SUGGESTIONS TO SPORTSMEN. 285 



to do terrible damage. Every possible precaution 

 must be taken, vigilance must never be relaxed, the 

 muzzle must under no circumstances point towards 

 the owner or his companions ; if two men are crawl- 

 ing through thick brush, the gun of the first must 

 point forwards, and of the last, backwards ; the caps 

 should always be removed when the sportsman gets 

 into a wagon, and when the loaded weapon is left 

 in a house the hammers ought never to be left 

 down on the caps ; but, above all, no man who is 

 not hi search of an early grave should pull a gun 

 towards him by the barrels. 



These rules are simple, and the reasons for them 

 apparent ; if the hammer is on the cap, a blow on it, 

 or its catching on a twig, will discharge the load ; 

 if a horse runs away, as horses have an unpleasant 

 habit of doing, even if the lock is at half-cock, the 

 tumbler may be broken down ; if a gun is capped in 

 a house, every one but an idiot knows it is loaded ; 

 and if it is drawn towards a person as will be 

 often done by thoughtless people in taking it from 

 a wagon or lifting it from a boat or from the ground 

 it is almost sure to go off. 



In the field it should be carried either at whole or 

 half-cock; authorities differ as to which of these 

 two modes is the safer. If the hammer is at full 

 cock, a touch on the trigger will set it loose ; if it is 

 at half-cock, in the excitement of cocking it when a 

 bird rises unexpectedly, it will often slip uninten- 

 tionally. I prefer the former method, believing 

 that the sense of danger makes the person more 



