179 



within a few inches of having a whole charge 

 through me), the first stumble may put a com- 

 panion in the most imminent danger of life. It 

 is in vain to say, that with proper care no acci- 

 dents can happen : every man who has been 

 much in the field, knows that even in the 

 coolest hands they will happen; and there is 

 no man who will be ingenuous, but must con- 

 fess, that he has occasionally found the cock of 

 his gun unwittingly left standing in a position, 

 where it wanted only a casual touch of the 

 trigger for a chance of doing the most fatal 

 mischief. It is for this reason that I would, 

 therefore, strenuously recommend the adoption, 

 and the habitual establishment, of a so much 

 safer, and let me add, easier and more elegant 

 carriage. 1 refer you back to the directions. 

 Please to observe, "the cock inwards and 

 down; and the side of the stock imbedded 

 against the inside of your left arm, taking an 

 easy position considerably below the chest." 

 Now, Sir, look at the important difference in 

 the elevation of the barrel: even carelessness 

 can hardly bring it into a direction, in which the 

 discharge from it would not be made at an 

 angle of twenty or thirty degrees above an 

 horizontal line ; much above every possible risk 

 to the nearest ranging companion. Under the 

 contingency of a fall, the difference is still 



N2 



