THE SPORTSMAN IN FRANCE. 125 



I would advise his taking a good sup- 

 ply of tools, and every utensil appertain- 

 ing to his trade ; for he will not find a 

 file, saw, or chisel fit to use on the other 

 side of the water ; and, notwithstanding 

 the heavy duty, I would also recommend 

 him to import, from this country, his iron, 

 barrel-stubbing, and steel, for the mate- 

 rials he will meet with in France are of a 

 quality very inferior to that he will have 

 been accustomed to here. 



There is a peculiar malleability about 

 our English iron that is not to be met 

 with in any other quarter of the globe ; 

 and consequently the perfection to which 

 our gun-makers have arrived is unattain- 

 able by the foreign manufacturers. 



A curious, and not an uninteresting, 

 exemplification of this came under my 

 own observation about ten years ago. 



A gentleman, connected with a highly 

 respectable firm in the gun trade, at Bir- 



