474 THE HUNTING GROUNDS 



double guns and rifles, which task he dare not in- 

 trust his followers to perform, as there are times 

 when a miss-fire might be attended with the most 

 serious consequences. Happily for the sportsman of 

 the present day, all these disagreeable contingencies 

 may now be avoided by making use of rifles on the 

 breech-loading system. Now, independent of gun- 

 bearers, he may roam through the forest alone, care- 

 less as to what animal he may meet, for he knows 

 that, should his first shots not take deadly eS'ect, he 

 can reload in the twinkling of an eye, and keep up a 

 running fire, against which nothing can stand, in- 

 stead of having to bolt under cover to reload, (in 

 case a spare gun is not at hand,) returning breath- 

 less, and often with unsteady hand, from having to 

 use sheer force in jamming an obstinate ball down a 

 foul barrel. When mounted, a rifle on the breech- 

 loading system has immense advantages, as it can 

 be easily reloaded, without in any way interfering 

 with the management of the horse ; whereas with 

 the old muzzle-loader the sportsman was entirely 

 powerless whilst drawing his ramrod and ramming 

 home the bullet. He who has once used a breech- 

 loading gun or rifle will no more think of going 

 back to a muzzle-loader, than the crack marksman 

 at Hythe would return to old " Brown Bess," 



Lang's breech-loading rifles have either three or 

 four broad grooves, (I prefer the latter ;) and the 

 projectile used is of a cylindro-conical shape, very 

 similar to that used by General Jacobs, of the 



