LONG-RANGE SHOOTING AT GAME. 315 



with the target shifted at every shot. But with such 

 time as one can generally devote to that business he 

 will be more apt to miss the bull's-eye five times out 

 of six. 



But suppose you are quite an accurate judge of 

 distance under the above conditions. Recollect there 

 is no antelope there just ready to leave; no rifle in 

 your hand, with your finger itching for the trigger. 

 The difference that this alone makes is almost in- 

 conceivable. There is also another tremendous dif- 

 ficulty, the ever-shifting conditions of ground, light, 

 etc., which occur in hunting. Now up hill, now down 

 hill, here through timber, there over timber, through 

 brush or over brush, up canons and across canons, 

 over ridges and over flats, often with scarce a second 

 to spare, judging distance in hunting is a vastly dif- 

 ferent matter from what it is on always the same 

 kind of ground with plenty of time and no game in 

 sight. 



Moreover, whatever your skill may be, your gauge 

 unconsciously shifts with the ground. The standard 

 you use on the plains to-day will not do for the foot- 

 hills to-morrow; the one you use in the foot-hills is 

 too small when you get upon the mountain's breast; 

 this fails you again when you get among the higher 

 peaks; and when you return to the lowlands you are 

 again "all at sea" for a few days. 



Speaking of the inside of St. Peter's at Rome, Byron 

 says: 



" Its grandeur overwhelms thee not; 

 And why ? It is not lessened, but thy mind, 

 Expanded by the genius of the spot, 

 Has grown colossal." 



