THE GUN, AND HOW TO USE IT. 109 
red Indian, and the fatal volleys of which told with effect 
so 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it is superseded ; crowded out of its place by newer and 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 tothe 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, ata 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 asa 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 
