70 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
be punched from bonnet-boards, and pierced with a small 
hole in each wad, in order to let all air pass through 
which may be confined between the wadding and powder. 
Your shot, also, take from the bag with the right hand, 
which may easily be done, by letting the charger hang 
downwards, observing the same plan of loading as with the 
powder. The main object of recommending one particular 
barrel to be charged first, is to habituate yourself to a 
regular system, which will prevent mistakes, and the off, 
or right barrel, is the one most usually fired, when only 
one is discharged. In no instance relax your hold of the 
gun with the left hand while loading, and by all means 
avoid hugging the gun as some do, while getting the shot 
from the bag; — one mistake may be fatal to yourself. 
Beware of an error, too often followed by most begin- 
ners, and that is, of overcharging your gun; this is a mis- 
take which many split on, and one-half of the wounding or 
missing the game altogether, may be justly attributed to it. 
If you have a gun of ll-16ths calibre, one drachm of 
powder, and one and a quarter ounces of shot is sufficient. 
I would advise you never to exceed this charge, but rather 
diminish the quantity; this will be found to be a fair pro- 
portion, as that quantity of powder will drive the whole 
or greater part of the shot to the object aimed at, with 
effect; whereas, if a greater charge of shot should be used, 
it is evident, that it will not only resist the action of the 
powder in proportion as the quantum of shot is increased, 
but also by greater friction along the barrels, in consequence 
of this accumulated weight, and the result will be, numbers 
will fall short of the object, and the gun, by reason of the 
crowded state of the shot, be necessarily leaded, besides 
the certainty of suffering from the reaction of the gun, and 
the bad result of making the shot scatter too much. What- 
ever quantity, however, you determine on, either in shot 
or powder, so regulate the respective charges of the flask 
and shot-bag, that no deviation may take place, but the 
same proportions always fired; a slight alteration in either 
of these, may materially interfere with your success. 
If I had to make choice of a gun from the manner in 
which it planted the shot in a target, it would be that one 
which threw the shot not only regular but close; but no 
gun, if overloaded, will do this — hence the necessity of 
avoiding any cause which prevents this desirable end. 
An ounce of No. 8 shot is said to contain 660 pellets, 
and my experience warrants me to aver, in most cases, that 
at a distance of thirty yards, as many pellets will be found 
in a target fired at with an ounce, as if by one and a half 
ounces of shot from the same gun and quantity of pow- 
der — consequently the folly of using more shot than a 
gun will drive home with certainty. Using light charges 
has also another great advantage, which is, not to affect the 
head in the manner which heavy charges do, if fired con- 
stantly on a warm day — therefore, my young friend, try 
a lesser quantity first, and if it does not prove satisfactory, 
increase your charge to or beyond my limits. 
Another very important thing to the Sportsman, is the 
quality of the powder, and size of the shot, — of the for- 
mer, there are but three kinds which may be said to have 
prevalence for sporting purposes in the United States. 
These are, Pigous’ & Wilks, (London powder,) Dupont’s 
Eagle powder, manufactured near Wilmington, in Delaware, 
and Rogers’ Orange powder, made at Newburgh, New- 
York; the two former kinds I have always used, and for 
most purposes I would give preference to that made by 
Mr. Dupont; it is strong, clean, quick, and being much 
cheaper than the former, it certainly possesses great advan- 
tages. The manufacture of this powder certainly does 
great credit to the enterprising gentleman whose name it 
bears, as well as to the country; and it was not, until great 
perseverance on his part established it on so good a cha- 
racter, that we could depend with certainty on any powder 
manufactured in the United States. These facts should at 
once determine its use among Sportsmen, independent of 
encouraging an article of domestic manufacture. Ano- 
ther circumstance much in favour of the Eagle powder, is, 
the undeviating quality in the component parts; nor does it 
seem to be impaired by age, as one of the best canisters 
of this description I ever used, was one, which had been 
on ship-board, traversing the ocean many thousand miles, 
for a space of fifteen months. Pigous’ & Wilks powder 
is the most celebrated in England, and is also very exten- 
sively used here. I have never tried the Orange powder, 
but have been told by the New-York Sportsmen, that it is 
of most excellent quality, and preferred by them to any sold 
in that market. I shall, however, speak more particularly 
on the merits of these different kinds of powder at some 
future day, as I shall test their qualities with much care. 
A very common fault with many Sportsmen, is that of 
using shot too large. I have, generally, been very success- 
ful in my excursions, and always confined myself to No. 9, 
for woodcock and snipe, and No. 8, for partridges, (or 
quail) — this, I am aware, is two numbers smaller than 
many Sportsmen use, and one size smaller than the majority 
shoot, but, as my precepts are warranted by experience, 
I certainly recommend the learner to try those sizes. 
I recollect the most pleasant day’s shooting I ever had, 
(and withal successful,) was in consequence of having, in the 
early part of the day, lost my shot, the charger having been 
drawn while passing through a thicket, and I did not make 
the discovery until my bag was nearly empty. Game was 
in abundance, and my excursion was confined to a spot in 
the great valley in Chester county, Pa. ; and I could not 
