132 MANUAL FOR YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 
ing the eye, the breech, the point of the gun and the mark 
in the same plane of elevation or depression. 
One other thing I believe to be equally indispensable, 
which I have never seen mentioned in any written instruc- 
tious on the subject of shooting; that the top of the 
barrels should lic, when the piece is at the shoulder and 
the aim taken, flat and syuare across the eye, so that a 
level rested upon them should be in the exact plane of 
the horizon. 
Unless this be the case, the lines of sight along the 
patent elevation and of the projected shot will not be iden- 
tical, much less the lines of fire of the two barrels, and 
consequently the aim will be faulty. 
The following precepts will be found, I think, to 
embody the best method of acquiring the mastery of this ; 
and here I would beg to caution my young readers, 
that these indoctrinations are not merely intended for the 
use of those who do not shoot at all; but for all those— 
whether they shoot well at the mark, off-hand or at rest, 
whether they are dead sure of a robin on an apple bough, 
or a high-holder on the summit of a dry, dead tree, or not— 
who do not shoot weld on the wing. 
I believe it to be a common error with young shooters 
in America, where every boy, who lives in the country, 
has more or less use of the gun early in his teens, to con- 
tinue too long content to shoot sitting, to learn to shoot 
too well sitting, and to acquire a habit of taking such an 
aim, even when using shot, as would insure killing the 
object with ball. 
Such a habit, once acquired, has to be unlearned, before 
