412 SUGGESTIONS TO SPORTSMEN. 



to do terrible damage. Every possible precaution 

 must be taken, vigilance must never be I'elaxed, the 

 muzzle mu-st under no circumstances point tovrards 

 the owner or liis companions; if two men are crawl- 

 ing through thick brush, the gmi of the first must 

 point forwards, and of the last, backwards; the caps 

 of muzzle-loaders should be removed on getting 

 into a wagon, and when the loaded weapon is left 

 in a house the liammers ought never to be left 

 down on the caps ; but, above all, no man who is 

 not in search of an early grave should pull a gun 

 towards him by the barrels. 



These rules are simple, and the reasons for them 

 apparent; if the hammer is on the cap, a blow on it, 

 or its catching on a twig, will discharge the load ; 

 if a horse runs away, as horses have an unpleasant 

 habit of doing, even if the lock is at half-cock, the 

 tumbler may be broken down; if a gun is capped in 

 a house, every one but an idiot knows it is loaded; 

 and if it is drawn towards a person — as will be 

 often done by thoughtless people in taking it from 

 a wagon or lifting it from a boat or from the ground 

 — it is almost sure to go oif. 



In the field it should be carried either at whole or 

 half-cock; authorities differ as to which of these 

 two modes is the safer. If the hammer is at full 

 cock, a touch on the trigger will set it loose ; if it is 

 at half-cock, in the excitement of cocking it when a 

 bird rises unexpectedly, it will often slip uninten- 

 tionally. I prefer the former method, believing 

 that the sense of danger makes the person more 



