200 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



top of Fusi-yama in twenty minutes. There's side-shoots 

 for Hong- Kong, Calcutta, and a mint o' places, and the 

 return journey's only fifty cents." 



In folly such as this the Yankee, as a rule, will take 

 and give a joke with great good-humour; and he is far 

 from wanting sound good sense in the daily relations of 

 life, as all the world knows ; but he is boastful, self- 

 sufficient, and resentful to a degree. He does not cheer- 

 fully take a second place when fairly beaten. Take his 

 rifle-shooting as an instance. There were no shots like 

 American shots. They could snuff a candle, drive a nail, 

 feather an " injun," and perform a thousand other impos- 

 sibles. As to the British rifleman Lord help him if 

 ever he came before the American boys ! Well, Sam 

 sent his contingent to Wimbledon, and they were badly 

 whipped. There were the usual excuses. They had not 

 the pistol-grip to their rifles, were not accustomed to our 

 poor light, &c. Then we returned the compliment and 

 sent a team to Rush Bottom. Here, in spite of pistol- 

 grips and other fads, they were whipped worse than ever, 

 and we have heard no more of American marksmanship. 

 But we are scarcely forgiven yet for daring to be best men. 



In the early part of my career rifle-clubs were very 

 prevalent in America, having a military, or semi-military, 

 organisation ; yet a large part of the community treated 

 the members with some ridicule, or at least cracked 

 their little jokes at their expense, particularly in giving 

 the clubs eccentric sobriquets. Thus, I remember, there 

 was the Alabama Crab-feet, and the Indiana Smutty- 

 guard, &c. In this perhaps the vulgar in America 

 simply resemble ourselves, for during a visit to Plymouth 

 I noticed a street urchin waddle up behind a somewhat 

 untidy-looking soldier and exclaim, " Quack ! quack ! " 

 Inquiring why he was so rude, " that be one of the 

 Mutley ducks " was the reply. This I found was the 

 sobriquet of the Devon Militia, whose barracks are on 

 Mutley plain. 



