Matchlock V. Breechloader 239 



guns — mechanical slaughter. But were I offered par- 

 ticipation in the bloodiest battue ever arranged, or the 

 freedom of an English forest or mountain tract, to go 

 forth at any time untrammelled by attendant, but 

 only to shoot with matchlock, wheel-lock, or cross- 

 bow, my choice would be unhesitating. 



There would be pleasure in winding up the lock 

 with the spanner ; pleasure in adjusting the priming ; 

 or with the matchlock in lighting the match. To 

 wander out into the brake, to creep from tree to tree 

 so noiselessly that the woodpecker should not cease 

 to tap — in that there is joy. The consciousness that 

 everything depends upon your own personal skill, and 

 that you have no second resource if that fails you, 

 gives the real zest to sport. 



If the wheel did not knock a spark out quickly ; if 

 the priming had not been kept dry or the match not 

 properly blown, or the crossbow set exactly accurate, 

 then the care of approach would be lost. You must 

 hold the gun steady, too, while the slow priming 

 ignites the charge. 



An imperfect weapon — yes ; but the imperfect 

 weapon would accord with the great oaks, the beech 

 trees full of knot-holes, the m.ysterious thickets, the 

 tall fern, the silence and the solitude. The chase 

 would become a real chase ; not, as now, a foregone 



