40 MANUAL FOR YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



and the other of the Atlantic, who have kept dogs which 

 they could not hunt, horses which they could not ride, ' 

 guns out of which they could not shoot ; lovers, or at 

 least, pretended lovers of a sport, which they assuredly 

 could not pursue to any profit, nor, so far as I can imagine, 

 to any possible pleasure ; who have yet fancied themselves, 

 and even been called by others who knew even less about 

 it than they did themselves sportsmen. But, though I 

 may have been willing to give them credit as good fellows 

 and promoters of sport for the benefit of others, I never 

 could be induced to prostitute, by bestowing it on such as 

 they, the noble appellation in which all, who have the 

 right to bear it, rejoice with so legitimate a pride and 

 pleasure. 



This being admitted, therefore, it will necessarily fol- 

 low that the first thing to be done by the person aspiring 

 to be a sportsman is, to provide himself with a good and 

 effective weapon, and next, to obtain proficiency, in the 

 highest degree possible, in its use. 



To both these ends, therefore, I shall devote a few 

 pages of instruction, founded on long experience, and 

 tested to my own satisfaction, at least, by the only sure 

 proof of practice. 



I shall begin by assuming, what it needs no argument 

 to establish, that for game-shooting of smaller animals on 

 the field, there is but one weapon ; the double-barrelled 

 percussion shot gun. For the most inveterate supporters 

 of the old flash-in-the-pan, flint-and-steel system have long 

 ago been compelled to abandon their prejudices on the 



