RIFLES AND AMMUNITION 195 



bore rifle, taking sixty grains of cordite, or its 

 equivalent in axite, and a "400-grain bullet, will 

 knock the stuffing out of the biggest beast alive ; 

 and that being so, why burden oneself uselessly 

 with a heavier rifle ? True, if a bison is hit 

 through the ribs, i.e. too far back, with a *400 

 bullet he will go on ; but so he will if hit in the 

 same spot with a 4-bore. He will eventually be 

 bagged, no doubt ; but may give trouble, what- 

 ever the bore of the rifle used. 



To make certain of killing an animal, 

 whether deer or bison, he must either be raked, 

 or struck through the vitals, and if the sportsman 

 is patient and careful, this can be done nine 

 times out of ten. It is well-nigh useless to fire 

 into the brown of a big beast. If, owing to the 

 dense undergrowth, his exact position cannot be 

 made out, recourse must be had to binoculars. 

 There is plenty of time if he has not heard the 

 approach, and all hurry is to be avoided. The 

 animal is unsuspicious, and if while you are 

 trying to make him out he begins to smell a 

 rat, he will not bolt so long as you keep per- 

 fectly still. On the contrary, he will take two 

 or three strides forward to see if that faint rustle 

 which he has just heard means anything, or is 

 only the breeze stirring the leaves. He now 

 gives you a clear shot, and before he has time 

 to recognise danger, he is thundering off with 

 a bullet low down behind the shoulder, or 



