THE GUN, AND HOW TO CHOOSE IT. 67 



into the Spirit of The Times prevented the success of the 

 experiment ; and such guns never now, and probably never 

 will, again, find their way into this market, even if or- 

 dered expressly. 



Nevertheless, no gentleman visiting London, and de- 

 siring to procure a cheap, servicable, safe, though plain 

 gun, can possibly do better than call on any one of the 

 makers I have mentioned Lancaster, Lang, Moore or 

 Purday, and ask for a gamekeeper's gun. If he be a 

 sportsman, and do not get a working tool up to his mark, 

 he will be hard to please; but he must not expect any 

 ornament, or any thing approaching to the high finish, or 

 close and accurate fitting of pieces of four times its value. 



For all guns of one hundred dollars, or und^r, I would 

 earnestly advise all purchasers to have their own guns made 

 to order in the American Atlantic cities, by American gun- 

 makers of standing reputation. It will be understood, 

 that the locks and barrels are all English made and Eng- 

 lish bored, though neither filed nor finished ; and that they 

 can be, and are, got up in New York, by several perfectly 

 good and trustworthy workmen, in any style, from fifty to 

 two hundred dollars; and I presume, and indeed under- 

 stand, that the other principal seaboard cities of the Union 

 are not far behind New York in this particular. 



I have seen guns manufactured by Henry Tomes & Co. 

 and by Henry T. Cooper, while he was in business, for 

 150 dollars, which, in all respects, I would myself have 

 preferred to any one of Westley Richards' at any price ; 

 and I can cheerfully and truthfully say the same for guns 

 of all descriptions, made by either of those excellent me- 



