282 



BACKING THE GUN. 



[CH. XVI. 



510. The acquisition of this accomplishment and it 

 is easily taught to a young dog previously made steady 

 in backing another (it should not be attempted before) 

 will often secure you a duck, or other wary bird, which 

 the dog would otherwise, almost to a certainty, spring 



remarkable from the youth of the 

 creature, and the fact that its 

 usual instincts lead it to seek 

 safety, not in concealment, but in 

 flight. I was looking for a small 

 kind of grouse commonly called 

 there rock-pigeon, when, crowning 

 a small eminence, I unexpectedly 

 came upon a young antelope, about 

 a hundred yards off, that appa- 

 rently had lost its dam. The 

 country was open and bare, with 

 here and there a few stunted 

 bushes. It instantly ran behind 

 one of these, and there remained 

 while I drew the shot, and had 

 nearly rammed down one of the 

 balls (enclosed in greased cloth) 

 that I constantly carried in my 

 pocket ready for immediate use. 

 I was almost prepared, when off 

 it went. As the ball was nearly 

 home, I forced it down, not liking 

 the trouble of extracting it, and 

 took a random chance shot at the 

 little animal. I could not perceive 

 that it winced, and it was not 

 until it fell that I was aware I had 

 struck it The ball had passed 

 through its body a little too far 

 behind the shoulder, and some- 

 what too high a common fault. 

 It was so thin and poor that it 

 must have been separated for some 

 time from its mother. The want of 

 sagacity evinced by peafowl, when 

 hiding themselves, is strongly 

 contrasted with the intelligence 

 displayed by the fawn. I have 

 known these birds, when alarmed, 

 run their heads into a crevice, 

 leaving the whole of their bo- 

 dies exposed, and then fancy 

 themselves so effectually protec- 

 ted, as to remain immoveable, 



until the sportsman got close to 

 them. 



"When you are hunting, rifle in 

 hand, for large game on an open 

 prairie, or where it is unlikely that 

 you will find a convenient rest, 

 you can carry in your waistcoat 

 pocket, until the moment you 

 require it, not a very bad sub- 

 stitute, in the shape of a piece of 

 string looped at both ends. This 

 string will have been carefully ad- 

 justed to exactly such a length that 

 when one loop is slipped over your 

 left foot, and the other loop over 

 the end of the ramrod (near the 

 muzzle), on your bringing up your 

 rifle to the poise, the pull of the 

 string will restrain you from unduly 

 elevating it while taking aim. An 

 ordinary rest prevents your lower- 

 ing the muzzle when in the act of 

 firing the resistance of the string 

 opposes your raising it. The string, 

 however, will not wholly hinder 

 the muzzle from diverging to the 

 right or left, but in reality it 

 will much prevent such unsteadi- 

 ness, by permitting your left hand 

 to press strongly upwards against 

 the rifle. In the new drill for tiring 

 with the Enfield, the soldier is 

 taught a position which gives him 

 a firm rest for his musket. It is to 

 sit on his right heel (the right knee 

 carried well to the right, and rest- 

 ing on the ground), and to place 

 his left elbow on his left knee. 

 He is taught to take aim a little 

 below the object, and to raise the 

 muzzle very slowly and to pull 

 the moment he covers the object, 

 having previously well considered 

 what allowance he should make 

 for the influence of the wind. 



