412 SHOOTING. 



are wild, and the shooter has no shot larger than 

 No. 5. His shoes are thin, and cling to his feet 

 like so much whit-leather. It is excessively hot, 

 he is overladen with shot, and his Indian-rubber 

 gaiters will not absorb the perspiration nor suffer 

 it to evaporate ; his stockings are consequently 

 soaked with wet. His hat is heavy, it will neither 

 resist wet nor is it ventilated. He is, when the 

 sun shines, half roasted, and when clouded, half 

 starved ; or he is lightly clothed, and caught in a 

 thunder shower. He wears thin stockings, and is 

 foot-sore. He is lost in the mist, for want of a 

 guide, a pocket compass, or a previous intimate 

 knowledge of the localities, and inadvertently be- 

 comes a trespasser, when a glorious row ensues, 

 ending, perhaps, in a struggle for the encroacher's 

 fowling-piece ! The beau-ideal of a sportsman, as 

 regards dress is, oftentimes carefully studied, the 

 new comer is inevitably marked by some absurdity 

 in this way, but his tout ensemble is soon metamor- 

 phosed amongst bogs, berries, and peat-holes, and 

 he is too late made aware that he ought to have 

 bestowed a thought on his comfort and convenience, 

 rather than on his dress. If he does not tire him- 

 self by walking beyond his strength, probably over 

 useless tracts, in the early morning, he most effec- 

 tually accomplishes that object in the hot sun at 

 noon, and is not only rendered incapable of follow- 

 ing up the sport in the afternoon, but he feels ex- 

 hausted the next morning. 



A catalogue of some of the articles which form 

 the grouse shooter's equipment may not be unser- 



