CHOICE OF WEAPONS 289 



the power to inflict a smashing, demoraUsing blow 

 capable of removing from the beast struck the 

 smallest interest in subsequent events. To effect 

 this it is essential that the bullet should remain in 

 its body, and not pass completely through it. If 

 it remain within, the entire propulsive force be- 

 hind it is felt by the creature against which it is 

 directed ; but should it penetrate the resisting 

 body and pass on beyond it, threading its way 

 through the unresisting flesh like a needle, the 

 power which forces it through follows it, and is 

 entirely wasted. To deal with this problem, 

 especially in the cases of beasts of thin skin and 

 great vitality, a variety of bullets have been 

 invented capable of satisfactorily coping with any 

 of them : solid and nickel-covered for hard-skinned 

 animals of large size ; hollow-pointed and side- 

 split for thin-skinned ruminants and the large 

 carnivora ; and a variety of others too numerous 

 to mention, from the sharp-nosed speciality of the 

 •280 Ross rifle, to the copper-capped deadliness 

 of this and the various forms of Mauser and 

 others. 



But a consideration of great importance, and 

 one which should in no case be lost sight of, is 

 that of the weight of the weapon considered in 

 relation to the physique of the individual by whom 

 it is to be used. Clearly a heavy double rifle, such 

 as many still in use, would greatly and painfully 

 tax the powers of a small man of strength below 

 the average, and might so weary him that at the 

 crucial moment his powers of using it might be 

 insufficient for the purpose. Double-barrelled 



