.1 THE RIFLE OF A PAST HALF CENTURY 13 



joint, it will be observed that although it has retained its substance, 

 the momentum has been conveyed to every fragment of crushed 

 bone, which will have been driven forward through the lungs 

 like a charge of buckshot, in addition to the havoc created by the 

 large diameter of an expanded '577 bullet. Both shoulders will 

 have been completely crushed, and the animal must of course be 

 rendered absolutely helpless. This is a sine qua non in all shoot- 

 ing. Do not wound, but kill outright ; and this you will generally 

 do with a '577 solid bullet of pure lead, or with a Paradox bullet 

 If ounce hard metal and 4^ drams of powder. This very large 

 bullet is sufficiently formidable to require no expansion. 



Gunmakers will not advise the use of pure lead for bullets, as 

 it is apt to foul the barrel by its extreme softness, which leaves a 

 coating of the metal upon the surface of the rifling. For military 

 purposes this objection would hold good, but so few shots are 

 fired at game during the day, that no disadvantage could accrue, 

 and the rifle would of course be cleaned every evening. 



The accidents which unfortunately so often happen to the 

 hunters of dangerous game may generally be traced to the defect 

 in the rifles employed. If a shooter wishes to amuse himself in 

 Scotland among the harmless red deer, let him try any experiments 

 that may please him ; but if he is a man like so many who leave 

 the shores of Great Britain for the wild jungles of the East, or of 

 Africa, let him at once abjure hollow bullets if he seeks dangerous 

 game. Upon this subject I press my opinion, as I feel the 

 immense responsibility of advice should any calamity occur. It is 

 only a few months since the lamented Mr. Ingram was killed by 

 an elephant in the Somali country, through using a '450 Express 

 hollow bullet against an animal that should at least have been 

 attacked with a No. 10. I submit the question to any admirer of 

 the hollow Express. "If he is on foot, trusting only to his 

 rifle for protection, would he select a hollow Express, no matter 

 whether '577, '500, or '450 ; or would he prefer a solid bullet to 

 withstand a dangerous charge ? " 



India is a vast empire, and various portions, according to the 

 conditions of localities, have peculiar customs for the conduct of 

 wild sports. In dense jungles, where it would be impossible to 

 see the game if on foot, there is no other way of obtaining a shot 

 than by driving. The gunners are in such case placed at suit- 

 able intervals upon platforms called mucharns, securely fitted 

 between convenient forks among the branches of a tree, about 10 

 or 12 feet above the ground. From this post of vantage the 

 gunner can see without being seen, and, thoroughly protected from 



