THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
45 
and cover, with no view to offence, then vertical fire must be used, of which 
we are not now treating. 
The effects of firing over earth are not so clearly visible from the gun as in 
firing over smooth water. In the latter case, a line of foam, or spray is very 
distinct; in the former, pieces of turf, mud, and earth, are thrown up, few 
in number and comparatively indistinct, until skill is obtained by practice. 
And now a few words as to the future. The ascendancy or other¬ 
wise of the artillery may depend entirely upon the first few rounds fired. 
As at the Cape of Good Hope* and elsewhere, an ill directed fire, or well 
directed but worthless projectiles,t serve only as an encouragement to our 
opponent. On the other hand, we have experience to shew that, as at 
Yimiera and in Java, a few projectiles of good construction judiciously 
employed, will strongly influence, if not decide, the fate of an action. 
To this end the first requisites are good training and simplicity of con¬ 
struction ; (good horses and bold driving need not be insisted upon with 
British troops), a plain strong tangent scale with two matters only legibly 
engraved thereon, namely ranges and length of fuze to correspond; slow 
motion arrangements, and verniers may be kept for 3000 yard ranges. The 
fuzes should be fixed at the gun, and if it is considered necessary to have 
fuzes ready bored, as was the case during the Peninsula War, then each 
gun number might carry a small fuze pouch with a fuze corresponding to 
his number; No. 2 for example having '2 fuzes, No. 3 having *3, and so on, 
independently of the fuzes carried in the ordinary way in the limbers and 
wagons. 
Yery briefly then, what will good training yield ? Mature judgment— 
the result of observing the effects of shrapnel, over various forms of ground, 
under different atmospheric circumstances, and at many features and objects. 
Instead of habitually setting up a well-defined target, fully exposed to fire, 
let its existence be at times barely indicated, as if the enemy had availed 
himself—as he assuredly will do—of every undulation of ground, and natural 
cover to conceal his operations. We may possibly in this case have to 
resort to curved fire, which will be very instructive. It may be desirable to 
accustom the eye to observe certain features such as embrasures, rifle pits, 
parapets, abattis, pallisades, and so forth; and to accelerate, occasionally, 
the service of the gun to the utmost, and by rough work to test the temper, 
skill, and proficiency of the soldier, placing the gun in difficulties, capsizing, 
mounting, shifting, changing rounds, and never firing twice consecutively at 
the same target. If this can be combined with throwing up rapid cover for 
the gun, or embarking and disembarking it, so much the better. 
In concluding these remarks, I beg as an old instructor to express my 
gratification at the judicious recommendation of the O.S. Committee ,% to 
introduce immediately the shrapnel shell and Boxer’s wood time fuze for all 
breech-loading guns. 
* Vide Vol. V. p. 398. 
f As at St Sebastian. See Vol. V. p. 418. 
$ See “Short Notes on Professional Subjects,” 1868, p. 4L 
