Arms and Outfit 7 



As every one asked me upon my return home 

 if I had used explosive bullets, I will express my 

 opinion about them once and for all. Whether they 

 be "Devismes" or "Pertuiset" or "Jacob Shells," I 

 find them full of inconveniences. Either the explosive 

 bullet is a breakable projectile charged with some 

 explosive substance, picrate of potash, gun-cotton, 

 fulminating mercury, powder, etc., in which case one 

 is obliged at the last moment to place a percussion- 

 cap on a nipple, exactly as in the case of a cap- 

 gun ; or it is a bullet charged with a detonator 

 which is protected by a cap when not in actual use. 

 Five times out of ten it does not explode, doubtless 

 because, in your emotion caused by the presence of 

 danger, you have forgotten to take off the protector ; 

 or else, if it bursts, it does so on a level with the skin, 

 almost outside in the case of thick-skinned animals, 

 and it no longer has the necessary penetrative force ; 

 while in the case of animals with tender skins it does 

 damage which, as one can attain the desired result 

 with ordinary bullets, is useless. And then you 

 expose yourself to the danger of letting these pro- 

 jectiles fall, or of forgetting them in a cartridge case, 

 with the result that you and your men run a risk 

 every moment. In short, the explosive bullet, which 

 I doubt if anybody has ever used with success, may 

 be classed nowadays in museums of balistics, side by 

 side with mortar-pieces and flint-locks. Possessing 

 modern arms and projectiles they are no longer 

 necessary, and are always dangerous. 



On the other hand, the expansive bullet is much 



