail from a common boat, than by any 
 other manner of day shooting. But to do the business 
 tvell, a stanchion-gun must be fixed in the boat, and 
 this, by all means, contrived so as to go back with the 
 recoil, or you run the risk of staving your boat, and, 
 therefore, of being really in danger. Recollect, when 
 you get on the outside of the harbour, an accident is no 
 joke ; and you have, as Dr. Johnson observes, but one 
 plank between you and eternity. 
 
 A boat for this work should have plenty of bearings, 
 and have as little keel as she can well go to windward 
 with, in order to get, at times, within shot of the mud 
 and sands, and also to run through a harbour at spring- 
 tides, without getting aground. You should, therefore, 
 for this sport, always make choice of a day when the 
 wind is off the land, and a time when the tide is flowing i 
 as you have then no danger of filling your boat with 
 the hollow sea of a lee shore, or running her so fast 
 aground as not to be able to get her off immediately. 
 In following wildfowl under sail, command, as much as 
 you can, a windward birth, in order to bear down on 
 them at pleasure ; and if they rise out of shot against 
 wind, as they usually do, luff up directly, and try to 
 
384 EXPLANATION OF PLATE. 
 
 head them for a cross shot. As the gun, when on one 
 tack, is in the way of the jib, you must have the man 
 who attends the jib-sheets always in readiness to haul 
 the weather one to windward ; but this must be done 
 only just before you want to fire, or you deaden the 
 boat's way. Take care also to let the sheet be under 
 the barrel of the gun, in order that your line of aim may 
 be clear of every thing. In this pursuit, when the more 
 wind sometimes the more sport, never go with less than 
 three good hands ; and be careful, in squally weather, 
 not to make too fast the mamsheet, as nine-tenths of the 
 misfortunes that we hear of have occurred from this very 
 circumstance. 
 
 While on this subject, it may be useful information 
 to many gentlemen, and it is but doing justice to an 
 ingenious man to say, that, for building a boat, yacht, 
 &c. I have never yet met with any one who could beat 
 Mr. Thomas Inman, of Lymington. As a much better 
 recommendation than my book, I need only say that 
 he has been chosen by Joseph Weld, Esq. for building 
 his yachts. Mr. Inman removed to Lymington from 
 Hastings. 
 
 I will now conclude here with explaining the ap- 
 parent inconsistencies of the plate by a dialogue, a la 
 Walton : 
 
 Critic. Why put all your wounded geese swimming 
 one way? 
 
 Author. Because geese, directly they are wounded, 
 always make for the heaviest sea. 
 
 Critic. Admit that : but why have you made birds 
 falling where no gun is fired ? 
 
 Author. Because, in wildfowl shooting, one third of 
 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE. 385 
 
 the birds that are mortally wounded fly off apparently 
 unhurt, and then drop suddenly from the flock. 
 
 Critic. Why is your wounded curlew on his legs, 
 and the goose unable to dive, while the winged hooper 
 is able to swim ? 
 
 Author. Because the mud being convex, in some 
 places, the water that flows over it is only about three 
 inches deep there ; while it may be nearly a foot deep 
 a few yards further; and the web-footed bird always 
 makes for the deep, while the wader seeks the shallow, 
 water. 
 
 Before dismissing the plate, too, I should explain, 
 that the man, who is taking the passing shot, is 
 sketched for Buckle, with his punt : the yawl is with 
 a party, and a swivel-gun, who are bearing down, in 
 obedience to the punter's signal, while the other man 
 is standing on his mud-boards, hallooing and swearing 
 because he also cannot obey the signal (by walking 
 across to intercept the cripples) through fear of leaving 
 two city gentlemen aground ; while their poodle dog can 
 no longer contain himself, and on hearing another shot, 
 jumps overboard. The Newfoundlander, in the fore- 
 ground, is sketched from a bitch of mine, that was 
 imported from St. John's. 
 
 In describing these subjects, however, I have un- 
 fortunately not the means of getting assisted as could 
 be wished, because they are so totally foreign to artists. 
 But for the original plate from which this was taken I 
 am indebted to the kind and able assistance of William 
 Daniell, Esq. R.A, 
 
 c c 
 
386 BOATS USED IN THE 
 
 BOATS USED IN THE SOUTHAMPTON 
 RIVER, AND ELSEWHERE. 
 
 Having spoken of the Hampshire coast, I allude to 
 that part of it all the way from Christchurch bay to 
 Leap and Calshot; on sailing round which point we 
 open the Southampton river, where the mode of shoot- 
 ing again differs. The order of the day here is to 
 have small carvel-built boats, and many other miserable 
 contrivances. 
 
 The gunners (or rather bird-frighteners) in these 
 parts scarcely regard any appearance in dress or colour. 
 These men, particularly the Itchen ferrymen, go sailing 
 about all day, firing random shots, and so disturb the 
 coast, that they spoil the sport of those few who really 
 understand, and would assist their families by the pur- 
 suit of wildfowl. What few birds they kill are either 
 geese, brought down on the wing, by constantly firing 
 very large mould shot ; or cripples which have escaped 
 from other gunners, and got into a sea which their 
 light high-sided boats are able to weather. Farther up 
 this river, towards Millbrook, before it was so incessantly 
 bombarded, they had formerly a more sensible plan; 
 but this was chiefly for getting the curres. It was to 
 set, at low water, lines, with horse-hair loops, in which 
 these birds were caught and drowned, when diving to 
 bite the weeds, and were thus left on the mud by the 
 ebbing tide. 
 
 On other parts, of the coast of England, I have ob- 
 served the boats are more or less on the construction of 
 those already mentioned. But when in Scotland, I 
 
SOUTHAMPTON RIVER. 387 
 
 could procure nothing small enough to answer the 
 purpose in any way. This, however, was some years 
 ago. Here (on the Clyde, below Dumbarton) the 
 sport would have been excellent, and particularly at 
 the barnacles ; but since I was there, I hear that this, 
 like all other places, is nothing like what it was in 
 former times. 
 
 c c 2 
 
Artificial 
 
 FOR CURLEWS, PLOVER, OXBIRDS; AND, IN 
 HARD WEATHER, ALL OTHER BIRDS. 
 
 I HAVE generally seen a great many curlews, gray 
 plover, and oxbirds, at " the fall," as the gunners call 
 it, which is towards the end of October ; and sometimes 
 even as early as the equinox. As these birds generally 
 congregate sometime before the real wildfowl arrive, 
 they frequently show good sport ; and are, at all events, 
 no bad substitutes for getting the gun and gear into 
 play for the approaching season ; particularly as the 
 gray plover are delicious, and the oxbirds tolerably good 
 eating. The first question therefore is, How are we 
 to kill them in any great quantity? The old gunners 
 will tell you to catch them on a point at high water ; 
 or on the edge of the mud, just as the tide begins to 
 fall. But I can tell the old gunners that " down our 
 way/' as the cant phrase is, no sooner does "the fall" 
 arrive, than there is scarcely a point to be seen but what 
 is garnished with the shock-head of some shore-popper 
 or other ; and, in many parts of the world, as likely as 
 not, by some " hand" in the preventive service. Thus, 
 while the vigilant examiner of pockets and portmanteaus, 
 
ARTIFICIAL ISLAND FOR CURLEWS, &C. 389 
 
 and rival of the hungry " saddle-back*," with his go- 
 vernment-gear, is all eyes after a trip of birds, the 
 " fair-trader," by wholesale, is, perhaps, with all hands, 
 " working a crop of goods." But, to return to our 
 innocent occupation, at the ebb, there are generally 
 shooters in proportion to the birds ; and, at low water, 
 the birds are several hundred yards in, upon the mud, 
 which, on most parts of the Hampshire coast, is so flat, 
 that even the curlews are washed off their legs, by the 
 flowing tide, before a punter can find water to go into 
 them. The plan that I adopted, the season before last, 
 when I happened to be staying on the coast, was to 
 make an island in the middle of the ooze, where I was 
 sure of the first shot ; unless any one was there whose 
 punt drew less water than mine, which happened not 
 to be the case. The way to make an island, that will 
 stand the overwhelming south-westers, is this : Go, at 
 low water, and drive strong poles, from nine to twelve 
 feet long, into the mud, at about the interval usual for 
 hedge-stakes, till they stand no more than two or three 
 feet in height. Then make a hedge to enclose as much 
 space as you may wish your gun to sweep. Fill in your 
 fence with faggots, well lashed on ; and then cover them 
 with mud, sea-weed, and light gravel, taking care to 
 leave a smooth up-hill surface, which your gun will 
 play well upon ; and without leaving any protuberance 
 that would protect the birds from the shot. After your 
 island has stood a few heavy gales, you will then see 
 whether you have to replenish it or not ; and, when all 
 
 * Coasters' term for the great black-backed gull, which hovers at 
 a distance, till a shot has been fired ; and then takes away the killed 
 and wounded before your face. 
 
390 ARTIFICIAL ISLAND FOR CURLEWS, &C. 
 
 appears to stand well, go and cut off your stakes, level 
 with the island ; as they might, otherwise, wholly alarm 
 the birds, or partly protect them from your shot. Let 
 your island be completed a few weeks before the 
 autumnal passage of the birds; and I'll warrant that 
 the first heavy gale and spring tide will drive to it 
 some home-bred oxbirds, if not curlews. These, pro- 
 vided they are not driven away, by some premature tyro 
 of a gunner, will bring down the birds of passage which 
 migrate to the coast ; so that, with the first good tide, 
 and very high wind, you may expect to see not one 
 particle of your island but only the rug, or carpet, as 
 it were, which is formed by the innumerable birds that 
 cover it. 
 
CARRIAGE FOR USING A STANCHION GUN 
 ON LAND. 
 
 BEFORE we cross the channel, for France, we will 
 now look at the artillery. 
 
 A stanchion gun may be fired from a carriage, that 
 can be wheeled over land ; which is much lighter than 
 a common loaded barrow. But, with this contrivance, 
 the person firing the gun must sit on the carriage and 
 rest his feet on the strap, so as to go back with it, other- 
 wise he would, by going directly behind it, stand a 
 chance of being knocked down; or, at all events, of 
 getting his shins broken. 
 
 Having contrived one, which answers well, I here 
 give a representation of it, with directions for its ma- 
 nagement. 
 
392 INVISIBLE APPROACH. 
 
 EXPLANATION. 
 
 A A Bands of copper. 
 
 B Plate of ditto to strengthen gun stock. 
 
 C C Handles to wheel carriage. 
 
 D Cord that goes over stock to elevate muzzle of gun, while 
 wheeling carriage. 
 
 E Leather strap to support feet. 
 
 F Splinter-bar to carry a hurdle, bushes, or any thing to mask 
 shooter, and apparatus, when approaching birds. 
 
 (To do which he must unhook the cord, and let the gun rest on 
 the bar; then fix his ambush, and crawl along, pushing all before him 
 till he is near enough to get into his seat and fire.) 
 
 DIRECTIONS. 
 
 A barrel made with trunnions, or a spring swivel, is best; as 
 with this the copper is no longer required. 
 
 N. B. Block to be 22 inches wide ; iron round the top of the hole; 
 and the stanchion to go through the axle-tree below. 
 
 Keep the hole well oiled, to prevent rust ; and for the facility of 
 turning, or lifting out the gun. 
 
 The ramrod, &c. may go on the carriage. 
 
 Your shoulder and cheek should be kept just clear of the stock. 
 
 INVISIBLE APPROACH. 
 
 We have all been asleep about one invention and 
 that is the means of approaching wild birds in an open 
 plain, or on a pond which affords no ambush. The old 
 stalking horse was almost the only remedy for this, till 
 I brought out the " wildfowl artillery;" and, with either 
 of these, if birds <m\yfly round to reconnoitre, you are 
 exposed, and there is an end of your sport. But, at 
 last, thanks to this wonderful " march of intellect," I 
 have had the brains to contrive what I was a " flat" for 
 not thinking of ten years ago an invisible approach, 
 
INVISIBLE APPROACH. 393 
 
 over which birds may repeat their flight, like swallows 
 or bats, and be as wise at last as they were at first. 
 It is simply a little frame, on wheels, made of good and 
 well seasoned ash, and thereon placed a moderate sized 
 stanchion gun ; the recoil of which is taken by a long 
 rope-breeching, that closes a spiral spring, in order to 
 ease the frame, and thereby enable you to have it light. 
 You have only to lash down the but of the gun, so as 
 to elevate the muzzle, and the machine may be wheeled 
 about like a barrow, or " towed" behind any kind of 
 vehicle. 
 
 To approach birds lean with your chest and elbows 
 on the sacking, and go on your knees, having, of course, 
 knee-caps or water-boots, till you get within about a 
 hundred and fifty yards of your fowl ; then crawl into 
 your shell, so far as to leave out only yo\\y feet; and 
 work on with them. But, as this is rather harder labour, 
 you may leave it till absolutely necessary. Be careful 
 to approach as slowly as possible for the last fifty yards ; 
 and, if you see birds looking up wild, lie quiet, and wait 
 till their heads are down again, before you move on. 
 
 This machine may be covered with boughs, &c., or 
 masked, in front, with the skin of a sheep, deer, or what 
 you please ; and the birds will then let you approach 
 them as well as if you were some harmless quadruped. 
 (I would allow the critic to say " an ass" if the thing 
 had not answered most admirably ; as many people who 
 have seen it can prove.) This invention being difficult 
 to explain, and the subject a dull one to write on, I 
 will now give three views of it, which were taken by 
 Mr. Cornelius Varley, with his admirable invention, 
 the patent " graphic telescope" 
 
 I have added a little " approach," or Birnam wheel- 
 
394 INVISIBLE APPROACH. 
 
 barrow, or march-of-intellect machine, or, whatever 
 we are to call it (the clods call it the " nwisable 
 proach") for the use of small guns. This was tried 
 by a gamekeeper, at some leverets feeding, which, on 
 seeing him, always ran into covert, three gunshots off. 
 But when he advanced in this machine, he killed some 
 with the greatest ease. I have withheld putting the 
 boughs or covering on this, in order to show the wheel- 
 wright how to make it. The expense of my little one 
 was about twelve shillings ; so that I dare say even a 
 rogue would make one for a guinea or thirty shillings. 
 The large one is a heavier and more expensive concern. 
 As an ambush to wait in, it answers comfortably for all 
 places, whether wet or dry. But to advance with it on 
 birds, we, of course, require tolerably good ground. Let 
 me see the man who will invent any thing to work a 
 stanchion gun over bad ground ! 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
 
 The first sketch represents a bird's eye view, to show the ma- 
 chinery, viz. the spiral spring, which closes by the recoil of the 
 gun ; the painted canvas that hides the fore-wheels ; and the pockets 
 convenient for stowing ramrods, c Q. Why is the spring not in 
 the centre? A. Because, if it was, that breadth which would cor- 
 respond with the space occupied by the shooter, would give an unne- 
 cessary increase of size and weight to the machine. The second is 
 a foreshortened view of the apparatus, dressed up with boughs, as it 
 appears when approaching birds and under mask of a wooded back- 
 ground. The third is a broadside view, with the gun fixed, showing 
 the rope-breeching, by the pull of which, on a sliding bar of wood, 
 the spiral spring is closed: the sliding support, on which the gun 
 rests firm, to whatever height you want to fire a sitting shot; and 
 the canvas cover above, which, when put on, conceals the opera- 
 tions of the shooter. The small machine, near the centre of the 
 plate, is for a common shoulder-gun, which may be rested on the 
 front bar, and thus fired, like a rifle. 
 

footing S2Utltrfotol tn ^France. 
 
 ON the French coast, although they are all great 
 shooters, and especially on a Sunday ! I could never 
 meet with a very small boat of any kind. 
 
 I remember going to a lake, called Gattemare, about 
 a league from Barfleur, which contained more wildfowl 
 (chiefly dunbirds) than ever I had before seen together. 
 They floated with the greatest composure, while the 
 canaille were firing at coots, &c. from the banks ; and 
 the lake being above a mile long, and nearly half a mile 
 broad, these birds, aware of their safety (like the ranks 
 of puffins on a cliff), remained indifferent to the noise of 
 guns. Finding nothing could be done with them, I, 
 and some friends, tempted the commissary of marine, 
 by a promise of bringing birds enough to keep his 
 family for a week, and giving him something from 
 Angleterre, to exert himself most zealously in getting 
 a boat overland. This having been accomplished, we 
 started before daylight ; but instead of finding a petit 
 canot, as he and his gens d'armes had described it, we 
 were ushered into a huge man of war's boat, that, in a 
 few minutes, put the whole pond in motion with the 
 rising of birds, and very soon after was nearly sending 
 us to the bottom of it, by the rapidity with which it 
 leaked. In spite of all, however, our sport, with common 
 
396 SHOOTING WILDFOWL IN FRANCE. 
 
 guns, was admirably good, and I have little doubt but 
 that, with proper equipment and apparatus, we might 
 have done wonders. 
 
 We afterwards agreed for the exclusive right of the 
 shooting there, and protected it, according to the custom 
 of this country, by an armed garde-chasse, which part 
 was most ably performed by one of the commissary's 
 gens d'armes, who, in addition to his military fusee, 
 had provided himself with the terrific appendages of a 
 cutlass and a set of handcuffs. 
 
 We found the French peasants very intelligent, and 
 useful to assist in shooting; and, although quite ignorant 
 of following birds on the water (in comparison with 
 Englishmen), yet they were pretty well up to the making 
 of bastions, huts, and every other trick for getting shots 
 on, and from, the shore. 
 
 The French coast is plentifully supplied with wild- 
 fowl ; which there are far more easy of access than in 
 our country. Taking from between Cherburg and 
 Neville to Carentan, there is, I believe, no better place 
 within the same distance, from the south of England, 
 than this would be, for an enthusiast in the diversion. 
 Here the birds are now far more numerous than on 
 the coast of England ; and the very few shots that are 
 worth taking with the wretched guns and powder, 
 which are used by the few people who here follow wild- 
 fowl, render their sporting but a trifling impediment to 
 your enjoying the whole range of country. (Although 
 the powder is so execrably bad, yet the French shot is 
 well manufactured, and of good quality.) 
 
 The only objection, however, after the ten or twelve 
 hours' sail, which this would about be from Lymington 
 or Poole, is, that the isolated situation of the country, 
 
FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING. 397 
 
 arid the misery of the inhabitants, preclude your having 
 any farther amusement than the constant pursuit of 
 sport. 
 
 FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING, 
 
 CALLED 
 
 LA CHASSE A LA HUTTE. 
 
