OCR Rendition - approximate

250   zi r of j ravel.

shot are sorted by sieves ; bad shot are weeded out, by letting the shot roll over a slightly-inclined board, then the shot that are not quite round roll off to the side. Lastly, the shot is smoothed by being shaken up in a barrel with a little black-lead.

Slugs are wanted both for night-shooting and also in case of a hostile attack. They can be made by running melted lead into reeds, and chopping the reeds into short lengths ; or by casting the lead in tubes made by rolling paper round a smooth stick : whether reeds or paper be used, they should be planted in the ground before the lead is poured in. The temperature of the lead is regulated by taking care that a small quantity of it remains unmelted in the ladle, at the moment of pouring out : if it be too hot it will burn the paper. (See " Lead.")

HINTS ON SHOOTING.

When lying down,-Loading.-Put in the powder as you best can, and ram the bullet home, lying flat on your back, with the barrel of the gun athwart your breast. It is easy to load in this way with cartridges.

On Horseback.-Loading.-Empty the charge of powder from the flask into the left hand, and pour it down the gun ; then take a bullet, wet out of your mouth, and drop it into the barrel, using no ramrod; the wet will cake the bullet pretty firmly in its right place.

Firing.-" In firing, do not bring the gun to your shoulder ; but present it across the pommel of the saddle, calculating the angle with your eye, and steadying yourself momentarily by standing in the stirrups, as you take aim." (Palliser.) In each bound of the horse, the moment when his fore legs strike the ground is 'one of comparative steadiness, and is therefore the proper instant for pulling the trigger.

On Water. -Boa t-shooting.-A landing-net should be taken in the boat, as Colonel Hawker well advises, to pick up the dead birds as they float on the water, while the boat passes quickly by them.

Shooting over Water.-When shooting from a river-bank without boat or dog, take a long light string with a stick tied to one end of it, the other being held in the hand : by throw

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