ROUND THE CAMP FIRE 343 



it remains but to counsel good shooting. Ay, there's the 

 rub! and what a difficult thing it is to make certain of 

 that important, perhaps one and only first shot ! Practice 

 makes perfect, that's all right ; but practice cannot always 

 be had when out in the jungle. It is often impossible to 

 indulge in it for fear of disturbing the surrounding country, 

 and a week or so passed without firing a shot goes farther 

 than most people know in putting one out of practice and 

 self-conceit. Then there is the nature of the shot, which 

 can seldom be chosen at one's leisure, the time for which 

 may arrive suddenly and without warning, with the know- 

 ledge that no "sighters" are possible, but that the very 

 first shot must be a bull's-eye all these go to produce that 

 state of over-anxiety called " shakiness." And misses are 

 so infectious ! One such egregious error, and how difficult 

 it is to find the bull's-eye again ! Besides this it is usually 

 true that the keener the shikari, the worse is the effect of 

 these disturbing influences. 



To do one's self justice the only way is to reserve the 

 shot until the animal is as close as it is likely ever to come. 

 If sitting up over a " kill," the desire to take an easy shot 

 which may present itself at fifty yards should be curbed if 

 the animal is likely to approach within closer range. In 

 a beat likewise, every yard of range should be taken 

 advantage of. In many keen natures the intense anxiety 

 to take the shot whenever the game is within fair distance 

 seems overpowering, but it should be fought against ; for 

 the chance of a miss, with all its attendant trouble, or of 

 a badly placed shot which is usually a far graver affair 

 is not worth taking. At the actual moment of firing few 

 of us seem aware of the vital importance of straight 

 powder, but later on, when worn out by miles of tracking 

 and hard work, of anxious search, or even when we realise 

 some still more unfortunate result of our bad shooting, it 

 comes home with great force. It is difficult to advise a 

 cure for unsteady shooting. A good state of health, not 