 As the French hut-shooting is the only means by 
 which a very bad shot, with a very bad gun, may kill 
 ducks while as dry and as warm as if by his fireside, I 
 made a point, on a subsequent excursion to France, of 
 going up to Peronne *, which may be styled the uni- 
 versity for chasseurs on this system, in order to make 
 myself master of it, and insert it in the third edition, 
 under an idea that its great facility, and little incon- 
 venience, may better suit the generality of my readers, 
 than the more scientific plans of wildfowl shooting. 
 The lakes of Peronne are better calculated for a lover 
 of comfort to shoot at his ease than any place I have 
 seen. The water, being a part of the Somme, is not 
 quite stagnant ; and is, in every part, about four or five 
 feet deep, surrounded, and intersected, by innumerable 
 islands and walls of rushes. The waters here are rented 
 by different " huttiers" (hut-shooters), who get the chief 
 of their livelihood by supplying the markets of Paris, 
 
 * The hut system is also tolerably understood near Calais. Mon- 
 sieur Huret I found to be " le plus fort huttier" there; and, if I 
 remember correctly, it was him that I met one morning with forty- 
 three wildfowl, that he was just bringing home, with his basket of 
 call-birds, after one night's sport. 
 
398 FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING. 
 
 and other towns, with wildfowl, which they shoot, in- 
 stead of taking them by decoys, as in our country. 
 Though the French, in some places, are very expert at 
 catching birds (particularly on that vast tract of wild 
 sand between Crotoi and St. Valery, where I have seen 
 the whole mouth of the Somme spread with nets and 
 surrounded by lines of horse-hair nooses), yet shooting 
 from the hut (la hutte) is the favourite, and most ge- 
 neral, method of getting wild-fowl in France. The 
 common way of making a hut is to dig a hole in the 
 ground by the side of some pool or pond ; and then 
 roof it over with turf, so that not an opening remains, 
 but one hole, into which you crawl ; out of which you 
 fire ; and in front of which are fastened, to three se- 
 parate pegs in the water, two tame ducks, and a drake. 
 The drake must be in the centre, and the ducks one on 
 each side of him, at about five yards interval ; and the 
 birds being thus separated, will, frequently, be calling 
 to each other ; and if so, there will seldom pass a wild 
 one, but will come and drop with them. You cannot, 
 in general, succeed with less than three call birds. In- 
 deed I should recommend having never less than six ; 
 and, if you have twelve, or even more, all the better. 
 
 The chief point, however, to be attended to in Eng- 
 land, is to get, if possible, some young wild-ducks bred 
 up, and pinioned. Or, by way of a makeshift, to select 
 tame birds which are the most clamorous, even if their 
 colour should not be like the wild ones. But in France 
 you have seldom any trouble to do this, as the ducks 
 used in that country are mostly of the wild breed ; and 
 three French ducks, like three Frenchmen, will make 
 about as much noise as a dozen English. 
 
 The Italians, in order to make their call birds noisy, 
 
FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING. 399 
 
 for a " roccalo," burn out their eyes with a hot needle ; 
 a practice at which I am sure my English readers would 
 shudder ; though the translation of what they say in 
 Italy is, that " these are the happiest birds in the world ; 
 always singing." (It may be necessary to explain, that 
 a roccalo is a plantation, and a large silk net, into which 
 various small birds are driven, as soon as they have col- 
 lected, by a Signor, who is concealed above the trees, 
 in a highly elevated box, similar to a small pigeon- 
 house. Out of this he hurls down a large stick upon 
 the birds ; and they, flying down, as if to avoid a hawk, 
 are all made prisoners in the net which is placed behind 
 the trees.) But, to return to the huts of Peronne : they 
 are very superior to the common ones. The way to 
 make them is this : Cut down a large square in the 
 reeds, about eight feet by four; make a foundation of 
 either stone, wood, or brick. Then drive in six piles 
 on each side ; and on them put six hoops, precisely like 
 those to a tilted waggon. The foundation being then 
 formed, nothing remains but to build up the sides with 
 turf, or what else you please, and thatch the roof and 
 the whole of the inside. In front there must be either 
 two or four port holes to fire through (each one bearing 
 clear of your call birds), and at the back a little door to 
 crawl in at, which you enter by a labyrinth. This 
 hut, being built among the high reeds, and afterwards 
 strewed over with them, is completely in visible; although 
 as commodious inside as a large covered cart. Here 
 the huttier of Peronne goes regularly every night, wet 
 or dry, and takes a great coat (if he has one), with a 
 piece of brown bread, and a sour apple, for his supper. 
 In front of his hut are fastened, to piles at each end, 
 three separate ropes, about twenty yards long. On the 
 
400 FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING. 
 
 centre one, he ties four drakes, and to the one on each 
 flank four ducks ; making, in all, twelve decoy birds ; 
 and these, being (to use a military term) dressed in line, 
 whatever bird he sees out of the ranks, he knows must 
 be a wild one : and as the lake, in moderate weather, is 
 like a mirror, the night is seldom so dark but that he 
 can see to shoot at the very short distance which his 
 miserable gun, and miserable powder, will kill. 
 
 The great man of the huttiers here was, and perhaps 
 still is, Monsieur Desabes. To his services I was re- 
 commended by the proprietor of whom he rented his 
 share of the water. He informed me, that the huttiers 
 never allowed shooting from a boat, or at birds on wing, 
 through fear of disturbing the pond ; and said, that his 
 plan was to take his night's rest, and leave the birds 
 till a little before daylight ; when they would be all 
 doubled together ; and when a shot would do far less 
 mischief to the decoy than if fired before the birds had 
 fed and slept. Here he is perfectly right. But that 
 if a " grande compagnie" should drop, the noise would 
 awaken him, and he could then take his choice whether 
 to fire or not. After inspecting all his apparatus by 
 day, he would make me go with him by night, and 
 being unwell at the time, and unprepared, I was scarcely 
 in the humour to do this, particularly as I knew that 
 it was past the time of year for this kind of sport. I 
 agreed, however, to go, and was conducted to one of 
 his best intrenchments, where his twelve decoy birds, 
 all in battle array, were placed under the light of a 
 beautiful moon, within the quarter of an English gun- 
 shot of his hut, which was uncomfortably warm. Here 
 I remained, more likely to be suffocated than chilled, 
 for I know not how many hours ; but not a wild-duck 
 
FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING. 401 
 
 ever came, though his three alignements of decoy-birds 
 kept chattering away, like the other bipeds of the 
 French nation ; and although the whole valley, for a 
 league, was resounding with the quacking of decoy 
 ducks, and defended by the masters of them, yet I 
 could not have the honour to say, I had seen or heard 
 the firing of a single shot. Had my experience ended 
 here, therefore, I should have had but little inducement 
 to recommend the French system. But I have since 
 imported the French brood of decoy ducks ; tried it in 
 England ; and find, that, by this means, a gentleman 
 with his little gun may sit at his ease, and kill more 
 wildfowl than by any other plan I have ever seen ; and 
 without the risk of driving the fowl entirely away from 
 his pond, which he would be liable to do by the use of 
 punts, or any other mode of attacking them. 
 
 In this shooting, let it be remembered, that the ducks 
 usually quit the large ponds at night, and therefore the 
 huts for them must be made round the smaller waters, 
 where they feed. But for the dun-birds, and all kinds 
 of curres y the large pond will be the best place, as they 
 seldom leave it ; and, if not too hard pressed, they may 
 be driven like sheep (by means of a person paddling to 
 and fro, at a distance; and occasionally making a little 
 noise), either by night or day, towards any of the bat- 
 teries which the shooter may choose to open on them. 
 
 Coots may be driven in like manner, but will not 
 double up for a shot, like the others. Ducks and mal- 
 lards will not allow you to drive them ; but on the first 
 alarm will generally take wing. 
 
 As a proof of the superiority of the French decoy 
 birds to the common English ducks, I need only men- 
 tion, that a few winters ago, when I sent over some of 
 
 D D 
 
402 FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING. 
 
 them to Lord Rodney, for his beautiful pond at Aires- 
 ford, Mr. Sparry, the bailiff, in order to secure them, 
 for the night on which they came, put them within 
 a few hurdles, close before his house. When he got 
 up in the morning, no sooner did he open his door than 
 a number of wild-ducks flew up from within the little 
 fence he had made, and into which these birds, of 
 course, had enticed them. Several tame ducks had 
 constantly been in, and all about, the place ; but these 
 had never decoyed the wild birds, in the manner that 
 had been done by the Frenchmen *. These birds have 
 since bred so well as to stock the whole pond ; and, by 
 their progeny being fed, when young, with oats on a 
 drum-head, they will now fly in, from all parts, and 
 muster, like soldiers, to a roll of the drum! [Should 
 this, like the shot of starlings, be thought a touch of 
 the Alresford marvellous, I only beg of the sceptic to 
 appeal, for the truth of it, to any one in Alresford, from 
 Lord Rodney himself, down to the very labourers of 
 the place.] 
 
 If the hut system is adopted, two or three huts 
 should be made, and then the hutter has a choice which 
 to take, according to the light and the wind. [Vide 
 plate.] 
 
 Critic. Why have you put all your call birds one 
 way? 
 
 * I sent a dozen French ducks to the Regent's Park ; and, the 
 winter before last, I observed that they had there decoyed at least 
 thirty wildfowl : wigeon tufted ducks and dunbirds. This was, 
 of course, a great novelty in the very smoke of London. But, on 
 my return to town, after last winter, I do not remember to have 
 seen any. Perhaps the skating may have driven the wild birds off: 
 or perhaps the last winter was too severe for them to remain in 
 fresh water. 
 

 
 
 
FRENCH HUT-SHOOTING. 403 
 
 Author. Because ducks, when stationary, and not 
 feeding, always sit facing the wind ; or, if in running 
 water, with their breasts against the stream. 
 
 * # * The " Invisible Approach" will be the best of all apparatus 
 for this sport, in places where the ground is not too boggy to admit 
 of either wheeling or carrying it; because with this you have your 
 hut ready made; and a sweeping charge to cut a lane through the 
 fowl. The machine might be left all night, with the gun ready 
 loaded, and the call birds planted. You have then only to steal 
 down in the morning (which is always the time that birds assemble 
 and sit thickest together, while " washing up" or sleeping, after 
 their nightly feed) ; crawl into your den ; take the oakum ball out 
 of your pan ; prick the touch-hole ; prime, and cock : in doing the 
 one, let your pan very quietly down ; and, in doing the other, hold 
 the trigger; or the catch of the scear may spring the birds. Then 
 get back, and lie to your gun ; and, when you find the company 
 swimming to your fancy, pull away. 
 
 D D 2 
 
in tf)e jFens. 
 
 PUNT, GUNS, &c. USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. 
 
 HAVING returned from France, and learnt the system 
 of that country, we will now finish our wildfowl ex- 
 cursions with a few observations on the fens, and other 
 fresh waters, where it is the most likely to answer. The 
 punts in the fens are now somewhat similar to that 
 which I before named of Buckle's, only much narrower, 
 in order that the gunners may be able to pull them 
 through the reeds, in places where they cannot use their 
 paddles. 
 
 The guns here, instead of having any thing to check 
 the recoil, are, like his, merely rested on a broad thwart, 
 or gunning-bench, about the centre, and in a groove at 
 the bow, to support the muzzle ; so that the shooters 
 here fire in the manner before stated, vi%. they lean 
 with the hollow of their shoulders hard against their 
 fowling-pieces (as they here call punt guns) ; and, after 
 thus checking the recoil themselves, allow the gun to 
 run under their arms. The fen guns are built pur- 
 posely to avoid a recoil, and to shoot very close, at a 
 small bunch of birds; and, consequently, they are not 
 on the very best proportion to make heavy shots in a 
 flock. For, notwithstanding they are from forty to 
 seventy pounds weight, and from seven to ten feet in 
 
WILDFOWL SHOOTING IN THE FENS. 405 
 
 the barrel, yet they are only about an inch in the bore. 
 Although, as an extraordinary circumstance, the fen- 
 gunners sometimes kill from thirty to forty birds at a 
 shot, yet they now-a-days consider it very good work to 
 secure a dozen. 
 
 This is nothing great, in comparison with what has 
 heen formerly done on the coast; for instance, from 
 thirty to forty wigeon, besides lost birds, killed from 
 the shoulder ; and from seventy to eighty different wild- 
 fowl from a swivel gun. These, however, though shots 
 extremely rare, are not to be set down as extravagant 
 impossibilities, when we consider, that a shoulder gun 
 of twenty pounds weight may be fired with half a 
 poun^ and a stanchion gun with a pound and a half 
 of such shot, that any one gram of it might stop a 
 bird; and this shot (say even the large letter A) has 
 fifty grains to an ounce. 
 
 The winter shooting in the fens is not what it was ; 
 as they have been much drained for cultivation, by 
 which the wild parts are less extensive ; and the use of 
 large guns having of late years been the order of the 
 day here, as well as everywhere else, the birds are now 
 much wilder, and not so plentiful. Putting this aside, 
 however, the fens have not so many advantages as people 
 are led to suppose ; for, should there be a hard frost, 
 the whole of the reed beds and meres become one con- 
 tinued sheet of ice, and without a vestige of food for 
 the birds ; unless, by the way, you take the precaution 
 to keep a place open for them, which plan answers most 
 admirably, to get the, very best shots that can be made. 
 But should the weather be open, the greater part of the 
 wildfowl remain in the decoys during the day-time, and 
 this marshy country is too much extended to select any 
 
406 WILDFOWL SHOOTING 
 
 particular spot for their evening-flights : consequently, 
 save having a tolerable quantity of bitterns, occasionally 
 most excellent snipe shooting, and in summer the 
 flapper shooting, here is not much to be done till about 
 the last fortnight in March, when the birds are dis- 
 tributed preparative to their breeding. Then it is that 
 old ducks and teal may be put up and killed right and 
 left with a double gun ; and then it is that we have 
 the greatest chance of catching the ague ! 
 
 The fens from Holme to Ramsay were, at one time, 
 the best I had seen : they lay to the right of the north 
 road, when you are going down, within a stage of 
 Huntingdon, and scarcely an hour's walk from Stilton. 
 But afterwards, in 1816, 1 found those near Winterton, 
 in Norfolk (the private property of I. B. Huntingdon*, 
 and R. Rising, Esqrs.), far superior ; and the variety of 
 wild birds here was such, that, in the breeding season, 
 you might kill from twenty to thirty different sorts in 
 a day. Some, by-the-by, I had never seen before, and, 
 if I mistake not, I was favoured with a sight of two or 
 three, that were not even in Bewick, by an excellent 
 sportsman, C. Girdlestone, Esq., which he has in his 
 private collection, at Yarmouth. In many parts you 
 could scarcely walk without treading on the eggs of 
 terns, plovers, redshanks, and almost every other kind 
 of marsh-bird. At certain times, in the winter, the 
 fowl, on their passage from Holland to the south, dropped 
 in here, and literally blackened the centre part of the 
 lakes called Horsey-broad, and Heigham Sounds, where 
 they fancied themselves protected by the surrounding 
 ice. I was here shown by Rogers his plan of getting 
 
 * Now, I believe, of Joseph Hume, Esq. M. P. 
 
IN THE FENS. 407 
 
 fowl on the ice. It was to cut four horses' leg bones, 
 and after filing them smooth, like skates, to place them 
 longitudinally under a very small punt ; and then, lying 
 on his breast, to shove over the frozen part, with two 
 iron spikes. Any other means of passing a place that 
 was partially frozen would be dangerous in the extreme. 
 
 I, however, went to this country again, in 1824, and 
 found, that owing to the drains for cultivation, and in- 
 crease of the decoys, the quantity of birds was, and has 
 for some years been, so much reduced, that I was obliged 
 to alter the MS. of this statement from the present to 
 the past time. My account would otherwise have proved 
 a gross exaggeration. This shows how few years will 
 put a sporting book out of date ! 
 
 The fens are famous for the ruffs and reeves ; but 
 these birds frequent such awkward places, and are so 
 wild during the summer, when they come here to breed, 
 that, as I before observed, they seldom afford much 
 sport for the gun. 
 
Wttofotol on 
 Water, 
 
 I WAS here shown an ingenious mode of sweeping 
 down the wildfowl, in large quantities, by Mr. Turner, 
 His Majesty's keeper ; who, in his younger days, was 
 a great performer in the fens. It was my intention 
 to have gone down with an artist, and taken, for our 
 frontispiece, a drawing of him, with his whole battery, 
 and the beautiful scenery that surrounds him. But 
 here we must, for the present, close the curtain ; as 
 any thing relating to Windsor Park would call to 
 memory what, at this moment, would deprive us of 
 entering with spirit into the subject. It may be well, 
 however, just to mention that Mr. Turner's plan of 
 killing wildfowl has been to fix a great many large 
 guns parallel to the edge of the lake and to cover 
 them over with grass. He planted them about a hun- 
 dred yards apart ; and had a long wire, from the trigger 
 of the foremost gun, to the but of the next one behind 
 it ; and so on. By this means he had only to plant, 
 and then cock, all his guns ; and, by pulling off the 
 first with some hundred yards of line, he opened, on 
 the fowl, an almost instantaneous running fire, which 
 swept the whole edge of the lake, where, after their 
 
SHOOTING WILDFOWL ON VIRGINIA WATER. 409 
 
 nightly feed, the birds generally came to take shelter ; 
 or to sun themselves on a fine frosty day. 
 
 I think Mr. Turner told me that he had, by this 
 means, once brought down seventy wild ducks, by one 
 discharge of his battery. 
 
Ortsotng for Punt0 nut) Canots. 
 
 To keep gunning punts and canoes from leaking, or, 
 as those who use them call it, weeping, melt a pint of 
 tar with a pound of pitch, and either half a pint of 
 common oil, or a proportional quantity of suet. You 
 have then only to pour a little of this mixture into the 
 seams of your punt ; and, instead of bedaubing her all 
 over the bottom, as we did in the old school, ten or 
 twelve years ago, have the bottom painted, with one 
 or two thin coats of red lead, which will last much 
 longer, and with which the boat rows much lighter. 
 
 White rosin and mutton suet is even a better dressing, 
 and by far the lightest of any. To avoid rubbing the 
 bottom of your punt every time she is hauled ashore, 
 have two small rollers, by which you will considerably 
 save her. 
 
 Have your canoes and punts, previously to being put 
 together, painted under every timber with red lead, arid 
 they will (to the no small annoyance of the builder) last 
 you twice as long. But where the other paint is to go, 
 do not put red lead, as white will neither look nor take 
 so well upon it. 
 
 If you want good white lead for paint (instead of 
 whiting and water), you can have it from Messrs. 
 Walker, Parker, & Co., at the shot manufactory. 
 
