one, any trifling deviation from the line of aim is of the less consequence. Habit must decide in this matter. Something more positive may be said respecting the calibre. A large bore holds up the ball better than a small one.

Accuracy in rifle shooting depends, when the barrel is good and properly charged, on the sights, and the poise of the piece. The barrel should never be bright; the glimmer deceives the eye, especially in a hot day. The whole piece should be so poised that it may balance at the exact point where it is upheld by the left arm in taking aim. When so balanced, the arm has but one force to resist; that of gravity. When the muzzle or butt preponderates, both arms are strained, and the trigger is rarely pulled at the proper instant. The eyes move together; the eye and the finger do not. Your forward sight may be of brass or silver; the latter is best, because brightest and least liable to rust. The hinder sight should be black, that the contrast may catch the eye the more readily, and cannot be, like a gentleman's coat, too finely cut.

The sights should not be parallel to the bore. Every child knows that a bullet drops from the line of its propulsion the instant it leaves the muzzle of the gun. The line of aim over the sights, therefore, should point lower than the line of fire, that is, the exact direction of the bore. The bullet crosses and rises above the line of sight the moment it leaves the piece, but the force of gravity brings it down again till it strike the earth. The point where the line of sight intersects the line of fire the second time, is the point blank, or, as the French call it, the but en blanc. A gun will shoot with perfect accuracy at the point blank distance, and no other. If you shoot at an object short of the point blank, you must aim under it; if it be beyond, you must aim over. However, you may make the point blank any distance you please, between ten and a hundred and fifty yards, by a careful adjustment of the sights. I have found, by experiment, that a Harper's Ferry rifle, which is about three feet long and throws a ball of half an ounce, drops its lead eighteen inches in a hundred yards. If it be intended to make its point blank a hundred yards, its line of sight should therefore point eighteen inches above the centre at that distance. So a preacher aims above the comprehension of his auditors, and makes a more certain impression.

I know no rule for the quantity of the charge. As much powder as will burn should be put into the barrel; but the bulk will depend on the quality of the grain, and can only be ascertained by experiment. The western riflemen place the bullet on a plane surface, and take as much powder as will cover it for a regular charge. It is a very good practical rule. It is an error, to suppose that a high glazing increases the strength or quickness of gunpowder; on the contrary, it does not ignite so readily. A polished person is not so liable to be set on fire by insolent sparks as another.

All guns which load at the breech or pretend to combine the properties of the rifle and smooth bore, are inventions of the evil one, which no true-bred sportsman will carry. They cannot be kept in order, nor will they serve the purposes for which their inventors intended them for any considerable length of time. One of these hermaphrodite guns may be compared to a beast between the grayhound and pointer, which

has neither the nose of the one nor the legs of the other. The mechanism soon wears loose, and the safety of the gunner is compromised. No good gunner will ever fire shot from his rifle, or use an iron ramrod. Either of these practices injures the furrows, thereby affecting the direction of the bullet. Ladies who cook, draw, and play on the piano, seldom perform all their avocations perfectly well.

Ducks are best shot in the morning early, and in stormy weather. The noise and inclemency of the weather make them unwilling to rise, and prevent them from hearing the approach of the gunner. A single duck is easier to kill flying than sitting. His flight is perfectly steady; a greater portion of his body is exposed, and his feathers are more open to the slugs. A duck's breast will often turn shot sitting. I would recommend smaller shot for duck-shooting than is commonly used in New-England. That commonly called pigeon-shot is quite big enough.

Ducks may be advantageously approached in a boat or canoe, covered with bushes. In some parts of the country they fly in a regular track, where sportsmen station themselves in huts of brush, and shoot them as they pass.

Do not take your eye off from a duck when he passes apparently unharmed by your discharge. The whole species is much more tenacious of life than any bird of the grouse kind. I have known a mortally wounded mallard to fly more than a mile before he dropped. Thus a pious miss carries the arrow of Cupid a good way without showing it, but she drops at last.

Watch wood-ducks in the spring, and you may possibly find their nests in the hollows of old trees. If the birds be not edible at that season, their eggs are. It will not be amiss to take a pewter spoon

with you, to tie to the end of a stick. arm's length.

