THE GUN. 461 



instrument upon while taking aim at his adversary. It was not 

 till the reign of Charles the First (1625) that small-arms were 

 made of such proportions as adapted them to the use of sportsmen ; 

 and even at this late period nearly three hundred years after the 

 introduction of gunpowder the small-arms, though vastly im- 

 proved, were still rude and cumbersome instruments, and suitable 

 only for the pursuit of large animals, as they could not be handled 

 or discharged with sufficient ease to enable the bearer to kill a bird 

 on the wing. These weapons, like many other articles, have gone 

 through a regular series of improvements, until at last they have 

 in the present age arrived at a state of perfection beyond which it 

 is difficult to conceive any thing superior. 



Sportsmen should not hesitate between a doubtful and a superior 

 gun on account of a trifling expenditure, as it is a purchase that 

 is made only once or twice in a lifetime ; and there is a certain 

 degree of comfort and pleasure in going to the field for a day's 

 amusement with the assurance of handling a weapon which no 

 ordinary usage can injure, and that we have nothing to fear from 

 accidents, which feeling of confidence richly repays us for all the 

 unusual outlay. 



The saving of a few dollars in the purchase of a gun would ill 

 repay a shooter for the loss of a hand by an explosion, or perhaps 

 the maiming of a friend or the death of a valuable dog by the 

 going off of his gun, owing to poorly-made locks. 



