372 



On Gun Accidents. 



more dangerous than the common percussion system with the side- 

 lock, and when loaded from the muzzle the chance of accident is 

 doubled. Moreover, the system of loading from the powder-flask 

 is very objectionable, for it can easily happen that a spark may 

 remain in the barrel, which will ignite the charge when poured 

 in the flash communicates with the flask, which bursts in the 

 hand. A friend of mine in Australia lost a thumb and three 

 fingers by this very thing ; and another, a gamekeeper, in England, 

 whom I knew well, had his thumb and forefinger blown off 

 the right hand by the left-hand barrel of his gun going off" while he 

 was loading the right. Had he been loading the left-hand barrel, 

 his whole hand would probably have been carried away. Now he 

 was a careful man, and his left-hand hammer was down on the 

 nipple j but a spaniel jumped up and pawed the gun while he was 

 loading, and caused the accident which might have cost him his life. 

 Now neither of these accidents could possibly have happened with 

 a breech-loader. 



A gun is, however, never half so dangerous as when in a boat or 

 a gig. Twice have I been within an ace of being shot through the 

 head by a gun going off accidentally in a boat, and I will never now 

 go out shooting ducks if there are two guns in the same boat. One of 

 the most melancholy accidents I ever knew happened here about 

 three years ago, to a poor young fellow, an officer, who had only 

 left the river duck-shooting an hour before, to drive his two sisters 

 home in a little carriage. He was standing behind the carriage, 

 and shoved his gun in, but-end downwards, between the two girls, 

 the muzzle pointing to his own head. The gun went off, and 

 literally blew his head away. 



It seems clear that every one of these accidents or escapes could 

 have been avoided if proper caution had been used ; but, neverthe- 

 less, they did all happen (it is nothing to our purpose whether they 

 were caused by negligence or not), and I therefore again repeat 

 that any invention which renders it impossible that such accidents 

 can happen must be regarded as a blessing to mankind. It is not 

 enough to say, " Oh, such-and-such an accident could have been 



