14 How I Became a Sportsman. 



they had killed a pig, he made him a " nice 

 drap of feeky guel," which being interpreted, 

 meant, the flick or lard out of the pig cut up 

 and boiled in the gruel. Whether it actually 

 killed the old man or not I cannot say ; but 

 I should fancy it would have been too much 

 for the stomach of an ostrich, let alone any 

 ordinary mortal. 



But I fear I have got off the line terribly, 

 and have quite forgotten the gun. I had made 

 by this time considerable progress in the art 

 of shooting, sitting or standing ; but flying I 

 could make no hand of at all, which, with the 

 length of the gun, and the time it took to go 

 oflT, is not to be wondered at. I never suc- 

 ceeded in hitting anything, or at all events in 

 bringing it to bag. By and by it began to 

 dawn upon me that it must be the fault of the 

 gun, and I consulted with " Willum " upon the 

 advisability of converting it into a percussion. 

 This he thought he could manage, and very 

 kindly offered to do it free of charge ; but I 

 must give him time, as he must do it at odd 

 times, so as not to interfere with his regular 

 work. This of course I very readily agreed 

 to ; but I fancy my patience was considerably 