DRESSING FOR PUNTS AND CANOES. 411 
 
 Have the outside of all your punts and canoes painted, 
 with the very best white lead; and to make them drab, 
 for sun or moon, use a little distemper colour, such as 
 the scenes of the theatres are painted with ; and this, 
 either with, or without size, may be mopped off in a 
 few minutes. Some of the gunners use a wet clod; 
 but you must beware of salt mud, as that would stain 
 your punt. 
 
 For shooting off at sea, when there is a breeze, a tint 
 of lead colour has the best deception. But I seldom 
 use it, unless very light, for two reasons the one, that 
 it is a bad colour for shallow water ; and the other, 
 that no prudent man would go off to sea in a punt, 
 when there is so much "lop" as to darken the water. 
 
 To stop a chink, or crack, force in, with a caulking 
 iron, some oakum, or stiff brown paper, before you 
 pour in any kind of mixture. Hot rosin, softened with 
 a little oil, does very well by itself, if you do not wish 
 to have the trouble of mixing the other ingredients. 
 
33est means of 
 contepmg Punts, tit. otoer lanti. 
 
 THE boat-cart, or canoe-carriage, here prescribed, 
 will, I think, be found the best means of conveying any 
 kind of punt to those places, where it would always be 
 most likely to answer ; such as ponds and other private 
 waters, where no gunners are allowed to sport; and 
 where the keepers scarcely know a punt from a pig- 
 trough. 
 
 This carriage, if only required for the punt itself, 
 might be made much lighter, with only two high wheels, 
 similar to a long French cart. But when laden with 
 baggage, the plan of four wheels becomes a necessary 
 one, in order the better to support and save the punt. 
 In either case springs would be a decided improvement, 
 was it not for the duty on them. The best substitute 
 is, first to put a good bed of straw under the punt ; and 
 then to fasten on punt, baggage, and all, with a line, 
 similar to that used for binding a load of corn in 
 harvest. 
 
BEST MEANS OF CONVEYING PUNTS, &C. 413 
 
 By unscrewing, and taking out, the thorough-pin, 
 and the two pins which go through the block-supporters 
 behind, this carriage may be taken to pieces ; and, in 
 two lots, rowed across the water in the canoe itself. 
 This plan, therefore, gives a conveyance, over land and 
 water, for baggage, &c. ; and, by lifting the boat out, 
 you have a light waggon, which may be serviceable on 
 many occasions. 
 
 N. B. For carriage to travel with a very long punt, 
 and swivel-gun shipped in it, refer back to the new 
 plate of " punt and gear." 
 
Routing ffi&Jttofotol on a Etoer, etc. 
 
 FOR killing common wild-ducks, that frequent a 
 river, you have only to go a little before sunset ; place 
 yourself against any dark bush or bank ; and there wait, 
 patiently, and out of sight, till they come down, and fly 
 round you ; which they will generally do several times, 
 before they drop into the stream or marshes. 
 
 As wild-ducks most frequently betake themselves to 
 the springs and rivers about dusk, you have no occasion 
 to wait for them longer than just the last hour, or half 
 hour before dark; but, if they have been much dis- 
 turbed or shot at, they will not always fly sufficiently 
 early to be seen; though you may plainly hear the 
 shrill, and somewhat melancholy, sound of their wings. 
 If, however, the twilight is followed by a full moon, 
 these birds will often withhold coming to the river till 
 the moon has completely risen ; in which case you might 
 have to wait till an hour or two after dusk. But then 
 the sport is considerably better, and will last much 
 longer, with the additional advantage of your having a 
 continued good light for shooting. 
 
 Wild-ducks generally come to the same place, unless 
 they have been shot at, or there should be a change of 
 wind and weather. 
 
SHOOTING WILDFOWL ON A 11IVER, &C. 415 
 
 It often happens, that wild-ducks, dunbirds, and other 
 fowl, come down at night to large rivers, ponds, or lakes, 
 which are so deeply surrounded by floating reeds, that 
 no one can approach the water ; and the birds, aware of 
 this, do not lower their flight till they come near them. 
 So far from this defying the shooter, it is one of the 
 finest opportunities that can be afforded for death and 
 destruction. Let him sit, in a small punt or canoe, 
 fore and aft, among the rushes, where, towards dusk, 
 he will be so completely hid, that he may either shoot 
 at birds flying within pistol shot, or wait for a good 
 chance on the water ; from whence (his boat being hid 
 on each side, and foreshortened to the only point of 
 view) he will be pretty sure to escape the observation 
 of the birds. This plan may be resorted to where there 
 are no rushes, such as under the bank of an island, or 
 in a small brook, near which there may be no hiding 
 place. Here, however, nothing would surpass the French 
 system, for those who had the means of adopting it. 
 
 All these stratagems may become unnecessary, in 
 places which are strictly preserved, and where wildfowl 
 shooting is interspersed with that of snipes and other 
 birds ; but as these places are now but rarely to be met 
 with, I have thought it necessary to dilate at consider- 
 able length in the foregoing instructions relative to 
 shooting wildfowl, which are now but seldom to be 
 killed without care, patience, and good management. 
 
 Having now, I trust, sufficiently explained the best 
 methods for killing all kinds of birds, on land; on 
 fresh waters ; by sea ; in harbour ; out of harbour ; 
 and in every situation, that I can think of; there 
 remains, I believe, no more that need be said under 
 
416 SHOOTING WILDFOWL ON A RIVER, &C. 
 
 this head. I shall therefore proceed to the other sub- 
 jects of the volume ; and, after giving a short epitome 
 of, and some observations on, the game laws, conclude, 
 with a few hints, and a little advice, that may possibly 
 be of service, for the health and comfort of a young 
 sportsman. 
 
*** Nothing has yet been done with the game laws! the new 
 bill having long ago been thrown out in the House of Lords by a 
 majority of fifteen. Instead, therefore, of having any new acts to 
 abridge (except one 9 Geo. IV.), I hare only to reprint again my 
 former extracts from the old rhapsody. 
 
 IT is now to be anxiously hoped that these laws, as 
 well as many others, may be brought under some re- 
 vision of the legislature, and reduced into one act of 
 the present reign, sufficiently comprehensive to include 
 every thing that is useful or desirable in such a code ; 
 and to exclude every thing that is obsolete, or inap- 
 plicable to the present time, and which is only calcu- 
 lated to mislead, or ensnare the unwary ! 
 
 No matter what any laws were ; the desideratum is 
 to know what they now are. But, from a superfluous 
 introduction of repealed statutes, it not only becomes a 
 business of time to wade through volumes on the sub- 
 ject, but it requires some attention to discriminate, 
 which of the laws are in force at the present day ; and 
 they are sometimes misunderstood from the very pre- 
 ambles, that are intended to prevent their being so. 
 It is,. therefore, much to be wished, that some gentle- 
 man in the profession would favour us with a moderate 
 sized publication, wherein nothing is inserted but that 
 by which we may now be guided with safety. 
 
 E E 
 
418 GAME LAWS. 
 
 In the interim, the annexed memoranda, for the pre- 
 sent game laws, although an imperfect attempt, may 
 be the means, in some cases, of saving time, and per- 
 haps a lawsuit ; than their doing which, nothing would 
 give more pleasure to the compiler. 
 
 JULY, 1830. 
 
 QUALIFICATION. 
 
 \_A lord of a manor, if not otherwise qualified, would not be en- 
 titled to kill game himself.] 
 
 100/. per annum, clear of all deductions, in his own or wife's right, 
 charged upon lands or tenements, or other estate of inheritance. 
 
 150/. per annum for life, or on lease, for life, or ninety-nine 
 years. 
 
 Eldest sons of esquires, or Qof*] persons of higher degree. 
 
 Notwithstanding the eldest son of an esquire is 
 qualified, yet the esquire himself may not be qualified ! 
 such is the consistency of the game laws ! What a 
 pity it is that those, who framed this law, were not also 
 the authors of the one penny penalty for taking the 
 eggs of mallards ! as the two acts combined would at 
 least have entitled them to a mention of their names in 
 the Biographical Dictionary. (Vide " for every egg of 
 mallard," &c. 25 Hen. VIII. cap. xi.) 
 
 * Although this word of is not inserted, yet it has legally been 
 decided to be necessarily implied. 
 
 " A diploma, conferring the degree of doctor of physic, granted 
 by either of the universities in Scotland, does not give a qualification 
 to kill game (under 22 and 23 Car. II. cap. xxv.). An esquire, or 
 other person of higher degree, as such, is not qualified under that 
 act j though the son of an esquire, or the son of other person of 
 higher degree, is." (Vide 1st Term Reports, page 44.) 
 
GAME LAWS. 419 
 
 CERTIFICATE. 
 
 PENALTY for shooting without, 201. 
 
 To be taken out annually, in the parish or place where your as- 
 sessed taxes are paid; costs 31. 1 3s. 6d., and 1*. fee to the collector. 
 
 Does not authorise unqualified persons to kill game, but exempts 
 them from the penalty of 201., and leaves them subject to that of 5/. 
 for non-qualification ; and also to that of 51. apiece for every head of 
 game found in their possession. 
 
 For menial servants, hired as gamekeepers, costs I/. 5,9., and the 
 1*. fee to the collector. 
 
 Persons, not menial servants, must have the 3^ guinea certificate, 
 and should have, also, the common gamekeeper's certificate, to hold 
 a deputation. 
 
 When demanded by any assessor, collector, land owner, commis- 
 sioner, inspector, surveyor, occupier of land ; also gamekeeper, or 
 other person; provided the two latter produce their certificates, 
 previously to requiring yours. Penalty for refusing, 201. 
 
 If you have not your certificate to produce, your name, and place 
 of abode, may be asked. See penalty for refusing. 
 
 All certificates expire on the 5th of April, in each year*. 
 
 Be careful, therefore, to receive your next certificate 
 before you recommence killing game ; in order to defy 
 all pettifogging informers. 
 
 * A conviction, under the game laws, once took place at Godal- 
 ming, on the following curious grounds : An information was lodged 
 against a qualified gentleman, for having shot at and killed, after 
 the 5th of April, a snipe, not having a licence; and, according to 
 the literal construction of the act, the commissioners of taxes were 
 compelled to fine him in the penalty of twenty pounds, although it 
 appeared he had regularly applied for a licence, and had been in the 
 habit of sporting with a licence for some years previous. The in- 
 ference to be drawn from this conviction, therefore, is, that no man, 
 qualified or unqualified, can, as the law now stands, use a gun upon 
 his own estate or elsewhere, between the 5th of April and the 20th 
 of July (the earliest day, as it appears, on which licences are issued), 
 without subjecting himself to a similar penalty. Star newspaper. 
 
 E E 2 
 
420 GAME LAWS. 
 
 GAMEKEEPERS 
 
 Are subject to the full penalties of unqualified and unlicensed per- 
 sons, as well as to actions of trespass, if they outstep the bounds of 
 the manor, for which they are appointed. 
 Only one can be appointed to each manor. 
 
 
 
 DEPUTATION OF A GAMEKEEPER. 
 
 The deputation granted to a gamekeeper must be registered with 
 the clerk of the peace, within twenty days after it is granted, and a 
 certificate taken of the same, under penalty of 20/. The deputation 
 for one keeper holds good till another is appointed. If a new game- 
 keeper is appointed within the year, the game certificate of the former 
 keeper may be transferred to him for the remainder of the year; and 
 this must be done, free of all expense, by the clerk to the commis- 
 sioners of the district. 
 
 FORM OF A GAMEKEEPER'S DEPUTATION. 
 (To be written on a I/. 15s. stamp.) 
 
 Know all men, by these presents, that I , of 
 
 , in the county of , esq. lord of the 
 
 manor of , in the same county, have nominated, 
 
 deputed, and appointed, and by these presents do nominate, depute, 
 and appoint , of , yeoman, to be 
 
 gamekeeper of and within my said manor of , with 
 
 full power, licence, and authority to pursue, take, and kill any hare, 
 pheasant, partridge, or other game whatsoever, in and upon my said 
 manor of , for my sole and immediate use and 
 
 benefit; and also to take and seize* all such guns, bows, greyhounds, 
 setting dogs, lurchers, ferrets, trammels, lowbells, hays, or other 
 nets, hare-pipes, snares, or other engines for the pursuing, taking, 
 or killing of hares, rabbits, pheasants, partridges, or other game, as 
 shall be used within the precincts of my said manor, by any person 
 
 * To search houses, and destroy, or take, for the lord of the manor, 
 such engines, &c., the warrant of a justice of peace must be first 
 obtained ; this being done, gamekeepers, or any other persons, may, 
 in the daytime, make such search. (Vide 22 and 23 Car. II. cap. 
 xxv. s. ii.) 
 
GAME LAWS. 421 
 
 or persons, who by law are prohibited to keep or use the same. In 
 witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 
 day of 1830. 
 
 (Signature, and seal.} 
 Sealed and delivered m presence of ( the 
 signature of ONE witness specifying his 
 place of abode, is sufficient ) 
 
 REFUSING TO GIVE NAMES. 
 
 If you have not a certificate to produce, at the time it is called for, 
 your Christian and surnames, and place of abode, may be demanded, 
 by any assessor, &c. &c. (as before mentioned); and penalty for 
 refusing them } or giving a false name, is 20/. 
 
 GAME. 
 
 Hares may be killed at any time of the year ! ! 
 
 Pheasants from the 1st of October to the 1st of February Par- 
 tridges, from the 1st of September to the 1st of February. Penalty, 
 for killing them at other times, 51. 
 
 Grouse, from the 12th of August to the 10th of December 
 Black game (in Devonshire, Somersetshire, and the New Forest), 
 from the 1st of September to the 10th of December Black game 
 (everywhere else) from the 20th of August to the 10th of December 
 Bustard, from the 1st of September to the 1st of March. Penalty, 
 for killing at other times, 20/., or not less than 10/., for i\\ejtrst 
 offence ; and, for every subsequent offence, 30/., or not less than 20/. 
 
 Any person taking or killing game, on Sundays, or Christmas 
 days, to forfeit, for the first offence, not more than 20/., nor less than 
 101. 5 for the second offence, from 30/. to 20/. j arid, for the third and 
 every subsequent offence, 50/. , 
 
 An unqualified person, killing, can only be convicted of one penalty 
 in a day: That is, an unqualified person, or even a poacher, would 
 have no more to pay for killing fifty head of game, in the same day, 
 than he would for killing one. Though the poacher, or the un- 
 qualified person, would be liable to the other penalties, viz. 51. each 
 for every head of game which he sold*, offered for sale, or which 
 
 * Even a qualified person would be liable to the penalty of 51. for 
 each head of game that he sold) or offered for sale. 
 
422 GAME LAWS. 
 
 had even been found in his possession: and, if a dog or gun (or other 
 engine) was used in the destruction of game, he would also be liable 
 to 201. penalty, provided he had not taken out a sporting certificate*. 
 
 If a person go in pursuit of game with a dog and gun, he can only 
 be charged with one offence, and convicted in one penalty for both. 
 (7 Term Reports, 152.) 
 
 Killing, from seven o'clock at night to six in the morning, between 
 the 12th of October and the 12th of February; and from nine at 
 night to four in the morning, from the 12th of February to the 12th 
 of October (besides the other penalties before named) j first offence, 
 not more than 201. nor less than 101.; second offence, from 30/. to 
 201. ; third, and subsequent, 501. 
 
 Servant of the lord of a manor may kill, and yet the lord of the 
 manor may not, unless he is qualified ! I ! 
 
 EGGS OF GAME. 
 
 [Taking, or wilfully destroying, the eggs of game, subjects the 
 offender to the following penalties for EACH EGG.] 
 
 . s. d. 
 Pheasant, partridge^ swan . . . 5 ? t . , 1 
 
 * The following abstract from a report of the assizes at Salisbury 
 affords a useful precedent for detecting poachers, and also gives us 
 an admirable observation on the subject, by that most able and ex- 
 cellent judge, Sir Allan Park. 
 
 An action was brought against a man, named Pithouse, for having 
 in his possession a snare for the destruction of game ; and also for 
 having in his possession a pheasant (which is deemed by law an ex- 
 posing thereof to sale): he was fined 57. for each offence. Another 
 man named Bundy was fined 51. for having a snare in his possession. 
 A man named Lovelock was also fined 51. for keeping and using a 
 gun, and for exposing to sale a hare. In all these cases of poaching, 
 the judge expressed great disapprobation of any person suffering 
 similar offenders to elude the penalties of the lawj and he commented 
 strongly on the dreadful consequences resulting to the community 
 from the too great prevalence of this crime. His lordship assured 
 the jury, that he should always punish the crime wherever he could 
 do so, because he was convinced it led to enormities of the darkest 
 hue, and frequently to an ignominious death at the gallows. 
 
GAME LAWS. 
 
 \Query if the following are not become obsolete from 
 non usage ?"] 
 
 Any wildfowl, crane, bustard (and one year's imprison- 
 ment for the offence) . . .' . . 018 
 
 Bittern, heron, shoveller . * V j . 8 
 
 GAME FOUND IN POSSESSION OF UNQUALIFIED 
 PERSONS, AND PENALTY FOR BUYING AND SELL- 
 ING GAME. 
 
 \_See " Game" as to Poachers. ] 
 
 Game found in possession of unqualified persons is liable to be 
 seized, and the offender to pay 5 1. for every head: one half to the 
 poor, the other to the informer, who is entitled to it, even though 
 he should have been an accomplice, and will, by turning evidence, 
 escape all penalties. 
 
 Unqualified persons may have game in their possession, provided 
 it be given to them, or intrusted to their care, by one who is duly 
 qualified. 
 
 A qualified person cannot offer game for sale, under the penalty 
 of 51. And, by 58 Geo. III. c. 75, the penalty for buying game is also 
 51. : one half to the informer, and the other half to the poor of the 
 parish ; or the whole to the informer, if recovered by action at law. 
 The time of limitation in either case is six calendar months, after the 
 offence committed. Persons buying, or selling, or unlawfully having 
 game in their possession, informing against another, are discharged 
 from penalties, unless there is a prosecution pending. Moor, heath- 
 game, or grouse, included in this act. 
 
 OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS KILLING GAME. 
 
 \_By mutiny Act " IN OR NEAR" where they are quartered. 
 N. B. This Article of War extends, also, to fish and poultry.] 
 
 Killing or taking game, without leave from the lord of the manor, 
 under his hand and seal, subject to penalties as follow : 
 
 Officer, 5l.; officer within whose command the offence is committed 
 by a soldier, II. To the poor of the place ; and being convicted by 
 justice of peace, and the penalty demanded by the constable (or over- 
 seer) the officer must pay it within ticodays, or forfeit his commission. 
 
