180 THE GROUSE 



yards, and is so upset by this unwonted 

 bungling that he loses all the confidence 

 in himself which is so essential to good 

 shooting. He will then quite probably 

 miss the simplest chances, and the drive, 

 so far as he is concerned, becomes a 

 failure. 



It seems necessary to dwell somewhat 

 strongly on this point, because keepers 

 are apt to have an exalted idea of the 

 range of a twelve -bore, and if left to 

 themselves, will often put up lines of 

 butts at monstrously wide intervals. 



Only a few years ago the writer was 

 shooting on a charming little moor in the 

 Western Highlands. The company was 

 good, the drives tolerably well arranged, 

 and there was a nice show of birds, 

 enough to raise hopes that we should 

 run our two hundred brace very hard. 

 In the event we just topped the hundred 

 brace, and to do this probably wounded 

 half as many again, — a sorry performance, 

 though easily accounted for, when the 

 distance between the butts was paced 



