LUednesday, pebt^uat^y 14th, 1894. 35 



the shoulder of a. neophyte. When the top of horn 

 had been unscrewed, filled with powder, emptied 

 into barrel of gun, and screwed on again, and the 

 flask committed to an inside breast pocket, then 

 began a search for paper, which was used instead of 

 wadding. The pockets of a shooting-jacket were in 

 those days numerous, very deep, and with narrow 

 openings, so that the search took time, and when 

 the brown paper or news sheet was at last drawn 

 forth and a piece of required size torn off, folded, 

 and placed at the gun's muzzle, the ramrod was 

 drawn forth from its loops and applied to the paper 

 to send it down on the powder and to give sundry 

 sharp raps thereon, till the rod rebounded freely. 

 This was often accompanied with a sort of incanta- 

 tion — " Ram the powder, not the lead ; Fire straight, 

 and you'll kill quite dead." When the ramrod had 

 been temporarily placed in the sportsman's mouth, 

 a bag of shot was produced, its string untied, and a 

 load scooped out with the bowl of a clay pipe — two 

 or three pipes to a load. Sometimes the brass nose 

 of an umbrella was used as a measure, but this bit 

 of grandeur could only be indulged in by the more 

 wealthy part of the community. The palm of the 

 hand was used if there chanced to be no other 

 measure. When the shot had been poured into the 

 gun, the paper and ramrod process was repeated, 

 but without the finishing raps. Then before the 



