Oct. ii^ 1902.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
289 
traps for that pesky blackcat which had been eating up 
the caribou carcass. During the day we were the re- 
cipient of two visits, Joe ElHs and John Moulton, both 
declared to be of MilHcete Indian breed, though looking 
far more Hke white men than Indians, especially in the 
case of Ellis. These men had a line of traps running 
over Moose Brook way, and they had stopped at our 
shack long enough to "boil the kettle." Charlie and they 
had an earnest conversation in Adam's absence, and as to 
the import of this conversation we shall later see. Mean- 
time Jack and I cut wood, greased up the toboggans, 
burned off the rough places on the runners, fixed up our 
snowshoes, now rapidh^ showing the effects of wear, 
packed up the heavy stuff in boxes to send out to the rail- 
road by a tote team from the nearest lumber camp, and in 
general rnade ready to say good bye to Bathurst camp 
for the winter. It was our intention not to return to this 
place at all, but to break on through into the Miramichi 
country. "It will take a good deal to turn us back if we 
once start over," said Charlie. E. Hough. 
Hartford Buildtng, Chicago, III. 
Guns a Hundred Years Ago. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have lately found in an old bookstore a volume called 
"An Essay on Shooting," published at London in 1791, 
and think that many sportsmen would be interested with 
a description of the guns used by our forefathers in the 
Eighteenth Century. The author does not give his name, 
but he was evidently well acquainted with the subject, both 
practically and theoretically, and states that he had spared 
no expense in acquiring information from the best gun 
makers. He quotes considci-ably from a book called 
"La Chasse de husil," by Magne de Marolles. 
In the introduction he expatiates upon the physical and. 
moral advantages of shooting and the need of man for 
solitude, so that he may "enjoy the converse of his own 
bosom and retire from the vapid amusements of the age." 
Just as the double-barreled hammerless ejector seems 
to us, at the present day, hardly capable of improvement, • 
so this writer says of the guns made 110 years ago: "In 
these days when invention seems to be exhausted," and 
"the genius and industry of the English workman have 
brought flintlocks to such a degree of elegance and per- 
fection that we have scarcely anything further to hope 
for or require^" 
The crossbow is stated to have been not wholly dis- 
used for shooting both small and large game until nearly 
the end of the i6th century, "at which time the arquebuse 
was brought to such perfection as to enable the sportsman 
to shoot fij'ing." During the transition period, niarty 
complained that the beasts of the chase "had become very 
scarce where the arquebuse was used," owing to its noise. 
It appears that, for some time after the introduction of 
the flintlock, many sportsmen argued that the matchlock 
was preferable because "the fire of the match was more 
quick and certain than the other," 
(It was at least as quick and certain when once the 
match touched the powder used for priming; but the 
time occupied in preparing to fife must have occasionally 
caused the loss of a shot. In 1869 I was at a hunt in the 
jungles of Central India in company with several Hindoo 
landholders who used matchlock guns. These had a pan 
at the side of the breech, shaped Hke that of a flintlock, 
but fitted with a flat lid attached by a pivot so as to 
slide on and oft" horizontally and protect the priming. 
The slow match, made of thin cotton rope soaked in 
solution of nitre, was coiled under the stock, its extremity 
being held by a spring nipper which formed the end of a 
curved piece of iron corresponding to the hammer of an 
ordinary single-barreled gun. Before aiming, it was 
necessary to first blow the l3urn!ng end of the match until 
it was in a red glow, and then to slide the lid off the 
pan; but when the trigger was pressed the explosion 
seemed to me to be as quick as that of a percussion gun. 
The barrels were smooth bored, and so long that the 
muzzle reached to a man's forehead when the stock rested 
on the ground. They w^ere thus able to burn a large 
charge of the coarse native-made powder, and drive a 
bullet with great velocity. Native hunters have been 
known to stalk and kill tigers with these weapons, which 
is certainly a proof of great coolness and courage.) 
_ The author of the "Essay" devotes a considerable por- 
tion of the book to instructions about the training of 
dogs, the art of shooting flying game, the pursuit of the 
various kinds of small game, and tlie construction and 
use of rifle barrels ; but extracts from these would occupy 
too much of your space. The following is a summary 
of the details he gives about shotguns : Both plain and 
twist barrels were made much as they are now, but 
Damascus appears to have been unknown. Some French 
makers heated the plain barrels, a few inches at a time, 
and twisted them until the fiber of the iron had assumed a 
spiral form. One French inventor strengthened his bar- 
rels by twisting iron wire round them, soldering it to- 
gether and filing the outside smooth. 
