the birds "all in a charm" (that is, in full concert), if you have patience to wait and listen, which a good gunner always repeatedly does, every now and then, before he ventures on the final approach. The birds might otherwise steal away, and totally mislead him. When wigeon are "in a charm" they are not minding you; but when they are quite silent, they are, as likely as not, suspecting an enemy. At this moment you must keep still, till they open again; and so on, till you see them; and then, in starlight, you are generally near enough, at all events for a large gun, to give them your royal salute.

Be sure and choose, if possible the best background to advance from, in order to disguise your profile from the horizon. Even a black cloud is better than nothing. But if (before the mud is covered) you hear birds walking away, and neither feeding nor "speaking," it is a bad omen. It shows that they have some suspicion of an approaching enemy, and are half inclined to fly. When birds are about one hundred yards off (or much further in very calm weather), you may hear them feeding; the noise of which, at this distance, is like the falling of a little water, and is often mistaken for it at ebb tide.

Here are (in the fewest words I can give them) all the necessary requisites for night shooting; and, if well understood and well managed, you are just about as sure of getting a fair shot (in a favourable time), as you would be with a young partridge to a dead point in standing clover. As to all the old plans of burying punts, casks, &c. &c. they are now of so little avail in almost every part of England, as to be no longer worthy of insertion.

STANCHION, OR PUNT-GUN.

I have, by practical experiment, since the earlier editions, found, that the gunmakers have another lesson to learn!Although a gun of this description must of course be supported by some mechanical means, yet the universal system of entirely confining the gun under the barrel, so that it cannot be relieved even one inch in the recoil, is the worst that can possibly be adopted. It not only (when properly loaded) jars every thing so much as to require extra strength, and therefore extra weight to

a punt, which we want as light as possible, in order to go in shallow water; but the sudden check throws the muzzle so much out of the proper direction, that we are frequently obliged to take level very far under, or over the mark; according as the gun may spring, from being either heaviest or lightest forward: and, what is worse than all, this sudden check, at the moment of ignition, materially injures the shooting of the gun in every respect. This experiment was tried, in my presence, by Elijah Buckle, one of the best stanchion-gunners in England, and by far the best I ever saw, who left the coast of Essex for Southampton-who has been frequently in my employ-and to whom I am, most probably, indebted for not having remained much longer in ignorance on the subject. Indeed nothing but ocular demonstration would have convinced me of this argument. What pride and folly it is, then, for any one to hold himself above being shown, even by the most humble individual!

The gun was loaded with a pound of shot, and two ounces of Messrs. Curtis and Harvey's best coarse powder. I fired from the confined swivel, that is generally used by the London gunmakers! in doing which I levelled at least a foot over the object; and, by this means (as the water and the paper proved), shot perfectly accurate. Buckle then fired; having taken level at the centre of the object, from the swivel: and the whole charge went into the water, before it had gone ninety yards, where the target was placed. I then began to abuse the late Mr. D. Egg, and said, I hoped that Buckle, as an experienced gunner, and an engineer (he having been a long time in his Majesty's service), was convinced of the fault of the gun; on which he said, and with justice I own, that both " the London gentlemen," and I, had “a little to learn yet." He then, to use his own words, "hove away that humbugging swivel;" and, by means of a large bolster of sheeps'-wool, fired the gun from his shoulder, with the same charge as before; which I put in myself. He presented as usual, directly at the object, and made such a shot as this barrel had never before been known to make, both for strength and closeness. I then, to be convinced of his veracity at taking aim, fired the gun in his way with about ten ounces of shot, not quite fancying the pound to my shoulder. I levelled at, instead of

over, the mark, and the shot were delivered with the greatest accuracy. The gun, with this charge, went under my arm precisely five inches, as I afterwards measured. If a gun, when fired this way, was to swerve in going back, it would be dangerous; and therefore the under part of the stock, in order to lie firm on the bench, ought either to be made flat, or fixed in a piece of wood, that was flat at bottom. It then occurred to me, that if this gun (of eighty-five pounds weight) was fired with ten ounces from the swivel, it might go so easy as not to interrupt the shooting. I accordingly tried it, and so little appeared to be the recoil, that it could not be felt; notwithstanding which, by aiming at the mark, the charge was, as usual, from the swivel, entirely under it. On the other extreme, I saw a gun fired by the owner of it, Samuel Singer, at Poole (which weighed 141 lbs.). This was on a swivel, and mounted very light forward, and he told me, that he was always obliged to present very far under the object, or his whole charge went over every thing; and that he should "douse" the swivel for a rope breeching. I have since used my 85lb. gun with a rope breeching that reaches all the way from, and goes through a hole in, the stem of the punt. The breeching has then so much play as, with the help of a padded butt, at the shoulder, to ease the recoil tolerably well. It is, however, not to be compared to my spring swivel; though the best plan, that I know of, to fire any gun that is not forged on purpose for the spring swivel; because the fore part of the punt then takes the pull upon the same principle that an arch bears a heavy weight. The gun, with a breeching, goes nearly as far back as the rope will stretch (say an inch or two), and then springs forward again for about a foot; unless checked by a notch in the stock, which should butt against the gunning-bench.

