shooting. Double barrels came into use, horse-nail stubs were employed in the manufacture of barrels, the patent breech and percussion-cap were invented, and the wire-cartridge has since been introduced. Not the least improvement has been that in the manufacture of gunpowder. The excellence of our guns and dogs has tended much to spread the love of shooting, which has become the most popular and universal of British field-sports.

It has been remarked, that ours is pre-eminently the land of sportsmen-the very name being unknown in all other countries. The observation is in a great measure true, for, if we look around the globe, we find that wherever wild animals are killed for the sake of sport, it is mostly by the Englishman. In Sweden the Englishman alone kills the bear for sport. The natives kill it for the sake of reward, or to rid themselves of a noxious neighbour. In Asia, the only sportsman that encounters the royal tiger is the Englishman; the native shekerrie shoots the tiger for profit. There also the buffalo and the boar are hunted by the Englishman alone. In Africa, it is the Englishman who hunts the lion, the hippopotamus, and the giraffe. And in America, it is the Englishman, or English settler, who hunts the panther, the bison, and the bear, for sport; the natives do so from necessity. Since, then, the Englishman is the universal sportsman, it behoves the officer, the emigrant, and the tourist, to make themselves acquainted not only with what may be called the first principles of sporting, but more especially with the

sports peculiar to the countries to which they are proceeding, a theoretical knowledge of which may be gleaned from the volumes which annually proceed from the pens of our travelled countrymen.

The fire-arms chiefly used by the sportsman are the rifle, and the fowling-piece; the latter may be classified into the swivel-gun, which is fired from a rest, and the shoulder-gun. A short, wide-bored musket, charged with a round or oval iron ball, was formerly used for the destruction of such animals as the lion, tiger, or bear. In modern times, the musket has been superseded by the rifle, and the iron ball by a leaden one, hardened with tin or zinc, and weighted with quicksilver. A short piece is said to be preferred to a long one for shooting tigers, bears, and the like, as it may be more readily loaded, and is more easily managed in cases of emergency; indeed, we apprehend the shooter should seldom fire, except when the animal is so near to him that -if he aim coolly-he cannot fail to lodge a ball effectively.

We subjoin the methods of taking aim at wild beasts from practical sporting writers. Mr. Lloyd says, "If a man purposes attacking a bear at close quarters, a double gun is decidedly the best; if it be in the winter season, a detonator is very preferable. Owing to having flint locks, both my barrels, on one occasion, missed fire, which might have been attended with most serious consequences; a large ball is very desirable. The best points to hit a bear, or any other animal, are in the forehead, in the breast, under the ear, or at the back of the shoulder; bullets placed in other parts of the body of an old bear usually have little immediate effect. If the snow be deep, and the bear is crossing a man, he should always aim very low; he must often, indeed, fire into the snow, if he expects to hit the heart of the beast." Captain Williamson gives the following instructions for shooting tigers: "If the motion :+ of an animal through the grass be perceived, the nearest elephant should be halted; and its left shoulder being pointed towards the moving object, is the most favourable position for taking a good aim. The hunter should fire without hesitation, observing to proportion his level as far within the space between himself and the tops of the yielding grass as the height of the cover may dictate; by this precaution-equally necessary when shooting fish that are in any degree beneath the surface of

* Field Sports of the North of Europe, by L. Lloyd, Esq. London, 1828.

+ Oriental Field Sports, by Captain Thomas Williamson. London, 1805.

the water-the iron ball will, in general, take effect." Tiger-hunting, on horseback or on foot, is perhaps the most perilous pursuit the sportsman can engage in; but as now chiefly conducted in India, it is not a very dangerous sport. The sportsman, secure in his castled howdah, cannot be surprised by ambuscade, and he has little to fear from the enraged brute at bay; but unless he be a clever horseman and adroit "pig-sticker," hog-hunting is fraught with more danger. Comparing that sport with tiger-hunting, Captain Mundy says,-" To the hog-hunting of Bengal, the palm of sporting supremacy must certainly be adjudged. Few, who have had opportunities of enjoying both in perfection, will balance between the tiger and the boar. In the pursuit of the former shikkar, the sportsman-though there are certainly some casual risks to heighten the interest and add to the excitement— feels himself, in his pride of place, ten feet above the ground, comparatively secure; and, should any accident befall him, it is generally traceable to the misconduct of the elephant, or the timidity of the mahout, whose situation, poor devil! with a furious tiger before him, and a bad shot behind him, is any thing but enviable. In the boar-hunt, on the contrary, the sportsman depends entirely on his own adroitness. To have any chance of distinguishing himself, he must have the seat and the judgment of a fox-hunter, the eye of a falconer, the arm of a lancer-and above all, a horse fleet, active, bold, and well-in-hand."* If the size of the game be

*Sketches in India, by Captain Mundy. London, 1833.

a criterion to judge of sport, the palm must be awarded to elephant-shooting. It holds high rank where the lion and the tiger are not found. "Elephant-shooting," says Major Forbes," in exciting interest, as far exceeds any other sport in Ceylon as does the animal itself, compared with the lesser tenants of the forest." He adds, "A sportsman fairly equipped for elephant shooting, ought to have at least four barrels, and the best form of these would be two double-barrelled guns, carrying balls of an ounce and a third in weight, and of strength sufficient to take a large charge of powder. I should prefer plain to rifle-barrels, as they occupy less time in loading, which is sometimes of great consequence, and smooth barrels carry balls with sufficient accuracy; for shooting at a distance is never successful in this sport, and it is not advisable (if you have a choice) to fire until you are within fifteen yards of the animal; half that distance is preferable, as then your shot-if it fails to kill—will, in all probability, check him for a sufficient time to allow of exchanging your gun and hitting again."* A large ball is evidently a favourite with the Major. He likewise bestows a preference on the musket for elephant shooting, it being sooner loaded. The mark being large, and the distance of firing usually short, account for his preference of the smooth bore in that sport. But we apprehend there is no difference of opinion amongst sportsmen, that a grooved barrel is the

* Eleven Years in Ceylon, by Major Forbes. London, 1840.