78 WITH BOAT AND GUN IN THE I^ANGTZE VALLElf. 



There is no short cut to good shooting. The best shot is generally the born shot, 

 and however strenuously a man may strive to improve his shooting, and a little practice and 

 intelligent observation will often work wonders, all other things being equal he can never 

 expect to be the equal of the naturally gifted shooter. To attain to high excellence in 

 shooting alignment and swing are the two necessary factors. First to get your gun pointed 

 at the bird, and this may be done as the gun is being brought to the shoulder, and then to 

 swing it forward that the shot may intercept the moving object. Most men fire at a bird as 

 if it were a fixed object and dwell on the spot. Paradoxical as it may appear the man who 

 wishes to acquire a quick and good style of shooting should refrain from aiming at — and 

 consequently dwelling on — what he is trying to kill. This question has been so fully and 

 ably dealt with in "The Complete Shot" by Mr. Teasdale-Buckell that all those who wish for 

 more light on this most interesting question need only consult that volume. No amount of 

 theoretical instruction can produce proficiency ; only experience, constant practice and a 

 real love of the sport can ensure success. 



Regarding ammunition it is worth no one's while to lay in any stock now-a-days for 

 the powder used is invariably a chemical composition of some sort or other, whether it be 

 called Schultz, E. C. Kynoch's or any other name, which is ever subject to the vagaries 

 of the temperature it experiences. Cartridges so loaded should be kept in as even a 

 temperature as possible, for the best nitro-powders vary considerably in strength, batch for 

 batch, and should be kept, as also should magazines, out of the sun as much as possible. 

 "The sun will easily raise the so-called "pressure" by about a ton per square inch in some 

 cartridges (Teasdale-Buckell). Another reason for not laying in stocks of ammunition is the 

 economical one, for prices are ever changing, and fresh stocks of really reliable freshly 

 imported cartridges are always to be bought out here at the very moderate price of $5 to $6 

 or 9 to II shillings per hundred, which is about on a parity with home costs. It seems 

 strange that black powder has so gone out of use, been discarded in fact for the weak 

 reasons that it causes a lot of unnecessary smoke and fouls the gun barrels, and that its 

 special advantages should be lost sight of which are that it may always be depended upon 

 to shoot with safety and reliability, while it has been proved beyond doubt that it will kill as 

 well as any of the chemical compounds. One convenience of black powder is that there 

 is no blow-back grit to annoy the shooter as is often the case with other powders. 



Of black powders, according to a great authority, Sir R. Payne Gallwey, the most 

 suitable are Curtis' and Harvey's No. 4, medium grain. They are admirably adapted for 

 use in game guns, both in regard to hard hitting and regular pattern, the latter quality a 

 very necessary one in a gun, and one which black powder possesses to a greater degree than 

 does any chemical compound. " But if the latter is used he recommends the shooter to use 

 Schultz or E. C. //the gun is a reliable one, if he can ensure his cartridges being properly 

 loaded, and //he can depend upon them being kept at a correct temperature." 



But can any sportsman in China be sure that he can satisfy these conditions ? 



With the use of nitro cartridges smaller sizes of shot have come into vogue, which 

 gives the shooter a better chance of killing his bird within the ordinary range. Up to 1872 soft 

 shot was invariably used (and it is a great pity from all points of view but the dentist's that it 

 has ever gone out of fashion) and no smaller size than No. 4 was ever dreamt of. In those 

 earlier days the ordinary charges were 3/4 drams of black powder, i% oz. No. 4 shot in the 