 By this act an officer, although invited by his friends to shoot on 
 
424 GAME LAWS. 
 
 their land, may be sued for the above penalty by the lord of the manor, 
 who has, perhaps, no right to sport there himself! !! 
 
 I conceive, that, if any thing else than the lord's 
 permission would save him, it would be a written leave 
 of absence for the day, from his commanding officer, 
 which would exonerate him, for the time, from being 
 subject to restrictions relative to " in or near' 9 his 
 " quarters" 
 
 TAME PIGEONS, OR HOUSE DOVES. 
 
 Unless they are your own property, or you are desired by the 
 lawful owner to kill them, the penalty for shooting them is 20s. for 
 each pigeon. (Under statute of 1 Jac. I.) 
 
 For shooting at pigeons, with intent to kill, the penalty would 
 (by 2 Geo. II.) be the same as for killing one pigeon, viz. 20*. 
 Informations for these offences must be commenced within two 
 months. 
 
 " But" (says a treatise on the game laws), " not- 
 withstanding the provisions of the above acts, it has 
 been determined, that the owner of land may kill such 
 pigeons as he shall find thereon devastating his corn." 
 But, after having killed the pigeons, he must not take 
 them away. 
 
 DOGS. 
 
 [Annual duties on, from the 5th of April, 1830, to the 5th of April, 
 
 1831.] 
 
 All sporting dogs* (including lurchers and terriers, or other dogs, 
 where two or more are kept), 1 4s. 
 
 For other dogs, where only one is kept, Ss. 
 
 * Except greyhounds, for which the duty is I/, for each dog; and 
 a pack of hounds compounded for, the duty on which is 36/. 
 
GAME LAWS. 425 
 
 The duties on dogs are not increased, in proportion 
 to the number kept. 
 
 DOGS EXEMPTED FROM DUTY. 
 
 Whelps, which are not six months old, at the time of returning 
 your list for taxes. 
 
 Dogs belonging to any of the royal family, who are exempt from 
 all duties on sporting. 
 
 Poor persons, who are not assessed for dwelling-houses, may keep 
 one dog, provided it be not a sporting dog. 
 
 PENALTY FOR STEALING DOGS *. 
 
 By 7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 29, the offender, on conviction, before a 
 justice of peace, to forfeit, for the first offence (over and above the 
 value of the dog), a sum not exceeding 20/. For the second offence, 
 to be imprisoned (with hard labour), not exceeding twelve calendar 
 months, and whipped, at the discretion of the justice. Sect. 31. 
 
 Persons found in possession of a stolen dog, or the skin thereof 
 (knowing them to be stolen), are liable to the same penalties. Sect. 32. 
 
 Such is here the inefficiency of the law, that dog- 
 stealing in London has now become the regular trade of 
 men calling themselves " the Fancy;' 9 and of whom 
 there are, at least, fifty leading characters, besides their 
 spies and outposts. These fellows, by way of a blind 
 to avoid suspicion, either assume the character of plas- 
 terers, carpenters, &c. &c., and carry the very tools in 
 their hands ; or hawk about oranges, hardwares, and 
 other little articles for sale. They have dens in the 
 
 * N. B. This law holds good also for (as the act says) " ANY 
 BEAST or BIRD ordinarily kept in a state of confinement" &c. : and, 
 in sect. 32, it says, " That if any such dog, or any such BEAST, or 
 the skin thereof; or any such BIRD, or any of the PLUMAGE THEREOF, 
 shall be found in the possession, or on the premises, of any person; 
 and the person shall know the same to have been stolen" &c. &c. 
 " liable to the same penalties" 
 
426 GAME LAWS. 
 
 neighbourhood of Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Tottenham- 
 court Road, and Westminster; outposts about Greenwich, 
 Ball's Pond (a noted place on the right of the North 
 Road), Lisson Grove, and Paddington; and a rendezvous, 
 in Long-acre, for drinking and business. I have been 
 told that their chief consul is an old stager of forty 
 years' standing, who is nearly blind, and worn out ; but 
 of this I cannot answer for the truth. 
 
 Their system is brought to such perfection, that if 
 your dog only turns round a corner, out of your sight, 
 he is liable to be instantly enticed away, at a rapid pace, 
 
 by the never-failing means of . Their plan 
 
 is to take the dog off to one of the most distant of the 
 dens, from where the robbery is committed, and there 
 keep him, in safe and close confinement, till the " cus- 
 tomer," as they term it, shall advertise a reward amount- 
 ing to what they think rather more than half the value; 
 or, to use their own words, " chanted" at a price that 
 will "fetch" him. On this being offered, you will 
 generally recover your dog ; because their agent of the 
 district, who is always on the look-out for " chants" 
 will either go or send to you with the joyful tidings of 
 your favourite ; pretending, at the same time, with an 
 oily tongue and pious face, that he gets nothing by it, 
 " except vot your honour will be pleased to give" him 
 " for" his " trouble," in addition to the advertised re- 
 ward. But the man who actually steals the dog never 
 appears in the business ; by which he avoids all risk of 
 being " had up." The club find that this plan answers 
 much better, and is less liable to detection, than offering 
 the dogs for sale ; particularly as they frequently get 
 possession of the same dog several times. There have 
 been instances of their being paid fifteen guineas, in 
 
GAME LAWS. 427 
 
 successive rewards, for one lady's lap-dog that was per- 
 haps not worth ten shillings. If a dog is not " chanted" 
 before he becomes all but starved, they kill him, and 
 sell the skin ; unless it should so happen that they have 
 orders from " gentlemen" ! ! for dogs an opportunity 
 of starting him for Scotland, Ireland, &c. or can 
 find an immediate purchaser, who will give a few 
 shillings more than the skin would produce. If " hard 
 up" for " blunt," however, some of them will go and 
 sell the dogs in the streets, as soon as possible after they 
 have caught them : but, of course , in a diametrically 
 opposite part of the town from where they found them. 
 Here they sometimes cheat their own society : but of 
 this they think nothing, and will even rob one another. 
 " Dog rob dog," is their slang, and standing motto. 
 
 All thieves have the knack of instantly quieting even 
 the fiercest watch dogs, by throwing them a kind of 
 narcotic ball. This they call " puddening" them. By 
 means of which recipe, some of the " Fancy" go 
 journeys, to execute particular orders at a long distance 
 from London. Be very cautious, therefore, before whom 
 you boast about the goodness of your dogs ; or what 
 you feel a pride in, may be the very means of your 
 losing them ; because when " fancy men," in any line 
 of " business," have orders to execute, they will assume 
 all trades and disguises, and thus ingratiate themselves 
 with the very servants of your household, in order to 
 " suck" them for information. The following circum- 
 stance is a specimen of their town manoeuvres : 
 
 In the month of May last, Mr. Lang, of the celebrated shooting 
 gallery and excellent gun repository in the Haymarket, lost a favourite 
 setter. He posted handbills, offering two guineas reward ; on hearing 
 of which a man came and told him the reward was not enough -, but 
 
428 GAME LAWS. 
 
 that, if he would make it four guineas, he could find his dog; and 
 the amount must be deposited in the hands of a landlord, who would 
 procure him a ticket-card. He should then be met, to his appoint- 
 ment, in some private field, where he would receive his dog ; on con- 
 dition that no questions should be asked. Mr. Lang sent his shop- 
 man, about half past ten at night, to White Conduit Fields, to meet 
 the parties, who, on receiving the ticket, delivered up the dog. 
 But there was great hesitation in transacting this affair, in conse- 
 quence of the dog having on a lock to a steel chain collar, with Mr. 
 Lang's name; and which therefore induced them to proceed with 
 extreme caution, through fear, as they supposed, of detection for 
 felony. The whole amount, paid for recovering this setter, was 
 4l. 17*. 27. 10*. of which went to the man who had him. The 
 rest was divided among others of the " Fancy." The same person 
 who gave Mr. Lang the information said that, if ever he lost a dog 
 and applied to him, he could undertake to get him back again within 
 thirty-six hours, provided he would make it worth his while to do 
 so; because all dogs taken by the " Fancy" are brought to their 
 office, and regularly booked by the secretary. But if a word is said 
 about law, the dog is immediately put to death ; and either buried 
 skin and all, or sent to the bottom of a pond. 
 
 As an instance of this 
 
 A gentleman who had lost a dog offered twenty guineas to recover 
 him ; and twenty guineas more for the apprehension of the thief, or 
 even the name of any one concerned in the robbery. In consequence 
 of the latter part of the advertisement, the dog was instantly destroyed. 
 Whereas, had nothing but the first clause been placarded, the dog 
 would have been restored without loss of time. On destroying this 
 dog one of the " Fancy" observed to his associates, " Vot's the wally 
 of twenty pound compared to a man's life? !" 
 
 (under an idea, it is presumed, that the theft was aggra- 
 vated by some very strong case.) 
 
 If any one of the society was known to be untrue to 
 his comrades, or, as they call it, not " blue" to his 
 trade, he would be marked ; and, if he was discovered 
 in getting any of them apprehended, they would, sooner 
 or later, " settle his hash." 
 
GAME LAWS. 429 
 
 It is somewhat extraordinary, among so many opulent 
 people who have been thus robbed, that no one should 
 have ever set a trap for some of these worthies. Be- 
 cause nothing could be more easily done, by risking a 
 few useless dogs, and expending a little money, without 
 which, of course, no business can be executed in a work- 
 manlike manner. A quarto volume might be filled with 
 anecdotes, specimens of the " march of intellect" the 
 fruits of " a little learning" under this head. But, 
 having now relieved our attention from the dry subject 
 of the law, by a momentary glance at the manoeuvres of 
 the lawless, (and I trust a sufficient one to make young 
 sportsmen look sharp after their dogs, now that the 
 season is approaching), I will proceed with my other 
 gleanings from the chaos of technical jargon. 
 
 TRESPASS. 
 
 A qualified person shall pay no more costs than damages, unless 
 the latter exceed 40s., or the judge certify, on the back of the record, 
 that the trespass was wilful and malicious*. 
 
 Unqualified persons t are liable to pay full costs, with the smallest 
 damages, although their trespass may not be wilful. 
 
 An unqualified person may accompany one sporting, who is duly 
 qualified, provided he has neither gun nor dogs of his own, or does 
 not aid and assist in killing game. A servant, however, may beat 
 bushes, &c. for his master. 
 
 * It is a very general mistake to suppose that a judge never could 
 " certify," unless the person had been first warned off, and that it 
 is impossible to recover costs from a qualified man, unless he had 
 been previously served with a notice. This, however, is not the 
 case ; for, if it could be proved that the defendant had trespassed 
 wilfully, the judge might, if he chose, certify for full costs, though 
 the defendant had never been regularly warned off, and the damage 
 should even be under 40-y. 
 
 t Query, if this does not extend only to inferior tradesmen, &c. ' 
 
430 GAME LAWS. 
 
 EXEMPTIONS FROM TRESPASS BEFORE AND AFTER 
 NOTICE. 
 
 A person, even after notice, may go on the land of anothei, to 
 serve a subpoena, legal writ, or, in short, for any lawful purpose. 
 
 It was formerly supposed, that any one might go 
 over the land of another (not doing- any real damage) 
 while hunting a wild fox, as a " noxious animal ;" but, 
 upon late trials, it has appeared, th&i following fox- 
 hounds will in no way justify a trespass. 
 
 The defendant therefore stands about the same chance 
 of escaping the verdict by following foxhounds, as the 
 plaintiff (in a case not aggravated) would have of being 
 pitied by sportsmen, if ducked in a horse-pond for bring- 
 ing such an action of trespass ! 
 
 NOTICES 
 
 May be personally served, or left at the place of abode of the party. 
 
 Verbal notices are quite sufficient, if accurately proved. 
 
 All notices to come from the tenant, and not from the landlord, 
 who cannot support an action of trespass upon the land, of which he 
 is not the occupier. 
 
 Gamekeepers, or other persons, may be deputed to serve either 
 verbal or written notices, by lords of manors, occupiers of land, &c. 
 
 SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO WARN OFF A 
 TRESPASSER. 
 
 FORM OF A PROPER NOTICE TO BE SENT TO, OR SERVED ON, ANY 
 PERSON IN PARTICULAR. 
 
 To ( name the person's Christian 
 and surnames) of (name his 
 residence.) 
 
 I hereby give you notice, not to enter or come into 
 or upon any of the lands, woods, underwoods, shaws, or coverts [or 
 
GAME LAWS. 431 
 
 into or upon any of the rivers, ponds, pools, waters, or watercourses] 
 in my occupation, in the parish of (name the parish; or, if the lands 
 He in more than one, the several parishes), in the county of (name 
 the county or counties), as, in case of your doing so, I shall proceed 
 against you as a wilful trespasser. Witness my hand this (name 
 day of the month) day of (name month) 1 830. 
 
 (Sign your name.) 
 
 The sentence, within the crotchet, relative to "waters," 
 may, of course, be adopted or not, as required. 
 
 In a case of joint occupation, the notice must, of 
 course, be given in the first person plural, with both 
 signatures. 
 
 This written or printed notice had better be served 
 by delivery of a duplicate than of a mere copy; and 
 would be still more unquestionable, if the person serving 
 it was able to prove the signatures to each duplicate, 
 and the identity of the person served. 
 
 In case of warning off a trespasser, a second person, 
 for a witness, is sometimes desirable, though not abso- 
 lutely necessary, unless it may become so by death. 
 This, or any other notice, in a newspaper, is of no 
 avail unless it can be proved, that the defendant had 
 read it. 
 
 Suppose, then, a trespasser comes on the land, when 
 the occupier cannot be found to sign a notice, what is 
 to be done ? 
 
 The occupier, to be guarded against this, should 
 previously and bona fide have given directions to any 
 person, who is actually his servant, to forbid all tres- 
 passers ; by which that person, in his absence, may 
 say: 
 
 " Sir j by order of my master, Mr. , who is the 
 
 occupier of this land, I am directed to forbid all persons from 
 
432 GAME LAWS. 
 
 trespassing on it; and I accordingly forbid you from trespassing 
 on it." 
 
 To prevent the possibility of mistake, let every 
 servant be taught to say the above as regularly as a 
 catholic would repeat his breviary; and not, as many 
 thickheaded clodpolls do, by saying, " Zur, Pve a got 
 measter'sarders tofarbedivery body" by which nothing 
 personal is implied. 
 
 In case of a verbal notice, a witness, in addition to 
 the one serving it, would be desirable, particularly if 
 this witness also was quite perfect in the preamble. 
 By this means he may, on being cross-questioned, 
 candidly own, that he had learnt it by heart ; and, if 
 not terrified, or browbeaten into a blunder in the re- 
 petition of it, by the modesty or ingenuity of a cross 
 examination, he would very soon prove the legality of 
 the verbal notice he had given. 
 
 With less pains taken to warn persons off than what 
 is prescribed in the foregoing notices, there is little 
 doubt but there would be ground for an action of wilful 
 trespass. From my very humble knowledge in such 
 matters, however, I have thought it best to dictate 
 with extreme, and therefore, possibly, with unnecessary 
 caution. 
 
 FORM OF A GENERAL NOTICE, 
 
 Which, after all, may be the best to answer every 
 purpose. 
 
 The following printed notice, signed by yourself and 
 all your tenants, will save much trouble, and be found 
 extremely useful ; as it may be read, or even shown by 
 any common labourer. By this means, therefore, your 
 
GAME LAWS. 433 
 
 carters, your shepherds, or the most humble person in 
 or out of your service, may at all times be empowered 
 to warn off immediately any stranger, whom they might 
 find trespassing on your estate. 
 
 Let the person (while merely showing the notice) 
 say: 
 
 Sir; here is my authority, and I accordingly forbid you from 
 trespassing on this estate. 
 
 FORM OF THE NOTICK. 
 
 We, the undersigned, do hereby authorise 
 
 , the bearer of this notice, to warn off all persons 
 whom he may find shooting, or otherwise trespassing, on any of 
 the lands [or waters] in our respective occupations, situate in the 
 parish [or parishes] of , in 
 
 the county [or counties] of : and we 
 
 do declare, that we will prosecute, as a wilful trespasser, any person 
 whomsoever continuing or coming upon our lands after having 
 been enjoined to quit by the said 
 
 , pursuant to this our notice. 
 
 Signed by us, this day of ,18. 
 
 Here follow the signatures of the landholder and all his tenants. 
 
 The foregoing directions, with respect to notices, are, 
 I trust, all that can be required either for landlords, 
 tenants, keepers, or their printers. 
 
 DOGS, TRESPASS OF, 
 
 An unqualified person cannot use dogs for sporting, although they 
 may be bonajide the property of one who is qualified. 
 
 If an unqualified person keeps a sporting dog, he is 
 liable to the penalty of 5l. and also to have his dog 
 seized, as becoming the property of the lord of the 
 
 F F 
 
434 GAME LAWS. 
 
 manor. But it would, perhaps, be prudent for the lord, 
 or his keeper, first to seize the dog, before he ventured 
 to shoot or destroy him. 
 
 It is a common trick among low farmers and poachers, 
 who keep a wireh aired greyhound, or a lurcher, to cut 
 his tail, and pass him off for a sheep-dog. The most 
 effectual way to prosecute an offender of this description 
 is, first, to lodge an information against him for keeping 
 such a dog; and, after that is paid, for the lord of the 
 manor, or his keeper, to lay hands on the dog, after 
 which he becomes the property of the lord, and may 
 then, by him or his keeper, be safely taken, shot, or 
 otherwise destroyed, in any place within the limits of 
 that lord's manor. Justices of the peace, as well as 
 lords of manors, are empowered (by the 5th of Anne) 
 to take away game, dogs, nets, or other engines, from 
 persons not qualified. Having taken them, they may, 
 of course, destroy them. 
 
 In case, however, that doubts should exist as to 
 the dog being of the description specified in the act 
 (" greyhound, setting dog, or lurcher,") it has been 
 suggested, that it would be advisable, in lodging the 
 information, to use the word setting dog as a kind of 
 general term. This point I must leave to the more 
 experienced to judge ; but, was an unqualified person 
 actually seen using any dog in the destruction of game y 
 I should then, if he had no certificate, put him in the 
 hands of the tax-gatherers; where he would find him- 
 self in a sort of hornets 9 nest, from which there would 
 be very little hope of escape. 
 
 By the 52 Geo. III. cap. xciii. s. 8. (the act relating to cer- 
 tificates) '- hound, pointer, spaniel, or other dog" is added. 
 
GAME LAWS. 435 
 
 For farther information on this, vide under " Time 
 within which Actions must be brought." 
 
 One who is warned off a ground, and sends his dog thereon, is as 
 much liable to an action of trespass, as if he went there himself. 
 
 WASTE LAND, 
 
 Sporting ow, the exclusive right of the lord of a manor. 
 
