ANTISEniC QUALITY OF PEAT. 167 



also seen those dried bodies of the monks in one of the 

 convents at Palermo, dressed in their monkish habits, 

 but these had been previously embalmed. No females 

 ai-e allowed to visit these receptacles of the dead. 



Mr. Scrope says, " The most perfect shots and cele- 

 brated sportsmen never succeed in killing deer without 

 practice ; indeed, at first they are quite sure to miss the 

 fairest running shots. This, I think, arises from their 

 firing at distances to which they have been wholly im- 

 accustomed, and is no reflection upon their skill. It ia 

 seldom that you fire at a less distance than a hundred 

 yards, and this is as near as I would wish to get. The 

 usual range will be between this and two hundred yards, 

 beyond which, as a general rule, I never think it prudent 

 to fire, lest I should hit th% wrong animal, though deer 

 may be killed at a much greater distance, particularly 

 with the present inventions and improvements in rifles. 

 Now, the sportsman who has been accustomed to shot 

 guns is apt to fire with the same sort of aim that he 

 takes at a grouse or any other common game ; thus he 

 invariably fires behind the quarry, for he does not con- 

 sider that the ball having three, four, or perhaps five 

 times the distance to travel that his shot has, will not 

 arrive at its destination nearly so soon ; consequently, 

 in a cross shot, he must keep his rifle more in advance. 

 The exact degree, as he well knows, vdll depend upon 

 the pace and remoteness of the object. Deer go much 

 faster than they appear to do, and their pace is not uni- 

 form, like the flying of a bird ; but they pitch in run- 

 ning, and this pitch must be calculated upon. Firino- 

 at a target is a very necessary practice in the first in- 

 stance, partly to gain steadiness and confidence, but 

 principally to ascertain the shooting of your rifle at all 