The grand object is to take off the recoil in the best manner! I mentioned the experiment of the swivel to several of the leading gunmakers, and, although they had all plenty to say on the subject, I could not meet with one who was able to do any thing towards the proper attainment of the object.

(I must crave the indulgence of nine-tenths of my readers for having trespassed on them with thig insipid detail, as I have some few brother sportsmen in this way, who would value it more

than all the rest of the book put together.

Moreover, it may be the means of preventing accidents which frequently happen to those who use swivels, and particularly if they do not fix them with judgment.)

The barrel of a punt-gun, to be in good proportion, should, I conceive (including the patent plug, of about six pounds weight, and from two to three inches in length), be about seventy or eighty pounds weight, from seven to nine feet long, and from an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half bore, according to the one length and weight, or the other.

The smaller the bore is, in reason, the further you can kill, at a small number of birds; but the larger size of these two shoots the best and most regular pattern, and answers best for Eley's cartridge. Any thing beyond that size seldom answers.

It may, of course, be made on the same proportion to any size; but, although a gun much beyond this size will kill more birds at a shot, I am inclined to think, from what I saw of the one at Poole, that it will not kill so far in proportion. As some proof that Singer was not very partial to this gun, I need only state that, some months after I saw it fired, I received a letter from him, making an offer of it for sale; which, as he is a man of long experience in the business, I conclude he would not have done, if the gun had perfectly suited him. Not having been able to sell it, when I last saw him, he had then had it lengthened: but still it failed; and he has since got another.

The barrel, in forging and filing, should be left well filled up, and, in every part, substantial.

FIRING PUNT-GUNS.

The firing of these guns, at long distances, requires some practice, by reason that, before the shot can travel a hundred yards, the birds, if quick-sighted, will be on the move, particularly if they see the flash. No one had ever the kindness to tell me this, when I first used a long gun; till, after some time, wondering what was the matter that I could not kill (not being able to see

through the smoke), I fired at a mixture of curlews and gulls; the latter of which were killed, and the others never touched.

By this I discovered, that the one, being quick-sighted and active birds, sprung before the shot got to them; while the others, not being able to get out of the way, were killed. A little elevation for the gun (in which a few shots at a mark will direct you), and a pretty good elevation for the springing of the birds, according to what birds they are, is absolutely necessary, and practice alone will best teach this. Suffice it to say, however, that a man, to be a good shot with a large gun, has even more to learn than to shoot well in the field; particularly when he comes to cross shots at flocks going past, where, sometimes, there may be required a yard of elevation, and ten yards' allowance for the distance they are at, and the rapidity of their flight.

As it becomes necessary, when approaching wild birds, to be well concealed in your punt, you are obliged to fire these guns, lying down as close as possible on your chest. You should use the "stem-piece" to support the breast. If you put your cheek to the stock, your shoulder-bone in contact with the butt, or your second finger behind the trigger, you run a risk of having them severely jarred; but, if you manage the gun properly, the sensation, with a light charge, is no more than that of firing powder from a small gun; and the report, to the shooter, seems a mere nothing. To fire a stanchion-gun, put your left hand over the butt, and regulate it to the line of aim, while your cheek gently grazes the back of the hand. Put all the fingers of your right hand before the trigger, keeping the thumb out of the way; and be careful not to let your knees come in contact with the timbers of the boat. By observing well these directions, a child might fire this gun with as much safety as the smallest fowling-piece.

In firing a punt-gun (without any stanchion) from the shoulder, you must lean hard against the upper part of the padded butt; and have the gun as top heavy as you can possibly overbear, by which means the friction of the stock against the "gunningbench," and the check of your shoulder, prevents the gun from running too far under your arm. Never attempt to shoot a barrel so short as six feet in this way, as it might fly up and hurt you.