648 flings of tfoe IRofc, 1Rifle t anb (Bun 



practice. But as a matter of fact, the really great 

 rifle-shot is born, not made. You can, it is true, 

 make a tolerable shot out of the ordinary man, but 

 not one man in ten thousand is born with the gifts 

 which alone can make such marksmen as Sir Henry 

 Halford. 



This indefatigable and enthusiastic rifleman may be 

 said, to a certain extent, to have sacrificed his life to 

 his zeal for shooting. In the year 1895 he made a 

 voyage to New Zealand for the benefit of his health, 

 which had for some time previously been failing. 

 After his return to England, in the spring of 1896, 

 he took part in an important long-range rifle com- 

 petition at Cambridge. On the first day he shot 

 splendidly, and carried all before him. But on the 

 second day he was advised not to go out, as the 

 weather was bad and his heart was in a weak state. 

 He would go, however, and the consequence was that 

 he broke down and practically never recovered from 

 the illness which followed. He lingered, indeed, till 

 the following January, when, after suffering great pain, 

 he died. The Times^ in its long obituary notice, paid 

 him no more than his due in the following tribute : 

 "The country owes him the debt due to a man who 

 made the science of rifles, as well as the practice of 

 rifle-shooting, the main pursuit of his life, who, without 

 thought of pecuniary advantage, laboured without 

 ceasing to discover all that could be discovered about 

 the infantry weapon and bring it to a state of per- 

 fection." I don't know how many times Sir Henry 

 Halford shot for the Elcho Shield, but for many years 



