102 ftinss of tbe 1Rofc, IRffle, anfc Gun 



that quite spoiled his shooting, though I could see 

 he was a good shot. Had it not been for this, I 

 daresay we should have killed 100 birds in the 

 six hours, notwithstanding we had a very wild windy 

 day, and a pelting storm just in our best shooting, 

 which spoiled the ground for at least an hour after 

 it had ceased. We had only one gun each. Joe 

 Manton, Mr. Childe, and L - hung on our leeward 

 flank, and got u brace and i hare. 



2Otk. Joe Manton left us to-day for town highly 

 delighted and astonished with what he had seen." 



The illustration here reproduced represents Colonel 

 Hawker and his guests on their return from the day's 

 shooting. The centre figure is the Colonel, and Manton 

 stands in front of him slightly to the left. 



That Colonel Hawker was an enthusiastic admirer 

 of Joe Manton as a gun maker is apparent from the 

 epitaph I have already quoted. He never changed his 

 opinion, but to the last declared that if anyone would 

 look "(not with the naked eye but with a magnifying 

 glass) at the work in every part of Joseph Manton's 

 guns and at those of most other makers, he will discover 

 about the same difference that there is between one 

 of our best new town-built coaches and that Gothic 

 vehicle which among our moderns is yclept a Jarvey." 



The number of patents which Joe Manton took out 

 for improvements in firearms was so large that I 

 have no space to enumerate them. There was one 

 notable invention of his, however, which deserves a word 

 of mention, if only for the scurvy treatment he received 

 from the War Office in connection with it It was 



