INTRODUCTION 



'T^HE Gun : Afield and Afloat has been written in 

 the hope that it may prove helpful to an ever- 

 increasing army of young shooters by affording precise 

 information respecting the guns to be used, the game 

 to be shot, and the various methods of shooting as 

 practised in this country. This book is offered as the 

 result of the author's thirty years' experience with guns, 

 and in the shooting of game and wild-fowl, and whilst 

 elementary in all else, it does not aim to impart know- 

 ledge as to the mere handling of the gun, proficiency 

 in that direction being only attainable by practice, not 

 by precept. 



The well-worn truism that " everybody must have a 

 beginning " is just as applicable to shooting as to hunt- 

 ing, or, for that matter, to all branches of sport ; and all 

 being mindful of first attempts, due allowance will be 

 made for others on their first entry into the field. Still, 

 the shooting novice must bear in mind that human 

 patience is limitable ; he must not presume too much 

 upon the forbearance of his friends, remembering above 

 all else that the airing of incapacity in the shooting field 

 is less pardonable than would be his raw efforts in 

 certain other pursuits. Old hands may derive consider- 

 able pleasure from watching the efforts of the tyro in 