 It has been given as an opinion, that, although a 
 qualified person may, by common rights, have the liberty 
 of going, sending or keeping his cattle, on the waste 
 land, yet he has no right to sport there, without leave 
 from the lord of the manor. 
 
 RABBITS, WOODCOCKS, SNIPES, &c. 
 
 (How far they are made game.) 
 
 Rabbits, woodcocks, snipes, quails, and landrails, are made game 
 only as far as relates to shooting them; for which, therefore, a cer- 
 tificate is required ; but one, without a certificate, may catch, sell, 
 or have them in his possession. 
 
 Two of the profession were here consulted, as to 
 the necessity of a qualification, and they were both of 
 opinion, that, although a certificate was (by the late 
 act) required, yet rabbits, woodcocks, 8$c. 9 may be shot, 
 by one unqualified. 
 
 Rabbits, however, may be shot by any one without a 
 certificate, provided he kills them in warrens, or in- 
 closed grounds, of which he is himself the occupier, or 
 in which he is commanded, ox permitted so to destroy 
 them, by whoever is the occupier. 
 
 FREE WARRENS AND DECOYS. 
 
 The game, in &free warren, is considered as private property, as 
 are also the wildfowl, &c. within a decoy; and, consequently, even a 
 
 F F 2 
 
436 GAME LAWS. 
 
 qualified man, sporting on either, would be subject to an action ac- 
 cordingly (with costs), and without receiving any previous notice. 
 
 The exercise of a free warren, however, is, in most cases, now 
 difficult to be proved. 
 
 WILDFOWL. 
 
 Any one may shoot them on the coast, from a public path, fyc. fyc. 
 
 Where a person, with neither qualification nor licence, has a 
 right to carry a gun, provided he does not use it for the destruction 
 of game. 
 
 The shooting of wildfowl, therefore (according to the 
 best professional opinions I have collected), is, notwith- 
 standing the act of Anne (cap. xxv.), such a use as 
 cannot be deemed an illegal one. 
 
 It is said, that a lord of a manor, or his keeper, can- 
 not seize the gun of any person whatever, unless it has 
 been used, by the person carrying it, in destroying, or 
 with an intent to destroy game. (Sed quere ?J 
 
 TIME WITHIN WHICH INFORMATIONS AND 
 ACTIONS MUST BE BROUGHT. 
 
 Informations for penalties, relative to the game laws, should be 
 brought so as for the conviction to take place within three months. 
 
 A penalty may be either recovered by information before ajustice 
 of peace, or sued for in any of the courts of record at Westminster. 
 In the latter case, the action must be brought within six lunar 
 months after the offence committed. 
 
 By this way of proceeding, the informer, as plaintiff, 
 will, if he recover in the action, be entitled to the whole 
 of the penalty for his own use (instead of one half going 
 to the poor, as in cases of information), and the de- 
 fendant will, of course, have to pay double costs. (Vide 
 2 Geo. III. cap. xxix.) 
 
GAME LAWS. 437 
 
 By the 48th Geo. III. cap. Iv. the penalties against such as have 
 not obtained their certificates shall be sued for in like form as any 
 penalty may be sued for and recovered by the acts relating to the 
 duties under the management of the commissioners for taxes, or any 
 of the said acts (see 43 Geo. III. cap. xcix. s. 64.) ; by which the 
 penalties are recoverable before any two or more commissioners for 
 the affairs of taxes, who shall give judgment for the penalty, or for 
 such part thereof as the commissioners shall think proper to mitigate, 
 not being less than one moiety. 
 
 The time prescribed for bringing an action of trespass, affecting 
 land (which is called an action quare clausumfregit), for the re- 
 covery of damages, is six years : but, if affecting the person (that 
 is to say, in a case of assault}, only four years. 
 
 If a penal act should limit no time for laying an information to re- 
 cover a penalty, the common law allows the crown two years and the 
 subject one year for this purpose. 
 
 With regard to cases where the possibility of bringing 
 an action, within the limited time, might be precluded 
 by the absence of either party, I have thought it ad- 
 visable to put the following questions to one eminent 
 in the profession, for the purpose of here giving brief 
 directions as to what should be done. 
 
 Question. Supposing A should trespass on the lands of B, while 
 B is beyond the sea, can B sue for the trespass after his return ? 
 
 Answer. He can, provided he commences his action against A 
 within the time limited (by the 21 Jac. I., cap. 16) after his return, 
 which is six years, and which would run from the time of his return. 
 
 Question. On the other hand, supposing A, after having com- 
 mitted a trespass on the lands of B, should, before the expiration of 
 the period limited for commencing an action, go beyond the sea, can 
 B commence such action against A after his return ? 
 
 Answer. Yes, he may (by the 4 and 5 Anne, cap. 16), pro- 
 vided he commences his action within the period limited. (By the 
 21 Jac.) 
 
 Question. Again, supposing A and B both be in the kingdom, 
 and A, after having committed a trespass on the lands of B, to with- 
 draw himself to a distant part of it, and there secrete himself, till the 
 
438 GAME LAWS. 
 
 period, within which an action may be commenced, is expired, can B 
 afterwards sue him for the trespass ? 
 
 Answer. No, he cannot, as his right of action will be barred by 
 the statute, unless he sue out a writ within the limited period, and, 
 if A's residence be unknown, and he cannot be met with, to be served 
 with it, the action be kept on foot, by proper continuances, regularly 
 filed, till A can be met with ; and then B, if he can get him served, 
 may proceed with his action after the expiration of such period, the 
 same as if A had been served within it. 
 
 LORDS OF MANORS. 
 
 Since the several inclosure acts, doubts have been en- 
 tertained, whether lords of manors have a right to sport 
 over the freehold of any other person, within the manor, 
 after notice ; or whether a deputation to a gamekeeper 
 will justify his going on any grounds, except the lord's 
 own soil,? CLEARLY NOT. 
 
 A lord of a manor, or his gamekeeper (unless in a, free warren, 
 or by an especial right reserved, in letting or selling property), 
 cannot sport on the land of another, without being liable to the same 
 action an any other trespasser; neither can he prevent those, who 
 are qualified, from sporting (on the grounds not his own) within the 
 manor. [Excepting officers!] 
 
 ACT 
 
 PASSED SINCE THE FIFTH EDITION. 
 
 PERSONS FOUND AT NIGHT ARMED WITH INTENT TO KILL GAME. 
 
 By 9 Geo. IV. c. 69, it is enacted that persons taking or destroying 
 game by night, viz. from the first hour after sunset till the first hour 
 before sunrise, should be committed for the first offence for three 
 months, and second offence for six months, and in both cases kept to 
 hard labour and find sureties, and for the third offence be liable to 
 be transported. 
 
GAME LAWS. 439 
 
 Owners or occupiers of Jand, lords of manors, or their servants, 
 may apprehend offenders, who, if they offer violence, are deemed 
 guilty of misdemeanour, and liable to be transported for seven years, 
 or imprisoned for two years. Limitation of time for proceeding 
 under this Act, one year. 
 
 Three persons entering land armed by night, for the purpose of 
 taking game, &c., a misdemeanour punishable by transportation or 
 imprisonment. Game within this Act deemed to include hares, 
 pheasants, partridges, grouse, heath- or moor-game, black game, and 
 bustards. 
 
 For more comprehensive information on the game 
 laws, and particular modes of proceeding, I refer the 
 reader to the late edition of Burn's Justice, and an 
 excellent treatise, entitled the " Game Laws and Fish- 
 eries," by Mr. Chitty, of the Middle Temple, London. 
 
 The preceding abstracts, however, may serve as easy 
 memoranda of those game laws, in which most persons 
 are as yet liable to be concerned, and some of which 
 are necessary to protect the rights and liberties of the 
 people. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR NEW GAME LAWS. 
 
 By making observations on the inconsistence of the 
 present game laws, I have involved myself in the un- 
 thankful office of having to point out where, in my 
 humble opinion, the evil exists ; and, therefore, at the 
 same time, of having to prescribe a few brief suggestions 
 for its remedy. Of all subjects that ever came to a re- 
 vision of the legislature, this, although comparatively 
 insignificant, is perhaps one of the most difficult, by 
 reason that to please all parties here, I firmly believe, 
 would be an utter impossibility. 
 
440 GAME LAWS. 
 
 One simple question, however, may be asked by every 
 one : Let any member, supposing that he is an ad- 
 vocate for the present game laws, advert no further 
 than to the act relating to qualifications, and to the 
 mutiny act, and see whether they are not inconsistent; 
 or, in other words, contrary to justice, and to common 
 sense? Can that member, therefore, say, that he would 
 be strictly doing his duty, if, when called on for his 
 vote, he tacitly admits, that those acts which are incon- 
 sistent, or contrary to common sense, should remain 
 among our code of laws ? But, as to the general prin- 
 ciples of the game laws, we should, instead of putting 
 ourselves out of temper, make every allowance for the 
 errors of those who may be inclined to vote in their 
 favour. We should recollect, that many of the cleverest 
 men in existence, when you come to the subject of their 
 game, cannot divest themselves of feeling, in some de- 
 gree, personally interested ; and it need scarcely be ob- 
 served, that although a man may have the highest sense 
 of honour, and the most consummate talent, yet all men 
 have, more or less, one favourite pursuit, their attach- 
 ment for which evidently points out where their weak 
 side exists ; and here, therefore, it becomes difficult to 
 give them satisfaction. Let what will be proposed, 
 depend on it there will be a host of public speakers and 
 public writers to disapprove of it ; and as every sug- 
 gestion on such a tender subject is not only open to cri- 
 ticism, but to public ridicule, I am justified in repeating, 
 that whoever speaks or writes on this subject undertakes 
 a most unthankful office. 
 
 I shall, therefore, withhold going far into detail, and 
 conclude with a few hints, that are entirely founded 
 on experience ; and pretty good information as to the 
 
GAME LAWS. 141 
 
 secrets among poachers of every description. Not pre- 
 suming, however, that I am capable of dictating even 
 to the lowest member in the legislature ; but merely 
 with a view of pointing out a few of those evils, which 
 may have escaped notice among persons of far greater 
 abilities than my own. 
 
 We are all highly indebted to Lord Wharncliffe for 
 his exertions towards improving the game laws. For, 
 as Sir Robert Peel justly observed (if I may quote from 
 newspapers), " the bill went to provide remedies for two 
 great evils, which sprung out of the present laws. First, 
 it empowered the sale of game; and, second, it made 
 a great and necessary change in the qualification" 
 But with regard to making game private property 
 much as the measure would be to my own private in- 
 terest, yet I cannot conscientiously say that I think it 
 would give public satisfaction. The most correct man 
 would for ever be liable to get into difficulty, by which 
 means there would be more, instead of fewer, disputes 
 between sportsmen and occupiers of land. To conclude 
 then ; I shall here repeat, with a few trifling additions, 
 what I before suggested through the medium of the 
 *' Star" evening paper ; and, at the same time, apologise 
 for presuming to give a public opinion, which, in many 
 respects, may differ from that of men with whom it 
 would be the height of folly for me to suppose that I 
 could cope in either talent or argument. 
 
 Sill, A P ril 12, 1824. 
 
 " I beg leave to suggest, through the medium 
 of your paper (and Lhave also taken the liberty to send 
 to members of both Houses of Parliament), the mere 
 outline of what, in my humble opinion, would be the 
 
442 GAME LAWS. 
 
 best improvement that could be made on the game 
 laws. 
 
 " Yours, &c. &c." 
 " To the Editor." 
 
 Do away with qualifications (or at all events arrange them so as 
 to be strictly just and consistent). 
 
 Any further observations on this law, as yet existing, 
 for qualifications, would be an insult to the under- 
 standing of my readers. 
 
 A five guinea licence for every one who shoots game (except a 
 keeper, who should pay two guineas). 
 
 An extra guinea and a half, once in a year, could be 
 no great object to a man who can afford to buy a gun, 
 and can also afford to give up a considerable portion of 
 his time, and to keep dogs, and supply himself with 
 ammunition. At all events, if this duty should reduce 
 the number of shooters so much the better for the 
 birds; if not so much the better for the revenue. 
 
 A two guinea licence (similar to a French port d'armesj for every 
 one who carries a gun, in any place whatever (off his own premises), 
 but with this licence only a gamekeeper can kill game. 
 
 (Let a man who shoots without a licence be surcharged by the 
 collectors of taxes, as they are the most vigilant informers. ) 
 
 There could then be no complaints about ttie " liberty 
 of the subject," more than his paying for any other 
 diversion. If he can afford to carry a gun for his 
 amusement, let him assist the revenue by paying for it. 
 
 This duty would only operate on the mere idlers of 
 the country, who, in winter, neglect their work to go 
 about with a gun to the ruin of themselves, and risk of 
 
GAME LAWS. 443 
 
 their own, as well as other people's, lives. Lest it 
 should be argued, however, that this might throw on 
 the parish-books those fishermen on the coast, who 
 could, otherwise, support their families by shooting, I 
 must beg to inform you, that these are the very men 
 who are most anxious that a duty should be laid on 
 guns, in order to prevent their being constantly annoyed 
 by the idle. I am credibly informed, that, a few years 
 ago, a petition to this effect would have been presented 
 
 to the House of Commons by (I think) a Mr. B , 
 
 from the fishermen on the coast of Essex, had they not 
 disobliged this gentleman by poaching, or some other 
 improper conduct. 
 
 Let farmers' bird-keepers be confined to the use of a pistol, or 
 fire-arms not exceeding a foot in length, and be liable to a surcharge 
 if they shoot at game or water-fowl. 
 
 Many a " bird-keeper /" have I caught, both at dusk, 
 and at dawn, crawling behind a hedge after a covey of 
 partridges that were feeding on a barley stubble. Such 
 little exercises in rural sports frequently go on, either 
 in the morning, before sportsmen are in the field ; or 
 in the afternoon, while the legislator is at the first 
 course of his dinner ; his head keeper at his tea ; and 
 the under keepers watching the coverts. 
 
 Many a " bird-keeper!" too, have I seen leaving the 
 good farmer's corn to the generosity of rooks, while he 
 had skulked off to the river, to try the quality of his 
 master's gun and ammunition at a duck or a moor-hen. 
 
 A freeholder of five hundred acres (or a tenant, with the consent 
 of his landlord) may depute a gamekeeper. 
 
 As the law now stands, many a gentleman is living 
 on his estate, which consists of more than a thousand 
 
444 GAME LAWS. 
 
 acres, and yet has no means of obtaining game from 
 that very estate on which the game is bred, unless he 
 is a sportsman himself, or invites others to come and 
 shoot for him. 
 
 Thus the man of ONE thousand acres, if he is not 
 the lord of a manor, is to be left dependent for ONE 
 BRACE of birds ; while the lord paramount, with his 
 FIVE thousand acres, could perhaps command his FIVE 
 THOUSAND head of game in a season ! And, what is 
 even harder again on the former, while the occupier of 
 not so much as one hundred acres has a right to ap- 
 point a keeper, because he happens to be the lord of a 
 manor ! All this may be thought very clever and very 
 proper ! but, unfortunately for me, I am so blind as not 
 to be able to discover the propriety of such a law, 
 though it requires but little penetration to perceive its 
 monopoly and injustice. 
 
 Have licensed dealers subject only to the magistrates. 
 
 Every person should have the power of legally ob- 
 taining game ; by which means it would be thought 
 the less of; and there could be no excuse for dealing 
 with a poacher, or other unlawful vender. It is very 
 hard, that not only a respectable tradesman, but even a 
 gentleman, perhaps with high rank and immense funded 
 property, cannot command a brace of birds for his table 
 without being liable to a penalty. The unjust severity 
 of such a prohibition, therefore, induces many opulent 
 persons to encourage this illegal traffic. It does not 
 follow, however, that the gentleman is to turn game- 
 poulterer, or that game must be made private property, 
 for the purpose in question. For if it was, the farmer 
 might possibly spoil the gentleman's sport, by making 
 
GAME LAWS. 445 
 
 a trade of it ; or, if thwarted in his views, might then 
 destroy the nests of half the birds on his land. But 
 let those, who, from having a certificate, and permission 
 to shoot, are lawfully in possession of game, be allowed 
 also the power of selling it to persons who are duly 
 licensed to deal in that article. In short, let the mat- 
 ter be so arranged, that every one may have a lawful 
 means of procuring game, as well as venison, or any 
 other luxury. 
 
 One hundred pounds penalty for buying game of one who has 
 neither a certificate to kill it, nor a licence to sell it ; and let the 
 vender have the power of turning informer. The same penalty of 
 course for one, who, with neither certificate nor dealer's licence, 
 shall sell game, or offer game for sale. 
 
 Perhaps many of those who prescribe laws are not 
 aware, that most poachers are in a society, and have a 
 stock purse to support each other ; by which means 
 they are enabled to snap their fingers at a Jive pound 
 penalty. But a few hundred pound penalties would 
 soon reduce their fund to a state of bankruptcy, and 
 thereby overturn the whole concern. 
 
 The mutiny bill to be altered, so that it must be the proprietor 
 or occupier, not the lord of the manor, who gives leave to officers. 
 
 For, as the articles of war now stand, it appears, that 
 an officer is liable to a penalty of five pounds for shoot- 
 ing, without the lord's leave, on the ground of his own 
 father, where this very lord has, perhaps, no right to 
 sport himself! 
 
 [I might go more into detail ; but to write any 
 thing too long is the sure way never to have it read.~\ 
 
 The foregoing suggestions having met with great at- 
 tention, I was induced to address to the Editor of the 
 
446 GAME LAWS. 
 
 " Star" another communication on the subject ; which 
 will here follow, with some additions : 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " As you did me the honour to publish my 
 last letter of the 12th ult., on the game laws, I beg 
 leave to propose an amendment in the act for the 
 punishment of trespass ; and, at the same time, to trans- 
 mit you a few more observations on the subject of the 
 game laws in general. I am," &c. 
 
 TRESPASS. 
 
 FIVE pounds PENALTY (open to mitigation) for one who goes, or 
 wilfully continues, on the land of another, after he has received either 
 a written notice, or a verbal notice in presence of a witness. One 
 half of this penalty to go to the collector of taxes for government, 
 and the other half to the poor of the parish wherein the offence is 
 committed. 
 
 The defendant, if dissatisfied with the decision of the magistrates, 
 may refer his case to trial at the assizes, &c.; but, if he lose his 
 cause, he must pay the 51. in addition to the damages that may be 
 awarded by the jury j and, in this latter case, the 51. should go to 
 the plaintiff, in order to liquidate his costs, or any expense that 
 might have been incurred by the trouble which the defendant would 
 have given him. 
 
