THE GUN, AND HOW TO USB IT. 109 



red Indian, and the fatal volleys of which told with effect 

 80 deadly on the disciplined battalions of England during 

 the wars of the Revolution and of 1812, has had its day ; 

 it is superseded ; crowded out of its place by newer and 

 more puissant arms ; its mission is ended, whether in the 

 field of the chase or of real warfare. 



It was a ponderous, unwieldy, long, ill-balanced barrel, 

 of weight so great, as, while it was rendered thereby irk- 

 some to carry, and difficult even for a strong man to fire 

 but from a rest, to prevent all recoil, and to make it as 

 steady almost as a fixture in any hands capable of balancing 

 or aiming it. 



The ball was ludicrously small, varying from 80 to 

 120 to the pound, and the charge of powder in proportion. 

 The object of the hunter was extreme precision at exceed- 

 ingly short ranges, the densely wooded wilderness, which 

 was alike the hunting ground and the battle field, present- 

 ing insuperable obstacles to seeing an object, much more 

 drawing a fine sight on it, at a distance exceeding a hun- 

 dred yards. 



To this must be added, that in the old days of scouting, 

 Indian fighting, and forest hunting in the Atlantic States, 

 both lead and powder were matters to the woodman worth 

 almost their weight in gold — that it was desirable to get 

 as many bullets, as could by any means be compassed, out 

 of a pound of lead, and that so valuable a thing as a charge 

 was never to be wasted, unless with the certainty of bring- 

 ing down an enemy or sending home a meal. 



In the state of the country then prevailing, a shot 

 was oftener obtained within fifty yards than beyond that 



