H /lDarsb*=lant) ITnctbent 



a bow; but the demand which the old im- 

 plement makes upon one's patience, wari- 

 ness, stealth, skill, is of itself an endless 

 fascination ; and when, at last, the success- 

 ful shot is delivered, something strangely 

 and inexplicably thrilling comes out of it. 

 Moreover, the simple fact that shots are 

 many and killings few may account 

 for the greater part of sylvan archery's 

 fascination. The archer shoots for the 

 joy of shooting, not for the bag's weight. 

 I have read old Roger Ascham's '* Tox- 

 ophilus " in many an ancient wood, while 

 resting and waiting for the wild things to 

 show themselves. Ascham was no sylvan 

 bowman, nor is his little book adequate to 

 the needs of one who aspires to successful 

 wild-wood shooting ; but it is a quaint style 

 he wields, an ancient and moss-covered 

 diction, so that nosing over *' Toxophilus " 

 in a wild forest nook has its justification 

 and its comfort. By my note-book I am 

 reminded that after I had secured the ibis, 

 and duly taken its dimensions for ornithol- 

 ogy's sake, I sat down, with the great 

 bird on one side of me and my bow on 

 1 60 