 No compromise to be taken for this, or any other, penalty, unless 
 before, and with the consent of, magistrates. It should, of course, 
 however, be arranged so that information for the penalty of TRES- 
 PASS could be only laid by (or by order of) the person, or persons, 
 on whom that trespass was committed. 
 
 By this means we can at once take a warrant against 
 the poacher, who, if a shrewd fellow, and master of his 
 business, would clear off half the game in a small 
 manor, before he might be detected in the very act of 
 poaching. All seizures, bloodshed, and danger, might 
 thus be almost wholly avoided. Only see him, even 
 
GAME LAWS. 447 
 
 with a spyglass, at any time on the forbidden ground 
 (so as to be able to swear to his person), and have a 
 warrant for him as a wilful trespasser *. By this means 
 also, the poor farmer, who has no money to go to law, 
 has some protection against infringement on his rights 
 by the man who tramples on him, from this very cir- 
 cumstance. But having no share in, and, therefore, 
 no profit on, the penalty, he has no temptation to take 
 any advantage merely for the sake of getting the %l. 10s. 
 himself. Any person thinking himself aggrieved should 
 have the law open to him ; and the risk of an extra 5/. 
 in such a case could be no object. 
 
 For the second, and all future wilful trespasses, on that same person 
 to whom the offender had before been made to pay the 5L, to be not less 
 than 51. nor more than 50L, at the option of magistrates, 
 
 Who should have a great extent of discretional power 
 
 * I one day happened to be, for some time, in conversation with 
 one of the shrewdest fellows, and most finished poachers, that ever 
 lived ; who, after defying all his pursuers, has left off the trade, and 
 retired to a lawful business. He laughed at the game laws. I 
 then named to him the new laws, as lately proposed. He smiled, 
 and said, " that won't do." I next named what I before, as well as 
 what is here, suggested; as if another act contemplated by Parlia- 
 ment. He then put on a very serious face, and said, " Upon my 
 soul, sir, that's the only plan: that would properly do them. No 
 one would trust a man for 100/. ; but 5/. is no object to either a 
 buyer or even a poor man, if he has got plenty of friends under his 
 thumb ! A man, too, must be a poor hand to let people see him at 
 work; but if a gentleman could work him for a mere trespass, he 
 could not go to his ground to 'plant his men f before feeding 
 time." 
 
 It absolutely requires a very old sportsman, who has discovered all 
 the secrets of poachers, to strike at the roots of this evil, and not legis- 
 lators, who are worthy of a better office. 
 
 f Poachers' term for setting wires. 
 
448 GAME LAWS. 
 
 to mitigate the penalty ; as this law, like all others, 
 must, of course, be open to the abuse of tyrannical per- 
 sons, and there might occur some extraordinary in- 
 stances, where it would become desirable to mitigate 
 the punishment as much as possible. 
 
 If the defendant appeals from the decision of the magistrates, to 
 a court of law, for a second wilful trespass, whereby the penalty 
 here proposed would be from 5/. to 50/. ; let him, if he loses his 
 cause, pay, in addition to the damages, whatever sum had before 
 been awarded by magistrates. 
 
 Amend the 57th statute of Geo. III. for transporting a man who 
 is found, at night, armed with intent to kill game ; and let it be, 
 that, if he makes any RESISTANCE on being apprehended, he shall 
 be transported. 
 
 If not, his " footing it," for a month or two, in the 
 tread-mill would be quite sufficient punishment ; and 
 particularly to a poacher, who, except when at his 
 nightly business, is generally one of the laziest drones 
 in existence. This little " training," too, may perhaps 
 be the means of getting him " in wind" for a more in- 
 dustrious life ; and, therefore, of tending to the support, 
 instead of the starvation, or incumbrance on a parish, 
 of his unfortunate family. 
 
 All game-shooting (except black game, muir game, and ptarmigan) 
 to begin on the 1st of October. 
 
 By such an arrangement thousands of very young 
 partridges, that are not fair game, would escape being 
 massacred by the gentleman-poacher, and falling a prey, 
 when in hedges and hassocks, to the dogs of the pot- 
 hunter. There would be avoided many disputes be- 
 tween farmers and eager young sportsmen (perhaps the 
 sons of their landlords), who sometimes cannot resist 
 following their game into the corn. There would be 
 
GAME LAWS. 449 
 
 an end of destroying a whole nide of young pheasants 
 in standing barley, which is so frequently, and so easily, 
 done in September. 
 
 The hot weather of September was never meant for 
 hard fagging. September is a month that the agri- 
 culturist should devote to his harvest, and the man 
 of pleasure to sailing, sea-bathing, fishing, and other 
 summer pursuits. But when October arrives, the 
 farmer has leisure to enjoy a little sport after all his 
 hard labour, without neglecting his business ; and the 
 gentleman, by a day's shooting, at that time, becomes 
 refreshed and invigorated, instead of wearing out him- 
 self and his dogs, by slaving after partridges under a 
 broiling sun in September. The evenings begin to 
 close, and he then enjoys his party and his fire-side, 
 after a day's shooting of just sufficient duration to 
 brace his nerves, and make every thing agreeable. 
 
 Penalty for killing game out of season to be not less than 5/. nor 
 more than 50/., at the option of magistrates. 
 
 One regular penalty is not fair. There should rest 
 with the magistrates the power of making a very great 
 distinction between one, who could prove that he had 
 killed a head of game for a longing lady, or a sick 
 person, and another, who wantonly destroyed it in open 
 violation of the law. 
 
 The act for refusing to give names ; 
 
 The periods for killing game, with the mere alteration of deferring 
 partridge-shooting till October ; 
 
 And a proper timejtxed for killing hares, which has never yet been 
 done! 
 
 The act for killing pigeons ; 
 
 The duty on dogs, &c. ; may remain as they now stand ; 
 
 G G 
 
450 GAME LAWS. 
 
 Except that these, and what few other laws it may be 
 necessary to extract from the old statutes, should be 
 taken from the chaos in which they are at present 
 immured ; made as clear as possible ; and compressed 
 into one act in the present reign. But let all the con- 
 tradictory nonsense about Henry, James, Anne, &c., be 
 thrown into the fire, as being so complex as often to 
 confuse even lawyers themselves, and therefore calcu- 
 lated only to ensnare the unwary, and be a subject of 
 ridicule to every man of common sense. 
 
 Game laws, or any other laws, admitting them to be 
 the best measures ever adopted, may, for want of being 
 consistently arranged, and justly modified, be com- 
 pletely changed in their features, and laid fairly open, 
 not only to the tap-diverting sarcasms of travesty 
 patriots, but to the just criticism of respectable people. 
 Yet, however judgematically the game laws might be 
 arranged, it becomes highly necessary, that these laws, 
 as well as every concern, if rendered of a serious nature, 
 should be supported by such gentlemen as are an orna- 
 ment to a most honourable profession, and who are 
 always the first to open for their clients the doors of 
 reconciliation. But with regard to the frivolous points 
 that are repeatedly contending, how sincerely is it to be 
 regretted, that so many expensive lawsuits should be 
 for ever taking place, and particularly about the game ! 
 How easily, in many cases, might they be avoided to the 
 greatest interest of both parties ! For instance, if any 
 little difference occurred, why not have it decided by a 
 certain number of gentlemen chosen by each party? 
 To the decision of other persons it must come at last! 
 though most likely before a less competent tribunal ! for 
 it stands to reason, that a promiscuously assembled jury 
 
GAME LAWS. 451 
 
 cannot be made such perfect masters of every circum- 
 stance, as persons selected, who are ably versed in the 
 subject of dispute ; and especially as the final decision, 
 in a court of justice, may be liable to depend on the 
 judgment of a dozen poor men, who can scarcely read 
 or write, or even understand a single point of an 
 argument. 
 
 If, therefore, people, who have the honesty to require 
 no more than what is just and fair, would also have the 
 good sense to withhold going to law on every trumpery 
 altercation, there would be much more happiness among 
 mankind ; and there could accrue but one evil, and this 
 of a minor consideration ; which is, that a certain pro- 
 portion (I mean the dross only) of hireling dons, instead 
 of being arrayed like demigods, with their notes of dis- 
 cord, would be obliged to resign the lion's skin for the 
 more certain revenue of a methodist preacher, or a 
 strolling player : and such of those blue-bag satellites, 
 as are scouted by all honourable branches of the law, 
 might be reduced to the appointment of carrying 
 parcels for a coach office, or wheeling gravel on a 
 turnpike road. 
 
 G G 2 
 
General 9to\nce 
 
 FOR THE ' '* 
 
 HEALTH AND COMFORT OF A YOUNG SPORTSMAN. 
 
 THE last part of the work that it would afford me 
 any pleasure to dilate on is that of cookery. For it is 
 an old, though a just, observation, that we should eat 
 to live ; not live to eat. But when, by adding a short 
 paragraph or two, I can, perhaps, put some of our young 
 sportsmen, or young " foragers," up to what, in the 
 language of the present day, is called a " wrinkle," I 
 may possibly be the means of saving them from unne- 
 cessarily hard fare, when quartered in a small public- 
 house, on some shooting or fishing excursion. As many 
 of the little publicans live chiefly on fat pork and tea ; 
 or, if on the coast, red herrings ; the experienced tra- 
 veller well knows, that, when in a retired place of this 
 sort, where, from the very circumstance of the misery 
 attending it, there are the fewer sportsmen, and, con- 
 sequently, there is to be had the best diversion, we have 
 often to depend a little on our wits for procuring the 
 necessaries of life. If even a nobleman (who is, of 
 course, by common people, thought in the greatest ex- 
 treme better than a gentleman without a title) were to 
 enter an alehouse, the most that could be procured for 
 him would be mutton or beef, both perhaps as tough, 
 and with as little fat, as the boots or gaiters on his legs. 
 
MISERIES OF BAD QUARTERS. 453 
 
 A chop or steak is provided. If he does not eat it, he 
 may starve : if he does, his pleasure for the next day is 
 possibly destroyed by his unpleasant sufferings from 
 indigestion. He gets some sour beer, which gives him 
 the heart-burn, and probably calls for brandy, or gin ; 
 the one execrably bad and unwholesome ; the other of 
 the worst quality ; and, of course^ mixed with water, 
 by which adulteration is derived the greatest part of 
 the publican's profit. The spirit merchants make it, 
 what they call above proof, in order to allow for its 
 being diluted, the doing which, so far from dishonesty, 
 is now the common practice, not only with many re- 
 spectable innkeepers, but by retail merchants themselves. 
 Our young sportsman, at last, retires to a miserable 
 chamber and a worse bed ; where, for want of ordering 
 it to be properly aired, he gets the rheumatism ; arid, 
 from the draughts of air that penetrate the room, he is 
 attacked with the tooth-ache. He rises to a breakfast 
 of bad tea, without milk ; and then starts for his day's 
 sport, so (to use a fashionable term) " bedevilled" that 
 he cannot " touch a feather :" and, in the evening, re- 
 turns to his second edition of misery. 
 
 On the other hand, an old campaigner would, under 
 such circumstances, do tolerably well, and have his 
 complete revenge on the fish or fowl of the place. 
 
 His plan, knowing the improbability of getting any 
 thing to eat, would be to provide himself with a hand- 
 basket at the last country town which he had to pass 
 through, before he reached his exile ; and there stock 
 it with whatever good things presented themselves. 
 He. then arrives at the pothouse, which the distance, 
 or the badness of the roads, might oblige him to do the 
 previous day. His first order is for his sheets and bedding 
 
454 HOW TO CATER. 
 
 to be put before a good fire. If he arrives too late at 
 night for this, let him, rather than lie between sheets 
 which are not properly aired, sleep with only the blankets. 
 He then, supposing he would not be at the trouble of 
 carrying meat, sends for his beef or mutton. Having 
 secured this for the next day's dinner, he takes out of 
 his basket something ready dressed, or some eggs, or a 
 string of sausages, or a few kidneys ; or a fowl to broil, 
 a cake or two of portable soup, or a little mock turtle, 
 ready to warm ; or, in short, any other things that the 
 town may have afforded ; and with this, he makes up 
 his dinner on the day of his arrival. If the beer is sour, 
 and he does not choose to be troubled with carrying 
 bottles of other beverage, he is provided with a 
 
 Little carbonate of soda, which will correct the acid ; a little nutmeg 
 or powdered ginger, to take off the unpleasant taste ; and, with a 
 spoonful of brown sugar and a toast, he will make tolerably palatable 
 that, which, before, was scarcely good enough to quench the thirst. 
 
 He will know better than to call for brandy or gin, but 
 will order rum, knowing that that is a spirit* which 
 would soon be spoiled by any tricks or adulteration. 
 He will have in his basket some lemons, or a bottle of 
 lemon acid, and make a bowl of punch, recollecting the 
 proportions of 
 
 One sour, 
 
 Two sweet ; 
 Four strong, 
 
 And eight weak. 
 
 * If a sportsman likes to take a flask of spirit, as a guard against 
 cold, a stomach-ache, &c., he will, I think, find nothing equal to the 
 real Highland Scotch, or Irish, whisky. Or, if he cannot get this, 
 a little exlrait d 'absinthe Suisse; from the celebrated Mr. Johnson, 
 No. 2, Colonnade, Pall-mall ; or Mr. Sargenson, at No. 5, who is one 
 of the best and cheapest spirit merchants in London. 
 
PUNCH. 455 
 
 This is quite the focus for good punch, which any 
 shallow-headed boy may remember, by learning it as 
 a bad rhyme. 
 
 It may be necessary to observe, that, by first pounding the sugar 
 fine, you can of course measure it to a nicety, by means of a wine- 
 glass, as well as the lemon juice, and the other liquids. Also, that 
 half the acid of Seville orange juice is better than all of lemon juice; 
 and further, in making punch, the spirit should be used as the finish- 
 ing ingredient; though put in another jug; and the SHERBET 
 
 POURED UPON IT. 
 
 But as to the improvements of pink champain, hot 
 jellies, arrack, limes, &c., it would be out of place to 
 talk of such luxuries here, though of course, after pro- 
 fessing to give the focus for good punch, it becomes a 
 necessary caution against error, to except that which is 
 composed with all the dainties of an alderman ; who, 
 by the way, is welcome to my share of them ; as well 
 as to that of the gout after them. Here we have 
 spoken of hot punch. Now for cold; w r hich, being 
 merely intended as a cool beverage, requires to be much 
 weaker. 
 
 For this, I cannot do better than copy a receipt that 
 was given me, some years ago, when quartered at 
 Glasgow, where cold punch was universally drank ; and 
 where its excellence was only to be equalled by the 
 hospitality of the inhabitants. It is 
 
 " A wine glass nearly full of best refined lump sugar pounded. 
 Twelve ditto of cold spring water. 
 A lime, and half a lemon Qor, if no lime, a whole lemon, which 
 
 might yield about half a wine glass full of juice]. 
 Two wine glasses brimful] of old Jamaica rum. 
 Let the sugar be well melted, and the lemons thoroughly amal- 
 gamated with it, and the water, before you add the spirit." 
 
456 COOL BEVERAGE. 
 
 Or, to be much more brief, I will say, for cold punch, 
 
 One sour, 
 
 Two sweet j 
 Four strong, 
 
 Twenty weak ; 
 
 As here we have only to repeat the old rhyme, and 
 change the eight into a twenty. If I could make it 
 shorter, and more simple, I would. 
 
 For those worthies, who think it a good joke to me- 
 tamorphose a man into what he would not like to be 
 called, by making him drunk, this beverage, if intro- 
 duced by way of a sequel to wine, is one of the most 
 certain to answer their purpose : because it is so cool- 
 ing, and grateful to the thirst, that the more he drinks 
 the more he requires of it, instead of beginning to find 
 it unpleasant, like wine, hot punch, or other more potent 
 liquors. I name this, not as a lesson to the wag, but 
 as a caution to the unwary. 
 
 With materials for making other cool portable beverage (merely 
 to quench the thirst) almost every chemist can supply you. But, 
 provided a packet, the size of a pint bottle, is not objected to, I 
 should prefer that prepared by the late Mr. Farley, now Mr. Tabor, 
 (Charles Street, St. James's Square), called " effervescent lemonade" 
 which is quite free from the taste of physic. My name, when I first 
 spoke of this beverage, was not even known at this laboratory ; and 
 therefore it can, of course, be merely to serve my readers that I 
 mention it. 
 
 While on the subject of cool beverage, let us, en 
 passant, just annihilate the Sedlitz powder conspiracy. 
 There is no gentle alterative so pleasant a beverage as 
 a Sedlitz powder. But if you ask for this medicine, 
 otherwise than in decorated 4*s. 6d. boxes, many of the 
 chemists decline serving it, under plea of a 50/. penalty. 
 
COOL BEVERAGE. 45? 
 
 If they are liable to this, it will be an act of kindness 
 to relieve them, from all pettifogging informers ; and, 
 if not, it will serve them right to put an end to the 
 hoax. Let us therefore placard the recipe ; so that a 
 gentleman may either call for it as a prescription, or 
 lay in his own cargo at Apothecaries' Hall. 
 
 ROCHELLE SALTS, 2 DRAMS. 
 CARBONATE OF SODA, 2 SCRUPLES. 
 TARTARIC ACID, 2 SCRUPLES. 
 
 The two first may be kept together : the other must 
 be detached, for effervescence, till you are quite ready 
 to begin stirring and drinking. 
 
 If this is not thought sufficiently pleasant, you may 
 add lemon and sugar: or if required merely to quench 
 the thirst, you should omit the Rochelle salts ; and 
 then you have, at one good swig*, for about three- 
 pence, three eigh teen-penny " saline draughts ! " 
 
 Our sportsman will then, having taken care to pro- 
 vide himself with a little good tobacco, or a few cigars, 
 have recourse to smoking ; which, next to the sovereign 
 remedy of taking a little purl, before you inhale a va- 
 porous atmosphere, is the best preventive from catching 
 the ague wh en fen- shooting ; and, perhaps, one of the 
 greatest preservatives from cold and illness, of any thing 
 in existence. Under particular circumstances, there- 
 fore, smoking becomes not only justifiable, but some- 
 times necessary. It is, however, the last thing that I 
 mean to recommend making a constant practice of, 
 when not required; as most people, it is presumed, 
 
 * " A low expression" but one that will surely be thought good 
 enough for prescriptions, when swallowed, by wholesale, at a low 
 price. 
 
