44 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
myriads of insects, which are injurious, and are only pre- 
vented from being exceedingly annoying to our own spe- 
cies, by the wise provision of our Creator, in placing 
those very birds as their destroyers which are recom- 
mended as subject of sport and cruelty. Beside, the flight 
of these birds is as unlike the flight of game, as is the mo- 
tion of the things which I recommend. The object in recom- 
mending either, is to enable the shooter to sight correct’y 
and shoot quick, and this may be done as well with one as 
the other. Nothing short of practice at the very game 
itself, will make the shooter perfect in the science; there 
are so many things to be learned in the field, (which I 
shall take occasion to notice hereafter,) that all other prac- 
tice can have no other tendency than to make the learner 
familiar with his gun. 
The flight of the various game so differs, that it is abso- 
lutely necessary to practise on every kind, before a man 
may successfully contend with each of those which consti- 
tutes our variety. I have known those who could shoot 
Rail, that could not kill Woodcock; and then, again, those 
who were successful at Woodcock, not able to kill Part- 
ridges; and a friend of mine, who was an excellent shot at 
Partridges, I saw miss eight times successively at Snipe: 
and most every Sportsman knows the difficulty of killing 
a Pheasant. 
In holding your gun, I recommend you to gripe with 
your left hand, about midway between the tail-piece and 
guard, and instead of bringing your gun up in a direct line 
to your shoulder, to throw it gently into its place, by 
keeping it rather from you and across you, with the 
muzzle elevated, and making a slight curve outward, 
until it is on a level with your shoulder, when it may 
be brought gently, but solidly in its place; you thereby 
avoid bringing it into contact with your clothes, or accou- 
trements, which are hanging over your shoulders. The 
proper plan of sighting a gun, is to fix your eyes intensely 
on the object to be shot at, and the gun brought up in a 
line of aim with the object, without diverting your eye for 
a moment, or squatting your cheek down to your gun; this 
you will be the better able to accomplish, by having the 
stock of your gun rather straight and long, as it will neces- 
sarily keep your head more upright, by which means you 
can more distinctly see the object you are going to shoot 
at, beside avoid the intolerable boxing, which is consequent 
to all who press their cheek forward against the breech of 
the gun. A long stock, also, will press against the shoul- 
der, and serve to steady your gun, as well as to break the 
rebound, which short-stocked guns, are always subject to; 
for it is evident, that if the stock is so short as to admit 
the face to press forward to the breech, that the constant 
rebounding of the gun will act against the cheek instead 
of the shoulder, and cause a head-ache, which at times is 
almost insupportable, beside the danger of having the eye 
injured by the broken particles of the percussion cap. 
Many persons, in griping their guns with the left hand, 
do it immediately on the guard, and under the locks. I 
never could see any advantage arising from this plan, but 
always regarded it as an affectation on the part of those 
who practised it, to imitate some few eccentric beings, or 
to be so themselves; for I have more than once witnessed, 
that some of those who strenuously recommended this plan 
when at home, forget to exercise it when abroad. For my 
part, I condemn it as more dangerous in the event of a 
gun’s bursting; beside, it does not give the shooter as 
much control in the management of his gun as the common 
plan. In the first place, the construction of a gun, and 
its balance, point out, that midway between the tail- 
piece and guard, is the only proper place for the left hand, 
which gives the possessor a power to wield his gun with 
more certainty and ease, especially in thickets; and in the 
second place, it is more free from danger should the gun 
burst. Most stub and twist guns, when they burst, do so at 
the breech, and not more than four inches along the barrels. 
I have witnessed, within a few years, four guns of this de- 
scription bursting, and the owners escaped injury, except 
one, who always caught his gun at the guard, — and the con- 
sequence to him was the loss of his thumb, and part of the 
hand. One of the others which burst, was held on the plan 
I recommend, and the owner thereby escaped a most 
dreadful accident, as his gun burst at the breech, tore 
off the lock, guard, and part of the stock, within an inch 
of his right hand, and so completely were the parts severed, 
that he held in his left hand the barrels, while in his right 
was the butt of the stock, completely detached from the 
former, and had he griped his gun on the guard, the inevi- 
table consequence would have been the entire loss of his 
hand, and perhaps his life. I. 
THE SPORTSMAN’S CHAMBER. 
This room, which is exclusively my own, 
And which to every other, I prefer, 
Is furnished for convenience, not for show; 
Plain, but yet clean — retired, yet o’erlooking 
Villages, and woods, and fields, and rivers; 
And giving to the eye a distant view 
Of one great town, whose constant bustle, and 
Ne’er ceasing sounds, disturb not meditation 
Where I write. The firm floor is cover’d 
