34 The Teteott H^tnt LUeek. 



months lasted ! How sad, after the departure of 

 the delightful family for their home in England ! I 

 think my father guessed that my mind dwelt on the 

 loss of my fair companion more than was good for 

 me, and to arouse me from my melancholy he used 

 of an evening, when we were alone, to tell me stories 

 of things that had occurred in the merry days when 

 he was young. 



I remember his describing what a very different 

 thing shooting was in those days to the present 

 mode of slaughtering game. It took no little time 

 to load a " piece " fifty years ago. And when the 

 flint locks were in use some of the guns were nearly 

 six feet long, and had to be sloped to an angle of 

 forty-five degrees before the shotsman could get at 

 the muzzle. This of course added to the labour and 

 difficulty of loading. But even in my father's time 

 it was a long operation, particularly to those men 

 who did not possess a spring-top powder flask and 

 shot pouch. 



The manner in which the loading was done, my 

 father described thus : — The shotsman, after ground- 

 ing his " piece," drew from his pocket a cow's horn, 

 its larger end, stopped with a bit of oak wood, formed 

 the bottom of flask. The pointed end of horn was 

 made to unscrew, and to hold such a charge as 

 would send off two or three ounces of shot with a 

 very perceptible recoil, which often left a bruise on 



