INTRODUCTION xxi 



stamp, he shoots on foot, spares no pains, and accounts 

 that species most valuable which gives most trouble ; 

 he takes an interest in the ways of the people, the 

 large game, and the birds, and gives us the result of 

 much original observation. He gives us, too, most 

 valuable information from the sportsman's point of 

 view, as to the capabilities of the various types of 

 modern weapons. 



Through Captain Mosse's arguments on rifles runs 

 a general tendency to uphold, up to a certain point, 

 powerful rifles and moderately large calibres, wherein 

 T absolutely agree with him ; though I would go 

 still further than he does. One often travels thou- 

 sands of miles by stream, hundreds of miles with pack 

 transport, to get a shot at a particular species. One 

 arrives at last, tired, carrying one's loaded rifle, at a 

 point where one may, and sooner or later will, if one 

 X^erseveres, see an animal for about three seconds. 

 Here, to have carried a little extra weight is beside the 

 point, so long as by careful perseverance one has got 

 there. Then, in the name of all that is sensible, have 

 the heaviest, most powerful, most efficient, weapon 

 you can bring to the spot, provided you can carry 

 it yourself and handle it with ease and quickness at 

 the important moment. Its weight will help you to 

 two trump cards in the game, stopping power and 

 range combined ; it will give you a third trump card, 

 that is, all the safety that an adequate weapon can 

 provide ; without this you may have exciting adven- 

 tures, but you will not shoot long, as some animal 

 will, sooner or later, get you, if you persist in using 

 very light rifles. 



