490 The Hunting Grounds 



be able to load without halting or breaking the line, 

 and making all the rest of the company wait until 

 the operation is finished. Who has not been put off 

 his shooting by having to wait whilst some nervous, 

 fidgetty old gentleman hunts in a dozen different 

 pockets to find his powder-flask, wadding, shot-bag, 

 and caps, which are all dispensed with by using a 

 breech-loader? What an advantage it is, when 

 shooting in fens or swamps, to be able to load with- 

 out putting tV butt of your gun in the mud or water, 

 whereby you soil your clothes when you put it up to 

 the shoulder and make yourself uncomfortable for the 

 rest of the day. Also, what sportsman, after a heavy 

 day's shooting, has not found his hands blackened 

 and sticky from exploded gunpowder, and sometimes 

 raw and blistered from constantly ramming down the 

 charge? And in cold weather who has not found 

 loading with a common gun, and putting on the caps, 

 distress him beyond measure, more especially if he 

 has been obliged to pull off his warm gloves before 

 he is able to effect it at last ? 



Another great advantage is to be able to change 

 the charge in a moment, according to the game to 

 be met with, instead of the old tedious method of 

 drawing the shot with the screw of the ramrod ; and 

 also to be able to load without noise, as, when game 

 is plentiful, the noise of ramming down an obstinate 

 wad frequently puts up birds on all sides. 



