266 MOUNTAIN ARTILLERIES OF FRANCE AND ITALY, 
Two sorts of saddles are used, one with an iron cradle on the top, 
carried by the first three mules of the gun-team as above described, and 
the other, without the cradle, adapted for slinging the ammunition 
boxes.!' ‘The panels are stuffed with straw, with a layer of horse-hair 
next the mule’s back ; split leather girths are used and are generally, 
to Hnglish eyes, too far back under the stomach. ‘he gun isa 7com. 
(24") bronze breech-loader by Krupp. Weight 214 lbs. Length 39”, 
Muzzle velocity 840f.s. Weight of shrapnel 93 lbs. Charge 104 ozs. 
The fuze is a combined time and percussion and is always carried in 
the shell, the detonator being carried separately and fixed in the fuze 
when the gun is loaded. 
sae average weight carried per mule throughout the Battery is 
O74: Ss. 
Shrapnel is almost exclusively used, with percussion fuze for ranging 
and time fuze for subsequent effect. The number of rounds carried in 
the “fiehting line” of the Battery is 14 common, 56 shrapnel, and 4 
case shot per Sub-division. 
Owing to the low muzzle velocity of the gun, it is necessary to burst 
the shell close up to the target, otherwise the effect is lost. 
The bronze guns are considered to be fairly good weapons when new, 
but are said to wear out rapidly. The fuzesalso are said to deteriorate 
considerably after being some time in store. In the batteries now de- 
scribed both guns and fuzes were old, which may to some extent account 
for the inferior practice made by them. I was told that experiments 
were being made with a new gun (Nordenfeldt) and that its adoption 
was shortly expected. 
Hach Battery had a range-finder, somewhat similar in principle to, 
but rather more elaborate than, the Weldon instrument. They were 
however seldom used, as the ground on which the Batteries came into 
action rarely allowed of a sufficiently long or level base being obtained. 
There were no men specially classed as range-finders, and on the only 
occasion on which I saw the instrument used the Battery Commander 
himself took the range with an error of 600 yards. 
An Italian Mountain Battery on service is divided into three 
units: Ist the “ Battery of Manceuvre” (referred to above as “ fight- 
ing line”’) of 6 guns, and 74 rounds of ammunition per gun, &c., 
carried on 4 ammunition mules odd sub-divisions, 3 ammunition mules 
even sub-divisions; 2nd “ammunition column” of 33 mules carrying 
amongst other stores, 60 rounds of ammunition per gun; 8rd “ section 
of Park,” of 52 mules carrying 150 rounds per gun, 126,400 rounds of 
small gun ammunition and 1080 rounds of revolver ammunition. 
In action the latter is always left on a carriage road, and a mile or 
two in rear of the Battery. The “ Battery of manceuvre” in action 
has 6 ammunition mules close to the guns, and the remainder 50 to 
100 yards in rear. The “ammunition column”’ if with the “ Battery 
of manceuvre”’ forms a second échelon 500 yards in rear of the guns. 
When on the march and changing camp every day, the mules are 
picketted ina circle, by simply fastening each animal’s collar chain to 
1 The principle of having only one saddle adapted for the carriage of either gun, carriages and 
wheels appears an adyantage over our system of a different pattern cradle for each nature of load. 
