i2 4 BIRD-HUNTING 



curved stock, sometimes beautifully inlaid. Many, 

 probably the majority, carry Martinis, the stocks of 

 which are decorated with brass-headed nails in lines 

 and circles. They are generally old, and I should 

 imagine, in spite of the care they take of them, that 

 the barrels must be very worn and corroded. The 

 mountaineers very frequently have Mauser magazine 

 carbines, and very handy weapons they are, espe- 

 cially on horseback, and I believe they are very 

 accurate. The curious thing is that these people, 

 accustomed as they are to shooting all their lives, 

 are not first-rate shots except at short range, and I 

 am told they are bad judges of distance. When it 



came to shooting competitions, both B and I 



could always beat them hollow. I fancy their 

 shooting at one another is at close quarters, and 

 under cover, behind a tree or rock, on which they 

 can rest their rifle, and behind which they are 

 protected from any shots in return. But they make 

 sure of the first shot ; it doesn't pay to miss in 

 these countries. I think a man at 600 yards 

 would be pretty safe, especially from Martinis, the 

 trajectory of which is much higher than with the 

 Mauser and other modern rifles, so that any error 

 in judging the distance would render the man shot 

 at perfectly safe. Another reason is, I expect, the 

 high price of cartridges, which are all smuggled. 

 This makes them unwilling to risk uncertain shots 



