238 The Amateur Poacher 



I have entered many woods just for the pleasure 

 of creeping through the brake and the thickets. 

 Destruction in itself was not the motive ; it was an 

 overpowering instinct for woods and fields. Yet 

 woods and fields lose half their interest without a gun 

 I like the power to shoot, even though I may not 

 use it. The very perfection of our modern guns is to 

 me one of their drawbacks : the use of them is so 

 easy and so certain of effect that it takes away the 

 romance of sport. 



There could be no greater pleasure to me than to 

 wander with a matchlock through one of the great 

 forests or wild tracts that still remain in England. A 

 hare a day, a brace of partridges, or a wild duck would 

 be ample in the way of actual shooting. The weapon 

 itself, whether matchlock, wheel-lock, or even a cross- 

 bow, would be a delight. Some of the antique wheel- 

 lock guns are really beautiful specimens of design. The 

 old powder-horns are often gems of workmanship 

 hunting scenes cut out in ivory, and the minutest 

 detail of hoof or antler rendered with life-like accuracy. 

 How pleasant these carvings feel to the fingers ! It 

 is delightful to handle such weapons and such imple- 

 ments. 



The matchlocks, too, are inlaid or the stocks 

 carved. There is slaughter in every line of our modern 



