40 MANUAL FOR YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 
and the other of the Atlantic, who have kept dogs which 
they could not hunt, horses which they could not ride, 
guns out of which they could not shoot; lovers, or at 
least, pretended lovers of a sport, which they assuredly 
could not pursue to any profit, nor, so far as I can imagine, 
to any possible pleasure; who have yet fancied themselves, 
and even been called by others—who knew even less about 
it than they did themselves—sportsmen. But, though I 
may have been willing to give them credit as good fellows 
and promoters of sport for the benefit of others, I never 
could be induced to prostitute, by bestowing it on such as 
they, the noble appellation in which all, who have the 
right to bear it, rejoice with so legitimate a pride and 
pleasure. 
This being admitted, therefore, it will necessarily fol- 
low that the first thing to be done by the person aspiring 
to be a sportsman is, to provide himself with a good and 
effective weapon, and next, to obtain proficiency, in the 
highest degree possible, in its use. 
To both these ends, therefore, I shall devote a few 
pages of instruction, founded on long experience, and 
tested to my own satisfaction, at least, by the only sure 
proof of practice. 
I shall begin by assuming, what it needs no argument 
to establish, that for game-shooting of smaller animals on 
the field, there is but one weapon; the double-barrelled 
percussion shot gun. For the most inveterate supporters 
of the old flash-in-the-pan, flint-and-steel system have long 
ago been compelled to abandon their prejudices on the 
