386 lewis' AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



sporting companions, a thorough blood in this line, and we 

 might term him a "Duck-Shooter by profession," as well as a 

 "Duck-Shooter by education," as he had done little else but de- 

 stroy Ducks ever since he was big enough to shoulder his father's 

 old musket and take sight over a "blind." As we were going 

 to say, this friend of ours, having painfully injured the thumb 

 of his right hand, we, having nothing better to do, volunteered 

 to load his gun for him on condition of a fair proportion of the 

 spoils. Having our patent powder-jQask with us, and being ac- 

 customed to its use as well as satisfied with its safety, we very 

 naturally commenced loading from its contents, and continued 

 so to do for some considerable time, while our friend was bang- 

 ing away at every moment, but, strange to say, without bring- 

 ing down scarcely a single victim, although those around us 

 were heaping up piles about them ; and so did our partner till 

 we commenced loading for him. The old coon could not account 

 for his bad shooting, and attributed every miss to some new 

 cause, first one thing and then another, cursed the gun, damned 

 the Ducks, and finally gave up in despair. AYe, of course, were 

 equally as much surprised at his want of success, and even took 

 the gun from his hands and essayed a few shots, but without 

 much effect. The morning had now fully broke, and upon 

 closer inquiry into the cause of his bad shooting, our partner 

 discovered, to his no small horror, that we had been loading 

 all the time with fine-grained canister powder, instead of the 

 coarse-grained article that all Duckers pi'efer; in fact, they won't 

 use any thin fj else. 



The indignation of our friend was great when he made this 

 discover}^, and liis vanity of shooting well, which had been on 

 the wane for the previous half hour, was now fully appeased, as 

 he declared that ^^svch staff]''^ meaning the fine powder, was not 

 fit to make a squib of, let alone bring down a savory Canvass- 

 Back. 



This powder, however, wediad been using the day before on 

 Partridges, and had succeeded in killing five brace with it with- 

 out much difficulty. This anecdote certainly goes to prove 

 how strong the prejudice is among Duck-Shooters in favor of 

 the coarse powder, and, at the same time, proves conclusively 

 that though it would kill Partridges at a reasonable distance, it 



