GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 15 



and Indians called the shot-gun by the derisive term 

 " squaw gun," and wondered that grown men should 

 delight in its use. All that is now greatly changed. 

 Thousands every year enjoy sport of the highest 

 order, and fill their bags in the most artistic man- 

 ner, in many parts of the country where shooting 

 on the wing was formerly unknown. Shooting of 

 this sort once enjoyed is never willingly relinquished 

 altogether. Those who are able to afford the cost 

 and spare the time from their avocations in the 

 great cities impatiently count the days which must 

 intervene before the time comes for them to jump 

 aboard the train with their guns and their sporting 

 paraphernalia, bound to the shooting-grounds the 

 places where game is to be found in abundance. 

 Arrived in these sections, and meeting with old 

 friends, the harassed and weak grow vigorous again, 

 and the strong become stronger. The consciousness 

 of skill, the confidence begotten of success, give such 

 a spring to the mind and nerves, and inflame the 

 ardor of pursuit to such a degree, that the fatigues 

 of the excursion are scarcely perceived, and its 

 privations, if such they may be called, are laughed 

 at and merrily endured till speedily forgotten. The 

 habits of the various kinds of game are a subject 

 of great interest and observation. The fine and 



