DUCK SHOT.

No. 1 and 2 for a seven gauge, and A. or B. for a five ditto, or inch bore, are preferable to the very largest shot, the same reason that No. 7 is best for game.

Mould shot alone, therefore, in any caliber less than that of a stanchion gun, is like No. 1 in a double gun: it may do wonders, for which you relinquish the certainty of what other shot will do.

To prove, that even one of these pellets may be carried off by a wildfowl, I should mention the circumstance of having seen a brentgoose, which after having been brought down flying, with No. 2, was discovered to have under the wing, an old wound, considerably more than an inch deep and out of this was taken one of the largest mould shot, which had rolled up in feathers, and formed a sort of

tent.

The following is a table of what I find the best shot for wildfowl:

A. or AA. are the best for geese, particularly by day, provided they are so tame as not to require S.S.G. In my second edition, I talked of mixing shot; but have since had reason to doubt whether it answers so well.

General Shrapnell once told me, that some man in Ireland had contrived to imitate his shells, or spherical case shot, with which he did wonders at the wildfowl. I was afterwards favoured by a gentleman in Kent, with the recipe for making and adapting them to small guns. But lest it might prove improper to publish it (which I could not well and clearly do without an engraving) I shall say no more on the subject, but leave this admirable invention as the property of the British ordnance, and be content with a safer and more simple remedy, the patent shotcartridge of Messrs. Eley.

DUCK GUN WADDING.

To avoid book-making, I shall now cancel six pages, the experiments for which had cost me much time and expense, and say no more about paper, pasteboard, cork, leather, &c. &c., but in a few words, name what I have proved to be the best wadding for duck guns. For all shoulder duck guns, use Wilkinson's felt wadding, about a third in thickness the size of your caliber. But for long punt guns, and all other water guns, that are opened behind, you will find that, after all, nothing beats a tightwound ball of the best picked oakum; because it springs to every gradation of the caliber; and since the last edition, I have adopted a further improvement, which is to cut a square piece of silk, just large enough to hold your ball of oakum; then bring all the corners together; tie them up (like a cloth for a dumpling), and then cut them off with the scissors. This not only prevents the oakum from mixing with the shot; but makes the gun shoot much better, and with less recoil. I could publish fifty original pages on the subject of wadding; but who would take the trouble to read them? and what would be the use of this, after the sporting world has done me the honour to confide in what I recommend?

WATER BOOTS

ARE absolutely necessary for those who shoot in wet places, or wait in cold nights, for wildfowl; and if good, will effectually repel the water for a long time.

Mr. Short, of East Yarmouth, was by far the best maker of these boots, and was so clever in other parts of his business, that he was in the habit of sending boots and shoes to gentlemen above a hundred miles on the other side of London. Some of the fen sportsmen called him the "Emperor of the boot-makers." Mr. Short has retired but his name, with the business, continues in able hands.

All boots, for going in the wet, answer much better if kept at least half a year before they are worn; and they should afterwards never be suffered to get too hard. Water boots should be invariably worn over an extra pair of coarse yarn stockings, without which you do not give them a fair trial.

So far from being hard to the feet, they are the softest possible wear, and may be made very light. They should always be made to draw, when required, very far above the knees, in order to protect them from cold or wet.

Various dressings are recommended, though, perhaps, almost any grease may answer; but the first and most effectual application might be tar, tallow, and bees' wax melted (not too warm), and then poured into the boots;

which, after having this shaken into every part of them, should be hung up to let it run out. By this dressing, and the sacrifice of the first pair of stockings that follows it, we may walk in the river with more comfort than a Londoner would cross the street after a shower.

This recipe, however, though a double defence, I do not mean to say is absolutely necessary; for I have latterly found that neat's foot oil answers every purpose, provided the boots are thus well anointed about once a year, to prevent the neat's foot from making them too porous. As another good recipe, I should prefer the following

Melt these over a slow fire, and then add a few drachms of essential oil of lavender (or thyme). With this your boots are to be rubbed with a brush, either in the sun, or at some distance from the fire. The application must be repeated, as often as the boots become dry again, until they are fully saturated.

If your heel should become galled by walking in a water, or any other boot, you will immediately remedy the inconvenience by applying a piece of gold-beaters' skin, and over that a little court plaster, in order doubly to defend the part. But even in this trifle there is a right and a wrong way of going to work. Instead of cutting with scissors, and merely wetting the plaster, let it be for a moment heated by the fire, as well as wetted, being previously stamped with a wadding punch, by which means, from having no angles, or corners, it will stick as fast as your own skin; provided that, when on and dry, you put over it a little cold cream, or any kind of grease, in order to repel the damp.

The application that has been usually recommended to me by surgeons