AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



19 



ably freed, the back action is considered preferable, in 

 consequence of its remaining clean considerably longer 

 than any other kind. 



The stock should be sound and free from shakes or 

 cracks, and the grain of the wood should run exactly with 

 the bend at the breech, and the next important considera- 

 tion, and on which the sportsman's chance of success greatly 

 depends, is the length from the trigger to the heel-plate. 

 This should be proportioned to the person and to the 

 length of his arms; should his neck be long, the stock will 

 require to be more crooked than for a shorter person — 

 much depends on this for quick shooting. The manner 

 the author adopted to prove these requisites was, to fix the 

 eyes on any given object, then shutting them, bring up the 

 Gun to the shoulder, and point it direct at the object to the 

 best of his judgment; then opening his eyes, examine how 

 far the muzzle of the piece is above or below the object; if 

 above it, the stock may be considered too straight, or if 

 below it, too crooked: in this way the hand generally 

 coincides with the judgment, and when a Gun is found 

 answering to both, it will be all important, particularly in 

 snap-shooting, where the Gun is required to be raised and 

 fired instanter; in which case, success depends entirely on 

 the co-operation of a quick hand, and a corresponding 

 judgment; and to answer this purpose, no Gun is so well 

 adapted as that on the percussion principle. 



The best shots seldom look along the barrels, but depend 

 entirely on the obedience of the hand to the will. It is so 

 with all who shoot well in cover, because they see no trees, 

 or if they see them, such shots are not baffled by intervening 

 objects, and many a bird is doomed to fall that would assur- 

 edly escape, where sight alone is depended on. 



Some persons try new Guns by firing them against a 

 target, or fence, and commonly by the road side, to the 

 great annoyance of those who happen to pass, at the time. 

 This may be a popular mode, but it is certainly a very 

 indifferent and reprehensible one. The principal object of 

 trying a Gun in this way (as far as the author's observations 

 have gone) is, to ascertain if the gun will shoot close, and 

 is condemned or approved, according to the number of 

 shot placed in a given surface. But this is fallacious; 

 sometimes indeed the shot are examined with reference to 

 their penetrating the wood, but the nature and condition of 

 the wood is seldom taken into account, or the uniform 

 manner in which the shot are planted. 



It is not generally known or believed, that a Gun may 

 shoot too close, even for an expert shot. When used for 

 birds on the wing there should be a certain medium, and 

 to obtain this medium is the great desideratum. 



At a distance of from twenty to thirty-five yards, most 

 game is killed, and may be considered point blank for 



small or medium size shot, and an ounce, or one and a 

 quarter ounces of shot at thirty yards, will cover regularly 

 a disk twenty-four inches in diameter, so as to secure 

 within that range such game as pheasant, grous, partridge, 

 rabbit, snipe, &c. In Europe, thirty-five yards is the set- 

 tled distance for trial, as game is larger than in America. 

 Three-fourths of the game in the United States is killed 

 within the distance of twenty-five 3'ards, excepting deer, 

 wild-turkeys, and water-fowl, and which require a different 

 class of Gun from that which we are now treating of. The 

 author does not mean, that a Gun should not be tried, on 

 making a purchase, but he only objects to that practice as a 

 standard or criterion, solely by which it is or ought to be 

 judged; his own experience has taught him the following 

 manner: — Having satisfied himself of the requisites already 

 pointed out, he charges with an ounce to an ounce and a 

 half of shot, according to the weight of the Gun, and size 

 of the calibre, with as much fine quality powder as would 

 occupy two-thirds of the cubic bulk of the shot, and then 

 placing himself as near as safety will permit, to some object 

 aimed at, procures another person to fire the Gun: his mo- 

 tive in this is, to ascertain the manner in which the shot 

 strikes the board or target, for, according to the rattling or 

 chattering of the shot against this object, so is the Gun con- 

 demned or approved. If the shot comes up all at once, 

 with a sharp stroke resembling the single blow of a ham- 

 mer, he is confident all is right on that point, and only 

 approaches the target to see how the shot is planted, and if 

 satisfied with this, he seeks no other mode of trial, but pro- 

 ceeds in search of game, and has never been disappointed 

 in a single instance, during a practice of thirty years in the 

 field, in which period he has been the proprietor and ven- 

 der of some hundreds of Guns. 

 October 19, 1830. 



HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS. 



About twelve miles above Bartgor, in Maine, is a small 

 island, inhabited by the Penobscot tribe of Indians; they 

 reside in a village called Oldtown, so termed from a tradi- 

 tion among them, that their forefathers dwelt in the same 

 spot, long before the appearance of the first whites in the 

 country. In the burying ground is a large, moss-grown 

 cross, which bears a date of the beginning of the last cen- 

 tury. These Indians are Catholics, and are peaceable, 

 though dirty and lazy. At this place, in IS — , I applied 

 for a guide, in a projected hunting-expedition in the unset- 

 tled part of the country to the N. W. of their village, and 

 it was not without difficulty that two young men could be 

 induced to venture with a white stranger, and they would 