458 PLANS TO BE ADOPTED. 
 
 would consider it an idle habit to become every day 
 absorbed in what might be thought an agreeable stu- 
 pefaction only by a few jolly fellows, who, if I may 
 speak in their own style, glory in being able to drink 
 like a fish sit like a hen and smoke like a chimney. 
 The old sportsman then retires to his well-aired bed, 
 where he is provided with the best of counterpanes, a 
 good box- or gunning-coat, or a cloak ; and, after pass- 
 ing a good night, he rises to breakfast. If he has 
 brought no tea with him, he makes palatable that of 
 the place, by beating up the yolk of an egg (first with 
 a little cold water to prevent its curdling) as a good 
 substitute for milk or cream, a little powdered ginger, 
 and a teaspoonful of rum. He then, previously to taking 
 the field, desires a man to prepare some greaves, which 
 he might carry for his dogs, or get, for them, some 
 meat ; and deputes a person to the cooking of that in- 
 tended for himself; which, if bad in quality, as will 
 most likely be the case, there is but one good and easy 
 way of dressing. This I shall now translate from my 
 French recipe : viz. Let your servant take 
 
 Three pounds of meat, a large carrot, two onions, and two turnips. 
 [The Frenchman adds also a cabbage : here John Bull may please 
 himself.] Put them into two quarts of water, to simmer away till 
 reduced to three pints. Let him season the soup to the taste, with 
 pepper, salt, herbs, &c. &c. He must then cut off square about a 
 pound of the fattest part of the meat, and put it aside, letting the 
 rest boil completely to pieces. After he has well skimmed off the 
 fat, and strained the soup, let him put it by till wanted. 
 
 On your return, while seeing your dogs fed, which 
 every sportsman ought to do, 
 
 Let the soup be put on the fire for twenty minutes, with some fresh 
 vegetables (if you like to have them), and, for the last ten minutes, 
 
COOKING. 459 
 
 boil again the square piece of meat which was reserved. Another 
 necessary part of the recipe also should be prescribed, lest the dish 
 should fall into disrepute. To prevent the deputy cook from help- 
 ing himself, and filling it up with water, let him have a partnership 
 in the concern ; and when he has occasion to quit the room, he 
 should either lock the door, or leave -one of your relay dogs for a 
 sentry. 
 
 You will then have a good wholesome gravy soup to 
 begin with ; and, afterwards, some tender meat, which if 
 
 Eat with mustard, a little raw parsley chopped fine, and a few 
 anchovies, 
 
 you will, it is presumed, find an excellent dish. A pot 
 of anchovies might easily be carried in a portmanteau, 
 being, of all the luxuries from an oil shop, one of the 
 most portable and the most useful. But nothing is 
 worse than a mock anchovy, which is merely a salted 
 bleak, or other inferior small fish, flavoured with a 
 little anchovy liquor. Within these few years, how- 
 ever, the supply has been so good, that you will gene- 
 rally be served with the real Gorgona fish at any re- 
 spectable oil shop. But Mr. Burgess has now, I believe, 
 the largest and choicest importation, Signor Bassano, 
 who was also famous for anchovies, has now set up 
 again at No. 27, Jermyn-street. 
 
 Be careful to keep anchovies in a small stone jar ; as an earthen 
 one might break with them, and spoil your clothes. 
 
 Let me now add the simple receipt for as wholesome 
 a mess as any one who can " rough it" would wish 
 for the dinner, of all others, for an invalid and an 
 alternative against starvation, where there is not even 
 a piece of meat to be got. 
 
460 MEDICINES. 
 
 Have a fowl skinned and quartered ; 
 
 Put it over the fire in a quart of cold water ; 
 
 Boil it full two hours : 
 
 Then add two ounces (or a handful) of pearl barley; 
 
 Three blades of mace j about two dozen peppercorns ; and 
 
 Salt to your taste ; 
 
 Then let a/I boil together for one more hour : 
 
 A nd it may be eat immediately ; or put by, to warm again whenever 
 you want it. 
 
 The convenience of this camp cooking is, that it will serve for any 
 kind of fowl. For instance, if you have an old barn door hen; old 
 game that is shot all to pieces ; two or three couple of gulls ; coots; 
 or even curlews, by consigning them in this manner, to constant 
 boiling and steam, you make those birds eatable and digestible, 
 which, in roasting, or common cooking, would prove offensive in 
 taste, and hard in substance. 
 
 N. B. The pearl barley (or rice, by the way, if you prefer it) does 
 well with all poultry, and birds of white flesh. But with coarse birds 
 (here we cease to have a dish for invalids), such as curlews, herons, 
 gulls, or coots, it becomes necessary to omit the pearl barley ; be- 
 cause you there require onion ; fish sauce ; lemon, and even a glass 
 of madeira, if you can get it; similar to dressing a turtle, or making 
 giblet soup. This you would, of course, make stronger, and boil, 
 perhaps, an hour more than chicken soup. All such messes may be 
 eat with anchovy, curry powder, or what you may fancy, to give them 
 an additional gout. 
 
 An old sportsman, having thus far subsisted tolerably 
 well, may, afterwards, with the help of his gun or 
 fishing-rod, be enabled to fare decently, and enjoy good 
 sport; while some poor helpless exotic would have 
 spurned the very soil of the place ; left it in disgust, 
 before he had killed a bird or a fish ; and, as likely as 
 not, be laid up and fleeced at the next inn, arid there 
 saddled with some country apothecary. 
 
 To be as brief as I can, on this uninteresting, though 
 possibly useful, head, let me take a memorandum of the 
 
MEDICINES. 461 
 
 few portable articles that contribute to the health and 
 comfort of a travelling sportsman. 
 
 A medicine chest is sometimes out of the question ; 
 otherwise, a chemist would direct him better than I 
 could presume to do ; but, as I speak solely by ex- 
 perience, I can, of course, speak with some confidence, 
 on the very few things of no bulk, which may be here 
 noted down, as likely to render him essential service. 
 But, before I name a single article, I must take up in 
 my own defence, one observation, lest that observation 
 may be left as a powerful weapon against me in the 
 hands of those who are versed in this subject, in which 
 I do not presume to have the slightest pretensions, 
 further than personal experience. In short, I must 
 premise with saying, that, what would be an effectual 
 remedy in one constitution might not answer with 
 another. And though the philosopher tells you, that 
 every man, before he attains the age of forty, must be 
 either a fool or his own physician ; yet the doctor, in 
 answer, affirms, that he who knows a little of physic, 
 knows a great deal too much ! This point I leave for 
 the philosopher and the doctor to settle between them- 
 selves ; but I trust they will both agree with me, that 
 there can be no more impropriety in suggesting a few 
 common medicines, with which proper directions would 
 be given by the person who sells them, than in entering 
 any other kind of inventory of what might be useful to 
 a young sportsman, or young traveller. All our sport- 
 ing authors have boldly taken the field, so far as amply 
 to prescribe for the dog ; while I am left exposed, under 
 jEsculapian batteries, by having to prescribe for the 
 master. 
 
462 MEDICINES. 
 
 A BOTTLE, OR PAPER OP MAGNESIA *. 
 
 As a generally recommended cure for the heartburn, 
 by correcting acid on the stomach ; a trifling preventive 
 to the gout; a pretty good aperient medicine, par- 
 ticularly if taken with acid, which gives it somewhat 
 the effect of Epsom salts ; and a very good medicine 
 when mixed with rhubarb, which counteracts its cold- 
 ness on the stomach. 
 
 * Carbonate of soda is now so generally preferred, that I was on 
 the point of erasing magnesia from the list ; when I saw, in the 
 u Age" paper, a letter from my friend, Sir Anthony Carlisle, which, 
 by his permission, I here subjoin : 
 
 " Langham Place, July 3, 1830. 
 
 " Sirs. I have made several trials with your purified Magnesia, and 
 common j ustice demands a statement of the results. During my long 
 continued professional experience, I have had many occasions for 
 seeking some harmless corrector of acidity incident to the stomach and 
 bowels. I have generally found the magnesia in ordinary use to be 
 hurtful to the digesting power of the stomach when repeatedly given ; 
 and, in some instances, both in children and grown persons, it concretes 
 into balls in the intestines, which is a dangerous occurrence. If, as you 
 assert, the purified magnesia, now offered to the public, is freed from 
 lime, and the poisonous earth called barytes, it must be inoffensive to 
 the stomach, and not liable to concretion. I have uqder these im- 
 pressions, directed Lock yer's Magnesia to be taken, in several instances, 
 with remarkable benefit. I think it is a more potent cathartic, and 
 less hurtful to digestion, than any other magnesia ; and when it meets 
 with alimentary acid, it must become a purgative liquid solution, 
 and therefore incapable of concretion. I have sometimes directed 
 twenty grains of your purified magnesia to be mixed in an ounce of 
 infusion of rhubarb, and half an ounce of decoction of the yellow 
 Peruvian bark, to be taken as a corrector of heartburn, and at the 
 same time as a gentle aperient. I am, &c. 
 
 " ANTHONY CARLISLE. 
 
 " To Messrs. Aldwinckle and Bromfield, Lockyer's Magnesia Warehouse, 
 237, Tottenham-court-road, corner of Bedford-street." 
 
MEDICINES. 463 
 
 (For correcting acid, however, / always prefer the use of salt of 
 tartar; but this, I believe, is not the general custom. I merely 
 speak of it as I find it.) 
 
 SOME ESSENCE OF PEPPERMINT. 
 See the paper round it, for its various good qualities. 
 
 N. B. Bottle a tea-spoonful of this in a pint of water (where you 
 cannot immediately get a pint of peppermint water), and put with it 
 two drams of salt of tartar. Keep this as a standing ornament to 
 your bed-room chimney-piece 5 and when you require it, from having 
 made too free with French wines, or hard stale port, take half a 
 wine glass full going to bed *. 
 
 QMany who fancy themselves great judges of port wine keep it 
 but a moderate time in the wood, and a long time in little quart 
 bottles ; instead of doing just the reverse ; or of bottling it in two, 
 or four, quart magnums. Port does not, like claret, turn to vinegar, 
 unless drank within a short time after being drawn ; and therefore 
 the last glass of what was decanted, and occasionally drank, from 
 magnums, would be worth a dozen glasses, even just uncorked, of that 
 which had been bottled in pints. (The reverse would be the case with 
 spirits.) The larger the body the wine is kept in, the more agreeable 
 to the palate of a good judge, and the less injurious to the stomach. 
 It is not sufficient for wine to be old and even genuine ; but it should 
 be made of grapes that have grown in a warm part of the vineyard, 
 which give it a sweet and full body ; and it should be free from green 
 or blighted fruit, or it will get worse, instead of better, by keeping; 
 so that you may produce a bottle of wine with a fine looking crust, 
 " bee's wing," and all such nonsense, which, in reality, is neither 
 better nor more wholesome than the stale beer of a country pot-house, 
 where the poor landlord is a tenant at the mercy of a bad brewer. 
 
 Thus many of the trade are obliged to, what they 
 call, " marry" the wine, in order, as with many other 
 kinds of marriages, to turn the bad stock to good ac- 
 count; not to say a word of the innumerable tricks 
 
 * This mixture may be used also as a lotion to preserve the teeth, 
 immediately after eating acids. 
 
464 MEDICINES. 
 
 that are played by quacks and inferior venders. In 
 places where you can do as you please, let no silly 
 fashion dissuade you from drinking your wine out of a 
 narrow-bottomed glass (somewhat longer, and more like 
 a funnel than what is now made), as a glass of this form 
 retains so well the bouquet of the fruit. Fashion is all 
 very well ; but reason has a prior claim to it. I make 
 no apology for a digression to this subject (except my 
 inability to do it justice), because what is here intro- 
 duced relates to that which, more or less, concerns us 
 all.] 
 
 A FEW CALOMEL PILLS, 
 
 and the ingredients for an aperient draught on the following 
 morning ; 
 
 in case a severe attack of bile, or any such illness, 
 should require something beyond a mere alterative. 
 
 Calomel, although a medicine to be used with caution, I have 
 always found to be the most effectual recipe to cure an obstinate 
 stomach-ache, in case it cannot be removed by a cordial, hot water, 
 essence of peppermint, or tincture of rhubarb. Calomel, however, 
 being a strong mercurial preparation, would deprive you of a day's 
 sport, by the indispensably necessary confinement after taking it. 
 
 I have lately been favoured with a recipe which is 
 almost as effectual as calomel ; and with which a sports- 
 man need not be made prisoner. It is simply to take, 
 at night, a pill composed of 
 
 Blue pill, 2 grains; 
 
 Compound extract of colocynth, 4 grains ; 
 
 Oil of carraways, 2 drops. 
 
 One pill is generally sufficient ; but,, if not, the quantity may be 
 increased, or doubled, on the same proportions. If one large pill is 
 objected to, the above articles can of course be made up in two. 
 (On showing this prescription to a medical friend, he said that it 
 
MEDICINES. 465 
 
 would be greatly improved by altering the proportions to four 
 grains of blue pill ; four grains of colocynth ; with one drop of oil 
 of carraways ; and adding one grain of ipecacuanha^ These to be 
 taken, in two pills, at bed- time.) 
 
 The foregoing prescription was given me, for this 
 work, by a medical gentleman, on his retiring from 
 business ; and it beats all the anti-bilious nostrums I 
 have ever used. So, giving him thanks, and all the 
 credit of it, I may now say " take my pill read my 
 book" and without the 3s. 6d. a syllable for this 
 advice. 
 
 (No one prepares colocynth, or makes these pills, 
 better than Briggs, 48, Wigmore Street.) 
 
 On my naming the foregoing recipe to Sir , one 
 
 of the first medical gentlemen of the age (but who might 
 not like to have his name published, with & prescrip- 
 tion, on a frivolous occasion like this), he kindly said 
 that, as he had a great objection to all mercurial pre- 
 parations, where they could possibly be avoided, he 
 would present me, for this edition, with a " sportsman's 
 pill ;" or, in other words, as he observed, 
 
 "An opening pill, without mercury; and which maybe taken as 
 often as is needful, without offence to the stomach" viz. " 30 grains 
 of Aloes ; 30 grains of Scammony, and a sufficient quantity of Ve- 
 nice Turpentine to make fifteen pills" 
 
 " One taken at bed-time generally acts on the morning following, 
 without disturbing the sleep. If one pill is not enough, two may 
 be taken, for a while ; but the effect usually improves by use, con- 
 trary to other cathartics." 
 
 This remedy I give, just received, and as yet, un- 
 tried ; because it comes from such good authority ; and, 
 if it surpasses the preceding one, it must be good in- 
 deed ! 
 
 H H 
 
466 MEDICINES. 
 
 A LITTLE TARTAR EMETIC, 
 
 in case of severe indigestion, or a dog being taken ill. This medi- 
 cine, given from a grain and a half to two grains, in warm water, 
 will sometimes perform wonders among common people, who are 
 subject to have the stomach disordered by eating voraciously of bad 
 and unwholesome food. 
 
 A friend of mine, with nothing whatever but this 
 recipe, has been, for a great many years, the success- 
 ful quack of his village; and boasts of beating the 
 doctors without having lost a patient. How far my 
 friend may be justified in flying, on every occasion, to 
 that which may tend to weaken the stomach, I leave it 
 for those who are versed in medicine to determine ; not- 
 withstanding he may have gained the confidence of the 
 village. 
 
 (After all, too, a couple of wine glasses full of water, taken as hot 
 as it can be drank, without the astringent addition of either tea or 
 spirit, I have found, would, in general, relieve indigestion. 
 
 Another remedy, which lately became in fashion, is to swallow, 
 who'e, two teaspoonsful of common mustard seed just before going 
 to bed, and an hour before dinner. It may be taken in a little 
 water. I have proved it to be an excellent remedy.) 
 
 Remember, that a DOG requires, of tartar emetic, or any other 
 medicine, at least twice as much as a MAN. 
 
 HUXHAM'S TINCTURE OF BARK, 
 
 as an effectual stimulus to brace the nerves of a bad shot. The 
 sportsman has only to take a dessert spoonful in a glass of water 
 before he goes out. [THE LESS, HOWEVER, ALL STIMULI, AND IN- 
 DEED ALL MEDICINES, ARE HAD RECOURSE TO, THE MORE EFFECTUAL 
 THEY WILL BE WHEN TAKEN.^ 
 
 When for a short time in Holland, I always kept 
 
MEDICINES. 467 
 
 well by taking a teaspoonful of this medicine in a glass 
 of Madeira, before inhaling the air of the marshes *. 
 
 CONCENTRATED CAMPHOR JULEP 
 
 is another good remedy to compose a nervous man for the rising of 
 a cock pheasant. Fisher and Co., in Conduit Street, make this in 
 perfection. 
 
 WHITEHEAD'S ESSENCE OF MUSTARD; 
 
 which / have found to be one of the Jinest recipes that ever bore a 
 stamp, for preventing or curing the rheumatism ; or for cuts, bruises, 
 &c. &c. The real inventor of this embrocation is Mr. Johnston, 
 (the famous soda water man), who, being an apothecary, thought it 
 infra dig. to appear as a trumpeter of patent medicines; and there- 
 fore used the nom de guerre, as the French call it, of " Whitehead." 
 
 A PIECE OF FLEECY HOSIERY, 
 
 in case of a pain in the chest, to which application the rubbing in a 
 little of the above essence may be added ; and continued, for a day, 
 after the fleecy hosiery is no longer required ; in order to prevent the 
 pain from returning when you leave it off. 
 
 SOME COURT STICKING-PLASTER, 
 
 to enable you to walk in comfort after being galled by a water-boot. 
 
 * The new French remedy for the ague is now in general use, 
 and nothing has yet been found more efficacious. After clearing the 
 bowels with a good dose of medicine, give FIVE GRAINS OP SUL- 
 PHATE of QUININE in treacle, jelly, &c. directly after the cold 
 fit ; and continue it, three times a day, for nearly a week after the 
 appearance of the disease has subsided. The dose is sometimes in- 
 creased to ten grains thrice a day, and there is no danger resulting 
 from an overdose, [I insert these directions, precisely as they have 
 been forwarded to me, under an idea that nothing could be more 
 desirable for a work that professes to treat chiefly on wildfowl shoot- 
 ing, tlmn a recipe for the ague.] 
 
 H H 2 
 
468 DENTIFRICE. 
 
 (See directions under the head of " Water-boots.") 
 I have now, I believe, mentioned all the articles of 
 my pharmacy, and next to them must come the 
 
 DENTIFRICE. 
 
 Brush your teeth every morning, with Spanish Sabilia snuff 
 (which may be had in perfection, from Fribourg and Treyer, 
 34, Haymarket, or Hudson, 132, Oxford Street), and every night 
 with a little arquebusade, or brandy ; and keep, in the bottle con- 
 taining it, a small piece of camphor. This will not only make it a 
 tenfold greater preservative, but will prevent the vassals of the place 
 from drinking it. 
 
 Never put cold water to your teeth, but always use it lukewarm. 
 