Spanish barrels had a great reputation, but the author 
had not found them to be better than those made in Eng- 
land. They were usually 36 to 42 inches long, 3 to 3^ 
pounds in weight, and 22 to 24 caliber. The best barrels, 
both in Spain and England, were made from old horse- 
shoe nails, as much as 28 pounds of these being used in 
forming a barrel of 2% pounds weight. The repeated 
heating and forging added greatly to their totlghness. 
English barrels were proved in London with a ball 
which fitted the bore, and a charge of powder equal to 
the ball in weight. (This would be about ioj4 drams 
for a 24-borc.) As to length of barrels, it is stated 
"Formerly every sportsman was provided with different 
lengths, 30 to 34 inches for shooting in cover, and 42 to 
45 inches for the open country. The belief was general 
that the longer a barrel the further it would range; and it 
is not more than fifty years ago since this began to be 
doubted. I have, at different times, compared barrels of 
28. 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40 inches in length, and of 
calibers from .22 to .26, and with equal weights of the 
same powder and shot. From these trials, frequently re- 
peated, I found that the shot pierced an equal num- 
ber of sheets from the short as the long barrels. I have 
repeatedly compared two barrels of the same caliber, but 
'o.ne 33 and the other 66 inches long, at different dis- 
ffmces from 45 to 100 paces, and the results have always 
'j.ieen thai the barrel of 33 jfiiphes drov^ its shot through 
as many sheets of paper as that of 66 did." "The barrels 
which I employ and have found best for every purpose 
are from 32 to 38 inches ; and whether we consult the ap- 
pearance of the piece, its lightness, or the ease with 
which it is managed, I believe that a barrel not exceeding 
the one, or below the other of these numbers, is the 
most eligible." 
(Paper pads "afe ftot quite rehable as tests of penetra- 
tion ; and experiments made in England some years ago 
seemed to prove that there was a decided, though not 
very great, decrease in velocity with every inch cut 
off a barrel from 30 to 26 inches. The celebrated Joe 
Manton considered that, in a .22-bore gun, barrels of 32 
inches gave the best results.) 
The author disagrees witli the common opinion that 
small bores shoot more closely than large. Pie says : 
"We have subjected this matter to the test of experiment, 
and the result has been that barrels of .22 to .24, which is 
the largest caliber usually employed in fowling-pieces, 
threw their .shot as closely as the smallest calibers — viz., 
.30 to ,32." 
(I have tried many small bores from .16 to .42, and 
never found them shoot more closely than those of .14 
to .11 bore, with one exception. A double muzzleloading 
Westley Richards gun of .32-caliber, although the barrels 
were only 26 inches long, when loaded with 2 drams of 
fine powder and i ounce of No. 7 shot, made such re- 
markably close and regular patterns at 40 yards, that a 
snipe could rarely have escaped. It did not shoot closely 
with any larger size.) 
The following methods are described in the "Essay," as 
adopted for improving closeness of pattern : 
1. Making horizontal scratches round the inside of the 
barrel close to the muzzle. 
2. Making both breech and muzzle ends wider than -the 
central part. 
3. Gradually contracting the bore from breech to 
muzzle. 
4. Cutting straight grooves from breech to muzzle. 
5. Making the whole of the bore very smooth and per- 
fectly cylindrical. 
The author had not tested the barrels Avith straight 
grooves, but of the others he had found none superior to 
the perfect cylinders. 
(The system of enlarging both breech and muzzle for 
several inches in length, prevailed until the adoption of 
choke boring. One of my friends, a very scientific gun- 
ner of muzzleloading days, often assured me that, by a 
modification of this method, he had made all his own ^ 
guns shoot well, and kill at unusual distances. He en- 
larged the breech end only so far as the powder charge 
reached, so that the wad was in the cylindrical part above 
it. This prevented the escape of the powder gas into the 
shot and the consequent scattering. The shot charge, hav- 
ing tot travel throttgh a perfect cylinder, did not have its 
pellets crushed out of shape as they were in guns which 
were of narrower caliber toward the center of the barrel. 
The muzzles of my friend's guns were enlarged for 2 or 3 
niches, and he believed that, on the shot reaching this 
part, its pellets were oressed together by the sudden rush 
of gas past them. AVhether his theory was correct or 
not. the patterns made by one of his gun. an ii-bore 
which I tried at a target, were remarkablj'- close and 
good. I feel sure that nine out of ten, among the best 
game shots, would do better all-round work with guns 
making similar patterns, than with those which are highly 
choked. ) 
Both the rough and the fine boring of barrels was done 
in the Eighteenth Century b}' methods very similar to 
those still used, except that less machinery was employed. 
