358 



NIGHT CARTRIDGES. 



Then take the head of the mould ; and, by giving it a 

 little turn round, it will become disengaged, and draw 

 out, leaving the paper in the cylinder. Put in your 

 charge of shot ; and, while so doing, shake it well down 

 in the receiver ; as this will make it shoot close and re- 

 gular. Take off the receiver, and your cartridge re- 

 mains, formed on the table. You have then only to 

 close the top of it, by turning down the ends as com- 

 pactly as possibly, and tie it together, longitudinally, 

 with a piece of fine sailmaker's twine, in a hard sailor's 

 (not a " grandmother's") knot. Put a piece of oakum, 

 sponge, or any thing that may be held well by the worm 

 of a ramrod. Tie round that another sailor's knot, and 

 your cartridge is completed, thus 



[I had, at first, used curling paper, even for a punt- 

 gun ; but I found that, when a little damp, it would 

 burst in loading; and, although cartridge-paper is too 

 thick for a sporting gun to shoot regular with, yet a 

 punt-gun invariably does well with it ; and particularly 

 with my system of mixing neafs foot oil with the shot.] 



Put the cartridge into the gun with the oakum head 

 upwards, and you may press it down tight with the 

 ramrod, as the smallest and worst of worms will draw 