 If any thing will prevent or cure a tooth-ache, except 
 aperient medicines, to reduce the inflammation, or the 
 sovereign remedy of the new patent instrument, it will, 
 I have reason to think, be that which has been here 
 mentioned. At all events, some of the first dentists in 
 London and Paris admit, that this remedy is a most 
 excellent preservative. I, therefore, do not hesitate to 
 say, that for a sportsman, and particularly for a wild- 
 fowl-shooter, it may be worthy of insertion. 
 
 I was told by a friend who rarely errs in his pre- 
 scriptions, that the best cure for a tooth-ache is 
 
 One tablespoonful of rum, 
 Another of vinegar, 
 And a teaspoonful of salt, 
 
 mixed together, and then held in the mouth. " But, of 
 this I have never had occasion to make a trial. 
 
 But if the foregoing directions, as a, preventive, are 
 attended to, we are not very likely to require prescriptions 
 for a cure. 
 
 I shall now conclude with the following little hints : 
 
PREVENTIVES FROM ILLNESS. 469 
 
 First, If you or your dog should, at any time, get a severe blow, 
 let the wounded part be instantly fomented with water, as hot as 
 can be borne, for at least half an hour ; and you will thereby reduce 
 your suffering, or impediment from sport, to at least half its 
 duration. 
 
 Secondly, If you burn yourself in shooting, or otherwise, wrap the 
 part affected immediately in cotton, the application of which, it has 
 been proved, acts like magic with a burn. 
 
 This I was told as a recipe that had been adopted in 
 Paris ; and found it to answer extremely well. But, 
 on proposing it for insertion here, to an old friend, one 
 of our greatest surgeons that ever lived, he assured me 
 that a better recipe was the 
 
 constant application of vinegar. 
 
 Thirdly, If you should take cold, bathe your feet in hot water ; 
 if a little salt or bran is, or both are, added, so much the better. 
 Get into a bed warmed, with a little brown sugar sprinkled on the 
 coals j and take some whey, or whatever you can get, to promote 
 perspiration. 
 
 This remedy, simple as it is, will often prevent your 
 having recourse to James's powder, &c. and may some- 
 times, perhaps, save you the expense of twenty pounds 
 for medical attendance. 
 
 Fourthly, Never fast too long ; and avoid, whenever you can, 
 fagging too hard, 
 
 or, when you come to a middle age, you will most 
 likely begin to feel it ; and perhaps insomuch as to be- 
 come nervous, and lose your good shooting. Remember 
 this advice, and see who will last the longest ; you who 
 do, or those who do not, follow it. 
 
 Fifthly, Never go out with quite an empty stomach to wait for 
 wildfowl ; particularly in the morning. Should you wish to start 
 
470 PREVENTIVES FROM ILLNESS. 
 
 before anyone is up, you might always have left for you, over night, 
 a crust of bread, or a biscuit, with a glass of milk, which, with a 
 little sugar, nutmeg, ginger, and the yolk of an egg, may be made 
 good in a moment. And this is better than what x is called a " doctor" 
 (rum and milk) 5 because you then dispense with taking spirit in a 
 morning, the very bad habit of which should always be avoided, ex- 
 cept in a country where the chances of ague might justify your taking 
 a little purl; 
 
 Which, by the way, was recommended to me by one of 
 the first medical gentlemen in the profession. Do not 
 have recourse to any such liquors, unless absolutely re- 
 quired to defend your health against a pestilential cli- 
 mate ; or in case of being taken with a sudden chill ; 
 when a small quantity of spirit and beer, mixed to- 
 gether, if not thought too disgusting a beverage, might 
 sometimes prove one of the most powerful stimuli to 
 warm you, of all things that an alehouse, or perhaps 
 any other house, could afford. If going out, take it 
 cold; if going to bed, you may have it warm ; for in the 
 one case perspiration is as objectionable, as it would be 
 desirable in the other. 
 
 Sixthly, Never sit down in wet feet, or with wet clothes on any 
 part of your body ; but, if a change is not at hand, keep in motion, 
 or go to bed, till one can be procured. Or, if you want to start 
 again, when refreshed, first wet your feet with either spirits, or 
 essence of mustard, and then be as quick as possible in taking your 
 refreshment. Many people prefer applying the spirit to the inside, 
 instead. This is not so well ; because spirit alone always flies to the 
 head ; while strong beer, on the contrary, would warm the body. 
 
 I shall here conclude, under this head, with the multum in parvo 
 advice of the great Dr. Boerhaave : Keep the BODY OPEN ; the HEAD 
 COOL ; and the FEET WARM. 
 
 %* I am proud to say, that some gentlemen who are the very 
 heads of the profession, with that liberality which distinguishes all 
 men of talent, have approved of the humble advice here given (of 
 course, tvithoul the slightest pretensions, and merely as a refuge for 
 
SUBSTITUTES FOR LUXURIES. 471 
 
 the destitute) : and there are only some of the little doctors who 
 bark, and cry " quack/' at what they think an infringement on their 
 sacred rights. But, if they knew to whom all here had been sub- 
 mitted, before it went to the press, they would, perhaps, to use a 
 vulgar phrase, in language most opposite to their overwhelming 
 rhetoric " knock under." 
 
 Having now mentioned the few things that happen 
 to occur to me, as deserving the small space they would 
 occupy in the baggage of a sportsman, who we all know 
 is sometimes in an exile, where he might die before he 
 could get medical assistance ; I shall just note down a 
 few articles as desirable for his comfort, as the foregoing 
 ones might prove for the preservation of his life ; viz. 
 
 Canastre tobacco, or cigars*. 
 
 Cayenne pepper. 
 
 A pot of anchovies. 
 
 A phial of lemon acid. 
 
 A bottle of the best olive oil. 
 
 With these ingredients, and half as much knowledge 
 as usually belongs to all our old campaigners, he may 
 perfectly enjoy his dinner on fish, flesh, and fowl, in 
 those wild places where they are most abundant, but 
 where we are the least able to have them dressed in 
 perfection. For example : 
 
 There is no better sauce for a wildfowl, plover, or snipe, than equal 
 quantities of olive oil and lemon juice. Cayenne pepper, when 
 mixed with a little vinegar, gives a fine relish to a pheasant, or any 
 other game. With good oil you can, in most places, during the 
 fishing season, have a French salad made with the young leaves of 
 
 * The mildest, and perhaps the pleasantest, tobacco, for those who 
 are not much used to smoking, is that called Syrian j which (although 
 to be had at a reasonable price of Mr. Ward, 1 6, Piccadilly) is not 
 so generally known as it deserves to be. 
 
472 FINISHING ADVICE. 
 
 the wild dandelion ; or, in the shooting season, a German salad, 
 called in some parts of Germany, I believe, " kartofel salat" with 
 slices of cold boiled waxy potatoes. Either of these, with a few onions, 
 an anchovy, and two spoonsful of oil to every one of vinegar (or equal 
 quantities of each to the German one), make a very good salad; or, 
 at all events, a good substitute for one, where perhaps the lettuce, 
 cress, or endive, are scarcely known to the inhabitants. Tarragon 
 vinegar, for salads, is generally preferred to the other vinegar. (Let 
 me observe, by the way, that the chief art of dressing a salad consists 
 in wiping perfectly dry whatever it is made with, and cutting off 
 the flabby parts from the leaves of the herbs.) If you have no good 
 butter, for your fish, you will find, that with a little cayenne, a spoon- 
 ful of the liquor from your anchovies, and some lemon, or vinegar, 
 olive oil, and mustard, it will be perfectly good. Nothing is better 
 than a dish of small birds fried, and eat with oil and lemon juice ; 
 and if you have no good butter to fry them with, here again some oil 
 must be your substitute. 
 
 If you have no biscuits to eat with your wine, or, what you may 
 drink for want of it, cut some slices of raw potatoe very thin ; have 
 them broiled, or fried, brown and crisp with your oil, and sprinkled 
 with a little Cayenne pepper; but, in dressing them, let the slices 
 lie independent of each other, or they will become soft by fermentation. 
 If you wish for a hash, or any thing dressed by way of variety from 
 plain cooking, you can always give it a flavour, if you have cayenne, 
 lemon, and anchovy. 
 
 In short, the ingredients here named, as general ac- 
 quisitions to your eating in comfort, will be found, I 
 trust, some of the most useful ; and I therefore need add 
 no more, as I neither profess, nor wish, to gratify the 
 palate of an epicure ; but have merely attempted to 
 show, how one man could make himself comfortable, 
 where another would starve, by the foregoing hints to 
 young caterers and young sportsmen. 
 
 Having now said enough as to taking care of, and 
 providing for, my young readers, we will suppose one of 
 them to have arrived at the miserable hole alluded to, 
 
FINISHING ADVICE. 
 
 and that the first salutation, after the knock at his bed- 
 chamber door, in the morning, is, " A wet day, sir!" 
 and, instead of being able to pursue his sport, either 
 after breakfast, or at noon (the most usual time for the 
 iveailier to clear up, if it clears up at all), he is con- 
 signed a close prisoner to the pothouse ; looking al- 
 ternately to the windward clouds, and the plastered 
 walls of the room ; hearing, through a thin partition, 
 the discordant merriment of drunken fellows ; and in- 
 haling the breezes of a smoky wood fire, with the fumes 
 of their shag tobacco ! In such a predicament, then, 
 how can I prescribe for him? and in this predicament, I 
 believe, there are very few sportsmen that have not often 
 been. Why here again, then, I will endeavour to give him 
 a little advice, though I hope he will not think I am be- 
 ginning to write a sermon. I shall now first observe, that, 
 of all things on earth, to make a man low spirited, un- 
 happy, or nervous, is to get into a habit of idleness: and, 
 although there are many young people that would pay 
 little attention, and perhaps laugh at me, if I told them 
 that " idleness " was the " root of all evil," yet some, 
 among those very persons, might listen most earnestly, 
 when I remind them, that being nervous or low spirited 
 is of all other things the most likely to put even a crack 
 sportsman off his shooting-; or to make a young angler 
 whip off his flies; or be too eager, and therefore unskilful, 
 in killing his flsh. Always, therefore, let him be employed, 
 and think no more of the weather, till his man comes, 
 with a smiling face, and says, " Sir, it will do again 
 now!" when, if he is a man of genius, and has proper 
 resources, Ke could almost have wished for another 
 hour's rain, in order to complete that in which his 
 
474 FINISHING ADVICE. 
 
 mind was become absorbed. Supposing the hole in 
 which, for the sake of a few days' good sport, he is 
 immured, contains neither books, nor newspapers ; nor 
 even stationery good enough to write a few letters in 
 comfort (which, by the way, he should always be enabled 
 to do, by carrying a quire of paper, and one of Clay's 
 new steel pens), still there is no excuse for his being 
 in sheer idleness. The mere pocket will always contain 
 enough to employ successfully many a leisure hour. If 
 he is studying any thing particular, he may be provided 
 with some little volume, the most useful to his subject. 
 If he draws, he may, at least, make a sketch of the hole 
 he is in, for a laugh when he gets home ; or, if in 
 another style, practise, according to his fancy. If he 
 is a " musician," and away from an instrument, let him 
 learn to do some exercises in harmony, for no man 
 should be called a musician till he does know harmony. 
 If he is an author or a poet, he can never be at a loss : 
 or, if nothing greater, perhaps he may be a merry fellow, 
 who sings a good song over his bottle, and therefore, on 
 this occasion, by being provided with a " Pocket Nightin- 
 gale," he may stock himself with songs enough to enliven 
 all his associates on his return. If he is a dry fellow, 
 an enemy to the Muses, and an admirer of only that 
 which is tangible, he may in his retreat con over his 
 pounds, shillings, and pence ; and be amused with 
 sketching his affairs, and thinking of what will be most 
 to his advantage. But if he is an idler, destitute of 
 all resources why I will not say " Lord help him !" 
 but let him help himself. Let me advise him to 
 embrace, in this day, a moment for reflection, and con- 
 sider it as an example, perhaps of many hours and 
 
FINISHING ADVICE. 475 
 
 days he may have to spend, at an age when he has no 
 longer youth and vigour to distinguish himself among 
 the field of sportsmen ; and make a determination to 
 embrace some pursuit, that will be to him a source of 
 future amusement; and he will then, I think, have 
 reason to consider this as one of the most successful 
 days on his calendar. 
 
LIST 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LONDON GUNMAKERS. 
 
 Alden and Smith, 55, Parliament Street, Westminster. 
 
 Anderson, Robert, 7, Broad Street, Drury Lane. 
 
 Ashton, T. and C , Chamber's Street. 
 
 Atkins, Alexander, 44, Coldbath Square, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Baker, E. and Son, 24, Whitechapel Road. 
 
 Bales and King, 29, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden. 
 
 Barnett and Son, 134, Minories. 
 
 Beckwith, William Andrew, 58, Skinner Street, SnowhilL 
 
 Blake, J. E., 253, Wapping, High Street. 
 
 Blanch, John, 29, Gracechurch Street. 
 
 Blissett, Isaac, 69, Leadenhall Street. 
 
 Bond, William, 59, Lombard Street.- 
 
 Bond, William, 31, Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street. 
 
 Borno, E. and W., Cornliiil. 
 
 Bowstead, Frederick, 6, Little Alie Street, Goodman's Fields. 
 
 Braggs, Robert, 37, High Holborn. 
 
 Brander and Potts, 70, Minories. 
 
 Child, W., 280, Strand. 
 
 Collins, James, 12, Vigo Street, Regent Street. 
 
 Cummins, Robert, 22, Davies' Street, Berkeley Square. 
 
 Danks, David, 11, Water Street, Bridewell Precinct. 
 
 Edward, Francis, 42, Mincing Lane. 
 
 Egg, D., 1, Colonnade, Pall Mall. 
 
478 LIST OF GUNMAKERS. 
 
 Egg, Joseph, 1, Piccadilly. 
 
 Essex, Robert, 223 and 4, Strand. 
 
 Fisher, Charles, 8, Prince's Street, Leicester Square. 
 
 Forsyth, A. and Co., 8, Leicester Street, Leicester Square. 
 
 Gameson and Williams, 67, Threadneedle Street. 
 
 Gameson, David, 23, Chamber's Street, Goodman's Fields. 
 
 Garratt, Jos., 4, High Street, Islington. 
 
 Golding, William, 199, Oxford Street. 
 
 Grierson, Charles, 10, New Bond Street. 
 
 Gulley, Joseph, 254, Oxford Street. 
 
 Hall, Collinson, 52, Upper Mary-le-bone Street. 
 
 Harding, James, 82, Blackman Street, Borough. 
 
 Harker, Thomas, 33, Wilton Street, Westminster. 
 
 Hill, John, 168, Tooley Street. 
 
 Hodge, William, 19, Plumber Street, Hoxton. 
 
 Jackson, Richard, 252, Oxford Street. 
 
 Jackson, Richard, 28, Wigmore Street, Cavendish Square. 
 
 Jackson, William, 15, W T hite Hart Court, Drury Lane. 
 
 Johnson, Richard, 68, St. James's Street. 
 
 Lacy and Witton, 63, Fenchurch Street. 
 
 Lancaster, Charles, 151, New Bond Street. 
 
 Leigh, James, 46, Leman Street, Goodman's Fields. 
 
 Lindsay, Alexander, 28, Coventry Street, Hay Market. 
 
 Ling, William, 34, Dartmouth Street, Westminster. 
 
 London, Edward, 51, London Wall. 
 
 Manton and Son, 6, Dover Street, Piccadilly. 
 
 Mills, William, 120, High Holborn. 
 
 Moore, Charles, 77, St. James's Street. 
 
 Moore, William, 78, Edgeware Road. 
 
 Mortimer, T. J. 34, St. James's Street 
 
 Nock, Samuel, 43, Regent Circus. 
 
 Parker, William, 233, High Holborn. 
 
 Pritchett, R. Ellis, 37, Chamber's Street, Goodman's Fields. 
 
 Probin and Co., 46, Lisle Street, Leicester Square. 
 
 Purdey, James, 3 14^, Oxford Street. 
 
 Reynolds, T., 47, Great Prescott Street, Goodman's Fields. 
 
LIST OF GUNMAKERS. 479 
 
 Reynolds, William, 69, Great Prescott Street. 
 
 Richards, Westley, his agent, Bishop, 170, New Bond Street. 
 
 Richards, William, 13, John Street, Oxford Street. 
 
 Ridley, T., 24, Chamber's Street, Goodman's Fields. 
 
 Riviere, Isaac, 315, Oxford Street. 
 
 Sherwood, J. and W., 12, Wellclose Square. 
 
 Smith, Samuel, 64, Princes Street, Leicester Square. 
 
 Smith, Thomas, 10, Ray Street, Clerkenwell. 
 
 Spires, Joseph, 47, Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury. 
 
 Spurling, James, 42, Judd Street, Brunswick Square. 
 
 Stevens, Thomas, 43, High Holborn. 
 
 Tatham, Henry, 24, Pall Mall. 
 
 Thomson, G,, 18, Swan Street, Minories. 
 
 W'ebb, George, 21, Warren Street, Fitzroy Square. 
 
 Webb, George, 89, Albany Street, Regent's Park. 
 
 Whatmaugh, William, 5, Melina Place, Westminster Road. 
 
 Whitney, Josias, 1, Craven Street, Strand. 
 
 Wilbraharn, George, 26, Goulsten Square, W T hitechapel. 
 
 Wilbraham, George, 123, Leaden hall Street. 
 
 Wilkinson, James, and Son, 27, Pall Mall. 
 
 W T illett, S. and Co., 1, Great Eastcheap. 
 
 Wilson, William, 154, Minories. 
 
 Wright and Sons, 44, Great Prescott St., Goodman's Fields. 
 
 Yeomans, James, 46, Chamber's Street, Goodman's Fields. 
 
 PRESERVERS OF BIRDS, &c. 
 
 ( I give the names in reply to numerous inquiries which I have 
 hitherto been unable to answer.) 
 
 Leadbeater, Mr., 19, Brewer Street, Golden Square, who 
 stuffs for the British Museum, and whose competitors, 
 since he left Mr. Bullock's, have reported him dead. For 
 this reason, it is my duty to let the public know that 
 
480 PRESERVERS OF BIRDS, &C. 
 
 " poor Mr. Leadbeater" is still alive and well ; and stuffs 
 better and cheaper than any one I have met with. 1 
 luckily found him out just in time to clip the wings of 
 their ornithological fudge, by putting his name in the last 
 sheet of the fifth edition. 
 
 Ware, Mr., of Southampton, is the best preserver of birds, &c. 
 of any one I know in the country. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFKI A RS. 
 
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 RET University of caiifornia Library 
 
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