Double barrels were made with one over the other in- 
stead of side by side. "Patent shot," which was con- 
sidered the best, contained the following number of pellets 
in an ounce: No. r, 220; No. 2, 180; No. 3, 157; No. 4, 
105; No. 5, 83; No. 6, 300; No. 7, 480; No. 8, 620. The 
charges recommended were, "For a fowling-piece of com- 
mon caliber, which is from 24 to 30 balls in the pound, 
I '4. or at most ij^, drams of powder, and i to 1% ounces 
of shot, but, if larger than No. 5. increase it by J4 ounce." 
Wadding was made with soft brown paper, tow, and 
the lichen growing on apple trees. It was also punched 
from old hats, cork, and thick woolen cloth. 
No. I shot is stated to have been the best for the first 
month of partridge shooting, and particularly good for 
snipe and quail. No. 3 was best when partridges be- 
came strong on the wing, and was excellent for all pur- 
poses, many sportsmen using no other during the whole 
season. 
It was necessary to keep the gun moving and aim "a 
little in front of the head of game, at thirty-five paces, 
and fully six inches in front and a little above it at 
fifty paces." "The distance at which the sportsman 
ought infallibly to kill any kind of game with patent shot 
No. 3, with good aim, is from 25 to 35 paces for hares or 
rabbits, and 40 to 45 for winged game." 
As to killing infallibly, I do not believe that any gun 
is certain to do so. Out of the great numbers which I 
haA^e tried at marks, during the last forty years, I have 
not found one which did not, occasionally, leave spaces 
at forty yards, through which a partridge could escape 
untouched, and that, too, with shot containing 260 to 
over 300 pellets in the charge. Doubtless the guns of the 
author's time, by the best makers, shot, as a rule, so 
closely that when he failed to kill he tliought himself to 
blame. The charge of ij4 ounces of No. 3 shot, which 
he recommends, contained only 196 pellets, and, even 
allow'ing for the close pattern caused by the small quan- 
tity of powder, a weapon which carried them well enough 
to be usually sure of a partridge at more than forty 
paces, must have been fully equal to the best unchoked 
guns of the present day. The distances at which he ad- 
vises aiming in front of a bird, show that, practically, no 
more allowance for the speed of game was necessary, than 
with our modern guns ; consequently, the flintlocks by 
good makers, must have caused a very quick ignition of 
the powder. There could have been little of the "fizz- 
bang" described in books by theoretical writers. 
The remarks of the author, in the latter part of the 
book, about shooting game like rabbits and woodcock in 
covert, or snipe and grouse in open country, prove that 
guns, even with barrels 38 inches long, were so nicely 
balanced that our forefathers were able to use them with 
great rapidity and accuracy. I have tried the charge 
recommended, viz., iH drams of powder and 196 pellets 
of shot, from an old M^ynard i8-bore bar^-gl, slightly 
recess choked, but only 26 inches long. The pattern at 
forty-two paces is close enough to insure killing a 
partridge, the weight of the large pellets giving the neces- 
sary penetration with the small powder charge; but the 
killing circle is not more than 24 inches, consequently a 
very accurate aim had to be taken. That this was the 
practice, may be inferred from a remark of the author : 
"A true sportsman is not content with only breaking the 
wing of a partridge or the thigh of a hare when he 
.shoots at a fair distance; for in such case, the hare or 
the partridge ought to be shot in such a manner that it 
should remain in the place where it falls, and not require 
the assistance of the dogs to take it." 
J. J. Meyhick. 
England, 
A Gun-Shy Squirrel Dog. 
Ir was years ago, and yet as if yesterday, my first trip 
to Connecticut in quest of game. While eventually R. S. 
evolved into an Ai wing shot, yet in the early days squir- 
rel shooting was his forte. When he could steal away 
from the farm work late in the autumn he would take his 
trusty and rusty single-barrel muzzleloader, and, accom- 
panied by his mixed collie dog Girth, saunter off toward 
the chestnut ridge on East Hill in quest of squirrels. 
Girth was unexcelled on cows and squirrels. When the 
shades of evening began to fall it was necessary only to 
say, "Cows, fetch them home, Girth," when he would trot 
down the river road until he came to the fenced-in cows 
upon the rich river bottom pasture. He could nose at a 
bar in a rail fence until it fell, and with equal adroitness 
when driving the cows to pasture replace the light pole 
rails in their places. 
Girth was a great watch dog, and woe betide the one 
who raised a hand even in play against his master when 
he was around. 
