28 BIG GAME SHOOTING 
own light, I can sincerely express a deep regret that his pen 
throughout his life was unemployed. No one could describe 
a scene more graphically, or with greater vigour ; he could tell 
his stories with so vivid a descriptive power that the effect 
was mentally pictorial ; and his listeners could feel thoroughly 
assured that not one word of his description contained a par- 
ticle of exaggeration. 
I have always regarded Oswell as the oerioctiont of a 
Nimrod. Six feet in height, sinewy and muscular, but 
nevertheless light in weight, he was not only powerful, but 
enduring. A handsome face, with an eagle glance, but full of 
kindliness and fearlessness, bespoke the natural manliness of 
character which attracted him to the wild adventures of his 
early life. 
He was a first-rate horseman, and all his shooting was from 
the saddle, or by dismounting for the shot after he had run 
his game to bay. 
In 1861, when I was about to start on an expedition towards 
the Nile sources, Oswell, who had then retired from the field 
to the repose of his much-loved home, lent me his favourite 
gun, with which he had killed almost every animal during his five 
years’ hunting in South Africa. This gun was a silent witness 
to what its owner had accomplished. In exterior it looked like 
an ordinary double-barrelled rifle, weighing exactly ten pounds ; 
in reality it was a smooth-bore of great solidity, constructed 
specially by Messrs. Purdey & Co. for Mr. Oswell. This use- 
ful gun was sighted like a rifle, and carried a spherical ball of 
the calibre No. 10 ; the charge was six drachms of fine-grained 
powder. There were no breech-loaders in those days, and the 
object of a smooth- bore was easy loading, which was especially 
necessary when shooting from the saddle. The spherical ball 
was generally wrapped in either waxed kid or linen patch ; this 
was rolled rapidly between the hands with the utmost pressure ; 
the folds were then cut off close to the metal with scissors, and 
the bullet was again rolled as before. The effect was complete ; 
the covering adhered tightly to the metal, which was now ready for 
a 
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