112 A Book of the Snipe, 



owing to the speed at which it moves be- 

 neath and across the trajectory of the shot. 

 In other words, with the single exception of a 

 bird crossing from left to right, when it will, of 

 course, be in sight all the time, at the actual 

 moment of firing the snipe should be invisible 

 to the shooter, being hidden by the gun as it 

 swings with, but faster than, the object. 



It is a complicated question, this lateral 

 Impetus of the muzzle. There is no more 

 stock subject of discussion amongst sports- 

 men, especially those afflicted with the itch of 

 ink-spilling. I do not propose to enter very 

 deeply into the argument, especially as, like 

 this precious fiscal question which is con- 

 vulsing us, it appears rather of the " circular " 

 order, from the fact that each side of it 

 has its successful exponents, and must there- 

 fore be correct ! No one expects a number 

 of first-class batsmen to play a certain kind 

 of ball in exactly the same way. The prob- 

 ability is that every one of them would play 

 it differently, though all, perhaps, would score 

 the desired boundary hit from it. It is the 