The first moming we started out upon our quail and 
partridge hunt, Girth insisted on coming. R. S. had shoul- 
dered his rusty gun loaded to the muzzle with squirrel 
shot, and Girth was romping in great glee in company 
with Dick. We did not question Girth's ability as a squir- 
rel dog, but Ave did have serious doubts as to his properly 
"backing" Dick pointing a bevy of quail. 
We suggested tying Girth up and thus keeping him at 
home, but R. S. pleaded for him and argued that being 
such a good squirrel dog he should go along to tree the 
squirrels we should run across. And we, giving reluctant 
consent, went on our way Avith more or less misgivings. 
LeaAHug the main road Ave got into the stubble and set 
Dick to Avork. We could hear Girth off in the Avoods to 
the right clattering through the fallen leaves and giving 
tongue as he chased a nimble chipmunk into a holloAv 
log. It was not long before Dick came to a staunch 
point. Girth had given up his chipmunk and leaving the 
timber made straight for Dick, Avho was standing as if 
cast from a moukl, frolicking ahead of him and despite 
our calling and R. S.'s commands actually flushing the 
birds. Dick looked back at us, Avagging his tail in an 
inquisitive sort of a AA-ay, as if to ask what kind of busi- 
ness that Avas, anyway. 
R. S. split his sides laughing at the discomfiture of 
ourselves and of Dick, but promised to keep Girth well tb 
heel in future, a thing about as easy to do as to keep 
track of some spilled quicksilver upon the floor. The 
birds pitched into the Avoods and scattering lay close. 
AVe Avorked carefully along until we came to a conical de- 
pression about fifty feet across the top, and as many feet 
deep. Dick had disappeared within the pit, and Girth, 
roaming free once more, had romped along the edge of 
the opening. With a whirr a solitary quau broke cover 
well doAvn the depression and sailed upward. No one 
paid any attention to anything but that mOAang bird, and 
Bob being in line shot and killed the bird. Hoav it just 
happened that Avay no one kncAV, but Avhen Bob shot the 
quail and Girth Avere just in line, and the shot that missed 
the quail found lodgment within the Avooly surface of 
Girth's hide. GiAang an unearthly hoAvl, Girth put his 
bushy tail between his legs and pointing tOAvard the farm- 
house, staid not on the order of his going, but just went, 
making his fleeting course knoAvn by the occasional yelps 
he gave out. 
NoAV for a moment relations became strained between 
Rob and R. S. Had Rob missed his quail nothing Avould 
haA^e ever made R. S. believe otherAvise than it Avas an 
accidentally on purpose occurrence, but when Dick fetched 
the dead bird and the matter Avas explained, R. S. ab- 
soh-'ed Rob from any sinister motives. 
With Girth safe at home, we got R. S. into line and 
Avith Dick doing splendid Avork, there were enough birds 
to keep us all busA'-. We Avere all using muzzleloaders 
and there Avere times when before the Avads could be 
driven upon the shot more birds would get up. R, S. 
after he had dropped his first quail on the Aving, flatly re- 
jected squirrel shooting for ever and a day, and then and 
there vowed to train Girth on quail. But he counted in 
vain. The No. 9 shot in their scattering course had not 
done much more harm to the Avool-protected skin of the 
dog than Avould have been caused by quick contact Avith 
some sharp nettles. We found on examining Girth that 
not a drop of blood had been draAvn and really the dog 
Avas more frightened than hurt. The stinging impact of 
the pellets coincident with the report of the gun Avas suffi- 
cient to convince Girth, that something aAvful had hap- 
pened, and he forgot squirrels and all else in his haste to 
seek the back track and sanctuary under the front stoop. 
After that day R. S. never could shoulder his gun but 
that Girth Avould give a low groAvl of disapproval and 
hunt safe quarters under the stoop until he Avas out of 
sight. He became a gun shy dog, and until the day of 
his death renounced squirrel hunting as a frivolous pur- 
suit, and confined himself to the dignified duty of herding 
his cows night and morning, at which work he certainly 
was imexcelled. Chaeles Ceistadoro. 
A year ago Veterinary Surgeon Custer picked up a 
small dog on Sixth street, near Penn, that had had a foot 
crushed by a car wheel, and, taking it to his office on 
Cherry street, he dressed the injury. A farmer took the 
dog home a few days later. Yesterday afternoon the 
dog, sinse then full grown, appeared on the doctor's office 
steps, and, when admitted, gave every manifestation of 
the joy in meeting its old friend. A c^se of wonderful 
irstiijct — Reading (Pa.) Titnes, 
