142 MANUAL FOK YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



piece and cut down the objects, one after the other, as if 

 they were hanging motionless in a dead cairn. 



The best practice for this purpose, not merely for the 

 novice, but for the old hand who by any accidental cir- 

 cumstances has got out of use, and one which cannot fail to 

 produce its effect, is to shoot at large-sized turnips pitched 

 into the air with the utmost force and vigor of a power- 

 ful arm, in all possible directions, diagonally, across, and 

 toward, or away from, the shooter, by a clever and practised 

 assistant. 



With a tyro, the lesson should commence by tossing 

 the turnip directly before him, slowly upward ; and as he 

 improves and attains certainty in hitting it, increasing its 

 velocity and altering its direction. 



The learner, after a few trials, should avoid shooting at 

 the turnip when at its maximum elevation, for while in that 

 position, it hangs for a moment in the air virtually motion- 

 less, and then presents a stationary shot. He should, 

 therefore, as soon as he is tolerably sure of it, when at its 

 height, begin firing as it rises or descends, by which 

 means he will easily learn what allowance is to be made 

 for speed and distance. When he is master of this, let it 

 be first tossed, then hurled, as I have said above, diagon- 

 ally across him, away from, or toward him ; and by the 

 same degrees, imperceptibly he will come to such skill, 

 that he will never, or scarcely ever, miss it. So soon as 

 he can accomplish this (and I have seen scores of boys 

 who have done so, and could do so in a great measure 

 myself, before I had ever thought in my most sanguine 

 dreams of firing at game), he can my word upon it kill 



