THE RIFLE AND THE SPY-GLASS. 17 



Binoculars of any sort are not of much use, as they 

 cannot be made powerful enough to distinguish stags 

 and hinds at any great distance. The power of a glass 

 is determined by the length of " draw," and telescopes 

 can of course be made much longer than any binocular. 

 It is as well to carry a small piece of wash-leather in the 

 waistcoat pocket to polish the glass with if it should be 

 dim or dusty, and this should be kept free from grit, so 

 that the lenses may not be scratched. 



Should it be necessary, as is often the case, to spy in 

 a shower of rain, dry the glass as well and quickly as 

 possible with a handkerchief before shutting it up, and 

 on returning home unscrew the eye -piece and the 

 object-glass, wipe them quite dry and put them in a 

 drawer, then pull out the telescope to its extreme 

 length, and leave it all night in some warm place, but 

 do not expose it to any great heat. A glass well taken 

 care of will rarely refuse to open and shut comfortably ; 

 if a strong' pull has to be used to open it, or a hard 

 push given to shut it, such force is most apt to injure 

 the fine screws of an aluminium one, the metal being 

 somewhat brittle. It may be mentioned that this 

 metal will not stand a very hot climate like India. 



There are plenty of good glasses to be had a great 

 deal cheaper than those mentioned. In a forest a light 

 brass glass with a smaller field is as good as anything, 

 for there you can usually " pick up " the deer with the 

 naked eye at great distances. Even if the eye miss 

 them, so large are the herds, and so well known the 

 places that certain winds will move the deer to, that it 

 becomes almost impossible to miss them with any sort 



c 



