iv ADVERTISEMENT. 
history and general habits of the various species of 
game, and aiming more at teaching the tyro in the 
trade how to enter himself in his apprenticeship, 
and how to advance until he have raised himself to 
be a master of his guild, is called for by the rising 
generation ; and, with that view, they have intrust- 
ed to me the preparation of this manual. 
My previous works, on this and kindred topics, 
were iniended rather for sportsmen, than for begin- 
ners ; this will take up the matter ab ovo. 
Much will be found in it, therefore, concerning 
the use of the various implements of the chase, the 
art of shooting animals on the wing, or otherwise, 
at speed, whether with shot or single ball, which 
were omitted as unnecessary, in foregoing works ; 
nor, I hope, will this matter, while it is essential to 
the new beginner, prove either useless or tedious to 
the mature sportsman ; the rather that it will em- 
body much new information concerning the im- 
proved science of projectiles, and several notices of 
arms not invented at the period when my older lucu- 
brations saw the light. 
The same observations will apply to what is to 
be found here written concerning dogs, concerning 
various species of game, concerning the proper mo- 
dus operandi. In some respects, I have seen cause 
to alter my opinions ; in some, the alteration of cir- 
cumstances has compelled an alteration in the 
