OF SHOOTING. 233 



Now, about five minutes before, I had fired at and 

 missed a snipe; others rose, but they were out of 

 gun-shot, and I did not fire; I suppose I must have 

 cocked the left lock with that intention, and forgot 

 to let it down : this is the only way 1 can account 

 for it. I had re-loaded the right barrel, and walked 

 about one hundred and fifty paces, when the left 

 went off. This solitary instance might be sufficient 

 to show how careful a sportsman should be who uses 

 a double barrel, since there is not the smallest doubt 

 that many fatal accidents have happened through 

 similar inadvertencies. Now, in shooting with a 

 double-barrelled gun, a person should never cock 

 both locks at once, as the recoil produced by the 

 firing of the first barrel, might possibly cause the 

 discharge of the second : should there be occasion to 

 fire the second barrel, the gun should be taken from 

 the shoulder and deliberately cocked ; and many 

 double shots will no doubt occur, particularly at the 

 beginning of the season. Double barrels too are 

 more likely to burst than single ones, from the cir- 

 cumstance of their being in general much thinner ; 

 the reason of their being made thinner is, no doubt, 

 in order to render them as light as possible, so as not 

 to fatigue the sportsman. However, I am inclined 

 to believe that little is to be feared on this head, sup- 

 posing die barrels are stubs twisted, and that great 

 care is taken to keep them clean. Neither double 

 nor single barrels should be fired more than twenty- 

 five times, without being cleaned, that is, supposing 



