274 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



squire among them a curious little mirror, the glass 

 about the size of your little-finger nail, set at the top 

 of a tiny brass box, small enough to slip into the 

 barrel of a twenty-bore. The old squire would draw 

 this mirror from his waistcoat pocket before the first 

 charge was poured into the muzzle of his gun, dropping 

 it glass upwards down each barrel in turn, so that he 

 could see by the reflected light if they were well 

 cleaned and polished. 



The cleaning of a muzzle-loader was an immense 

 undertaking. First, the barrels were removed from 



the stocks, then bucketfuls of hot water 

 Cleaning were forced through them ; out would pour 

 Muzzle- a stream ^ bl ac k, liquid filth, having no 

 loader respect for clothes or person, and smelling 



abominably. Heated water was used be- 

 cause it cleaned away all the foulness of the black 

 powder, and quickly dried off. After washing, the 

 barrels were fixed in vices carefully padded to prevent 

 injury, and then they were given a hearty polishing 

 inside with a tow-topped rod. Great attention was 

 paid to the locks, which were not so well protected 

 from water as they are to-day they were removed 

 every now and then, and taken apart by means of a 

 neat little clamp for holding the mainspring. In 

 those days people spoke of how many pounds of shot 

 they had fired not of how many cartridges. The 

 old-time bags were not to be despised. One keeper, 



