COURSING, ETC, 215 



five feet and a half, such as that of a common 

 duck-gun, weighing six or seven pounds, the 

 whole piece fourteen or sixteen pounds^ may 

 be fired with a very large charge without 

 recoiling so much as to hurt the shooter, its 

 weight being sufficient to resist the violent 

 impulse occasioned by the increase of the 

 powder : but in a fowling-piece of three feet 

 three inches barrel, sufficiently strong to 

 withstand such a charge, and when its weight 

 does not exceed six pounds and a half, the 

 recoil would be insupportable ; besides they 

 not only double or treble the powder in a 

 duck-gun, but they put in a much greater 

 quantity of shot than is ever used in a fowl- 

 ing piece. All such guns as are employed 

 for wild-geese and wild-ducks, should be bent 

 a little upwards about four inches from the 

 muzzle, which makes them throw their shot 

 farther than if they were perfectly straight. 

 To obtain therefore from a piece of ordinary 

 length, the same effects as from a duck-gun, 

 nothing more is necessary than to have the 

 barrel svifficiently strong to admit of the 



