10 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



3. 



It is not my purpose to weary the reader with 

 a detailed account of my gradual education as 

 a game-shot, nor would I be so impertinent as 

 to assume that he does not already possess 

 something more than a rudimentary knowledge 

 of the art of shooting. But there are one or 

 two points in connection with this particular 

 branch of sport which even the most experi- 

 enced sportsmen are apt to overlook, which I 

 need not therefore apologize for mentioning as 

 briefly as possible, at the grave risk of appearing 

 to be desirous of combining instruction with 

 entertainment. 



Students of Charles Dickens will doubtless 

 recollect that it was at the wise instigation of 

 Mr. Pickwick that his friends Winkle and Tup- 

 man acquired the habit of carrying their guns 

 " reversed " (as soldiers call it), thereby ensuring 

 the safety of their companions-in-arms and con- 

 siderably enhancing the pleasure of the day's 

 sport. The " nice conduct of a loaded gun " 

 should indeed form an essential feature of every 

 sportsman's education. And any man who 

 handles his weapon in such a manner as to imbue 

 his fellows with not unnatural fear should be 

 compelled to wear a piece of red silk round his 

 left arm, so that his society may be avoided 



