MOUNTAIN ARTILLERIES OF FRANCE AND ITALY. 267 
the head-collar of the animal on its right, so as to leave about 18” be- 
tween their heads. By this method they are of course prevented from 
lying down at night, but this is not considered much of a disadvantage; 
at least, not so much so as to counterbalance the saving of weight in 
picketting-gear, &e. When however a Battery was stationary for some 
days the Commanding Officer made arrangements to picket the animals 
separately.! 
Officers and men slept in tents, those of the men being carried on 
their backs and those of the officers on two mules allowed to each 
Battery for officers’ baggage. The poles of the mens’ tents, both in the 
mountain artillery and Alpini, are not jointed but are in one piece and 
are used as alpen-stocks. 
The practice was conducted under service conditions, and the nature 
and position of the targets (which were placed by the Major command- 
ing the Brigade-division) were unknown to the Battery Commanders. 
On arriving near the place where it was to come into action, the battery 
was halted and the Commander called up by the Major, who pointed 
out the target and indicated the position for the Battery. The Battery 
Commander then took up his preparatory position, as near as possible 
and under cover, and pointed out the target to the officers and Nos. | 
(who are invariably the gun-layers) during which the Battery came into 
action and loaded. ‘he guns were then run up by hand or by the 
shafts to the firing position ; the whole system in fact closely resembling 
our own. After each practice, the officers and N.-C. officers were 
called up by the Lieut.-Colonel. The Battery Commander then de- 
scribed his performance in detail, giving his reasons for each step. 
The N.-C.O.’s then withdrew and the Major criticised or commended, 
as the case might be, and finally the Colonel criticised both the Major’s 
remarks and the Battery Commander’s action. 
In addition to the above, range reports (of which I was unable to 
obtain a copy) were made out, both by the Battery and the range party, 
but these, 1 was informed, were intended chiefly for the information of 
higher authority. 
An observer was always employed to assist the Battery Commander. 
He was placed about 20 to 50 yards to a flank, and considerable reliance 
(which was not always justified) seemed to be placed on his reports. 
PRACTICE. 
The first practice witnessed was that of the 7th Battery on August 
10th. The target, about twenty full-length wooden dummies, repre- 
sented a section of infantry in line at about one yard interval. The 
range was rather over 1000 yards, light good, and observation easy. 
On coming into action (with percussion shrapnel) the right, centre, 
and left sections laid with elevations of 1000, 1200, and 1400 metres 
respectively, and fired rapidly from the right. One shot from the 
centre section gave a direct hit and time shrapnel was at once pro- 
ceeded with, without any further verification. About 18 rounds were 
fired with considerable rapidity, which were all too long and burst much 
too high, but no attempt to alter the fuze was made. 
The 8th Battery practised next, at a similar target but at rather a 
1 By passing head-chains along a long picketting rope, somewhat similar to our method for horses, 
37 
