INTRODUCTION xvii 



ammunition there is not more than a fractional difference 

 in the velocity of the shot pellets or their manner of 

 flight. For these specially heavy days of sport the 

 charges of powder and shot may well be reduced some- 

 what below those ordinarily employed, provided always 

 that the shooter is not likely to be unduly handicapped 

 in the matter of length of range or width of killing 

 circle by such reduction. Some slight reduction is 

 perhaps advisable on the score of personal comfort ; for 

 few people, probably, will be capable of undergoing so 

 severe a strain as is entailed in the firing of several 

 hundreds of heavily-loaded cartridges in the space of a 

 few hours without suffering more or less severely from 

 unpleasant effects produced by the recoil and concussion. 

 With respect to the part played by the gunner in the 

 making of these heavy bags of game, it is essential that 

 he should be sound in "wind, limb, and eyesight." 

 Moreover, he must be in good training, and be physic- 

 ally capable of withstanding the shock and strain caused 

 to body and brain by the firing of several hundreds 

 of cartridges in quick succession. Many people are 

 interested in learning as to the figures comprising these 

 extraordinary bags of game, but few in all proba- 

 bility have given more than mere passing thought to 

 the enormous strain entailed upon the gunner in raising 

 the gun to his shoulder, and in receiving the blow and 

 shock imparted by the explosion of the charge. If we 

 assume that 1 500 cartridges were fired by Lord Walsing- 

 ham on that memorable day, August 30, 1888, when 

 he shot 1070 grouse to his own gun, it will probably be 

 tolerably correct to infer that in accomplishing this, the 

 gun, weighing, say, 6f Ibs., would be raised to the 

 shoulder some eight hundred times. Taking the lift 



