82 SHOOTING AND SALMON FISHING 



In placing guns for a partridge drive, it helps the bag if 

 the shooters are all well known to their host, for if he be an 

 observant sportsman, he will have a very good idea of what 

 each can do best ; some will excel at high overhead birds, 

 the strong point of others will be side shots, while there will 

 be those who are experts at low birds flying straight in their 

 faces. Now, if the host has a thorough knowledge of his 

 shooting, he will know where to place his friends so that each 

 may get the sort of shots he is cleverest at. Wherever we go, 

 we like to see the host placing his guns for himself, and not 

 leaving it to the keepers ; for it is usually a guarantee he takes 

 a deep interest in the matter, and knows his ground thoroughly. 

 Owing, however, to the constant change in the cropping of the 

 fields, the shooting-ground is always different every season, and 

 requires a fresh study each year. 



As to shooting lunches, we have seen too much provided, 

 and also too little, though there is always a happy medium which 

 many of our friends have attained to perfection. Champagne, 

 with hot substantial solids, capped with foie gras, cake, old 

 cognac, and big cigars, is not calculated to improve anyone's 

 shooting ; but all the same it is preferable to cold tea with dry 

 biscuits, which fare we once saw five guns asked to sit down 

 to, at a white hare drive in November, at an altitude of two 

 thousand feet above sea-level ! 



We consider champagne is fatal to good marksmanship or 

 stout walking, and have several times felt (only just to see if 

 it really was the case) how it spoils the eye, and have witnessed 

 the same effect on many others. We especially remember the 

 occasion of a ptarmigan day early in September on a hill-top 

 which was absolutely springless, so thus it happened that two 

 bottles of champagne were put into the panniers, with beer for 

 the men, to save the waste of time in descending and remount- 

 ing the steep hill to find a spring for luncheon. Now, two 

 botdes between three was not a very extravagant allowance 

 after five hours' hard walking in a hot sun, for we had made 



