278 SPORTING STORIES 



great range — seven bull's-eyes, three centres, and five outers 

 in fifteen shots." ^ 



In June 1867 ^ saw this wonderful veteran win the 

 Cambridge University Long Range Club's Cup against 

 all the best shots of the day, including his own son Edward, 

 the first winner of the Queen's Prize. The Captain wound 

 up, on that occasion, with seven consecutive bull's-eyes at 

 1000 yards. Cambridge at that time was a great centre of 

 rifle-shooting ; and with such splendid shots as Edward 

 Ross and J. H. Doe of Trinity, and Peterkin of Emmanuel, 

 in the University corps, they never failed to carry off the 

 Chancellor's Plate from Oxford. Edward Ross, though a 

 wonderfully steady and accurate marksman, was never 

 equal to his father. He and his father were the joint heroes 

 of one memorable feat. At the Highland Rifle Association 

 Meeting in, I think, 1867 there were thirteen open prizes 

 to be competed for, and Captain Ross and his son Edward 

 won eleven of them ! 



Another member of the family, Hercules Ross, was a 

 remarkable shot. He won the Indian Championship three 

 years in succession, and the last year made nine bull's-eyes 

 out of ten shots at 1000 yards. Hercules Ross was one of 

 the heroes of the Indian Mutiny, and did signal service 

 with his deadly rifle during that terrible struggle. On one 

 occasion he performed a feat of skill and valour which has 

 seldom been surpassed. He rode nearly a hundred miles 

 to a ford on the River Gogra, where it was expected that a 

 large force of mutineers intended to cross. It was of vital 

 importance to keep them at bay till the women and 

 children and the sick and wounded could be removed to an 

 English station close by. Hercules Ross undertook the 

 task. A pit was dug on the bank of the river commanding 

 the ford, where he took his post with a dozen good rifles, 

 and four attendants to load for him. Heavy rains had 

 swollen the river, and the ford was impassable; but the 

 enemy began to cross in boats. Ross, from his pit, picked 

 off the rowers one by one. Time after time the boats put 

 back ; time after time they came on again, but the quick 

 and deadly fire which that single rifleman kept up prevented 

 * There were no " magpies " at that time. 



