40 GUN, RIFLE, AND HOUND. 



month. He went on to say, " There are a good many 

 rabbits." I was glad to accept, and at the appointed 

 time, after a tedious cross-country journey, found my- 

 self at my friend's hospitable abode. 



The day fixed for the shoot was the 2Qth, and 

 many anxious looks were turned to the barometer, for 

 a wet night would inevitably ruin a shoot of this kind. 

 But the clerk of the weather was kind and the day fair 

 and mild. 



We were five guns all soldiers and consequently 

 punctuality was the order of the day. The ground to 

 be beaten consisted almost entirely of larch and fir 

 plantations. Most of these were strips, some of great 

 length. We began on a beat of this kind : two guns 

 being posted outside the end, one (myself) inside, 

 while two more walked down outside in line with the 

 beaters. The beat had hardly begun when a hare 

 came down through the small firs towards me. A 

 shot in the head sent her rolling over and over, and 

 by this time the other guns were also at work. This 

 little strip yielded several hares and some rabbits. 



So we worked on, till towards lunch-time we 

 reached a fir wood a stronghold of the rabbits on 

 the estate. This was driven to a point where a stone 

 wall facilitated the covering of it by two guns, the 

 rest of us advancing in line with the beaters. The 

 firing grew quicker, till a woodcock got up, and was 

 marked down. The beaters were stopped while one 

 of the guns walked up to the place, but missed the 

 cock. Then we moved on again. At last we came 

 up to the spot where the other guns were hard at 



