32 DEER -STALKING. 



stalking. It is sport for princes. I only offer them as 

 consolation to those who undervalue the amusement within 

 their reach, by exaggerated ideas of that above it. 



No man with good nerves need despair of becoming a 

 tolerable rifle-shot, as the great art is to take plenty of 

 time ; in fact, to shoot as coolly at a deer as at the target. 

 The American backwoodsmen with their ill-balanced rifles 

 can hit the jugular vein of an animal feeding or moving 

 about, with unerring accuracy, at thirty or forty yards. 

 Every one must see how much this depends upon nerve 

 and coolness ; and these settlers are taught the self- 

 command, which is the basis of their dexterity, from their 

 earliest years. I recollect being shown, by the owner, 

 a rifle which he considered a chef-d'ceuvre of American 

 workmanship. The most cool-headed forester of our 

 country would have been puzzled to do much execution 

 with it at first. It looked and felt exactly like a toy, 

 with its peaked and silver-mounted toe and heel-plate, 

 long unbalanced barrel, and ludicrously small bore. Our 

 rifles, on the contrary, are beautifully poised, and their 

 weight enables us to take a much steadier aim at a long 

 distance ; while the ball, from being much larger, is less 

 affected by the wind. I dare say, however, if a Highland 

 deer-stalker and American wood-ranger, both finished 

 adepts in their own way, were fairly matched, each 

 would have a sovereign contempt for the dexterity of 

 the other. 



I have constantly observed that the performers most to 

 be depended on with the rifle are what are called " poking 



