192 THE SPORTSMAN IN FRANCE, 



celebrity as a first-rate ball shot, his 

 friends were very eager to back him. 



It was understood between the con- 

 tending parties that he who should put 

 the greatest number of bullets through 

 the target should be considered the win- 

 ner. This was the private compact en- 

 tered into by the competitors themselves, 

 without reference to the established rules 

 of target-shooting. 



I have ever been taught to believe that 

 in target shooting, the person who hits 

 the bull's eye, and who puts the greater 

 number of shots in and nearest to it, is 

 considered the winner. Not so, however, 

 in this instance ; for, according to the 

 agreement between Captain Ross and 

 Count D'Orsay, the former was pro- 

 nounced the winner, although the latter, 

 in my humble opinion, shot the better of 

 the two; as, upon inspection, the bull's 

 eye of the Count's target presented more 