The eggs often lie beyond

If you see two wild geese and cannot get them both in range, shoot the female. The male will return within shot by the time you will have re-loaded.

Either ducks or geese may be decoyed by one of their own species, whose feet you may fasten to a floating log for security's sake. Do not do this with a hammer and nails, however; a cord will serve your purpose as well, and show more humanity. Those who put out the eyes of decoy-ducks and pigeons, deserve to be crucified. They do not even improve the decoy; for a bird that can see will quack as loud and flutter as well as one that is blind. A dog (a small, red one is best) may be trained to decoy ducks. The sportsman takes his concealed stand, and the animal runs backward and forward on the shore. The ducks come nigh, probably actuated by curiosity, and are shot. Insects and women affect bright colors in the same manner, and often suffer by it.

Swans and loons may be decoyed by a red handkerchief. Tie it to a bush where it will flap in the wind, and conceal yourself. The birds will, in two instances out of three, leave their offing to be killed. Speaking of loons, you may always kill them, at a reasonable distance, by firing through the leaves of a bush thick enough to conceal the flash of your gun.

Deer can rarely be hunted successfully on horseback, in this country. In an open plain a good horse will soon overtake a deer, but if a wood be nigh, the "fat and greasy citizen" will immediately take shelter in it. In the northern part of New-York, deer are killed in the following manner. Their tracks in any particular district are well known, and the sportsmen station themselves at what are called the runways, with their rifles. Staunch dogs are then set on the track, and the animal rarely escapes. But this is waste of time, which the spoil does not repay. The better way is to range the woods, and trust to your knowledge of the animal's habits. Deer cannot run a great while. The Indians take a fresh track, and follow it. If they start the quarry before they get within shot, they still follow. In fifteen or twenty miles the deer gives out, and suffers himself to be approached. Few besides Indians can hunt deer successfully in this manner.

If a deer is running fast by you, utter a sharp cry, or whistle shrilly, and he will tarry long enough for you to aim. If he bounds away with his tail erect, there is little use in following him; but if his tail drops, follow him up. The animal often runs long before he falls, and seldom drops on the spot where he is struck.

If you are a good, quick shot, rely on a single ball. If your hand and eye are slow, load with two, or take a smooth bore and try buck shot. In like manner, a wary mother will not discharge one unmarried daughter at a man's head, but try all she has at once. If one glances, another may hit. Above all, be cool. I have seen an excellent shot at a target miss the broadside of a buffalo at fifteen paces. His excitement blinded him, and shook his nerves.

If, in your passage through the woods, you observe a pollard whose bark is scratched, examine it closely. If there be gray hairs sticking to the trunk, be assured that there is a raccoon in it. You have then nothing to do but to fell the tree. If you wish to make an especial quest for raccoons, it is best done after the first winter snow. Find their tracks in the day, and repair to the spot by moonlight. You will probably find them feeding, or at play. Moonlight is very dangerous to virgins and raccoons.

I shall say nothing of the manner of taking wolves, because the animal is good for nothing, and is very difficult to kill. I could speak largely on this head, but as there are very few wolves in New-England, it is hardly worth while. English travelers come the nearest to the species of all the beasts that come among us.

Bears are very easily tracked, and with a hardy horse, you will soon overtake one. One or more dogs,-the more noisy and cowardly the better,—are of great use in hunting this animal. They will not hurt him, but they will so torment his ears with their noise, and his haunches with their teeth, that he will climb a tree in a pet, and you can come up at your leisure and shoot him. Bears sometimes winter in trees, and I would advise you to examine every large one you pass, attentively. If a bear turn upon you, it is of little use to run, for he can outstrip most men. Wait till he is within three paces, when you may be sure of inflicting an instantaneously mortal wound.

If you are far from human habitations and have hunted all day without success, and are hungry, repair to the nearest swamp and

shoot a dozen bull frogs. You may take my word that they are excellent eating. Prejudice has banished frogs and blackbirds from the tables of New-England, though I can find hundreds who will readily make affidavit that nothing is better than either.

So endeth the chapter.

HUMORS OF AN ORIENTAL.

TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN OF THE TOOTEE NAMEH.

TALE I. How a body may sell too many oats for a shilling; or the story of the Cat that was turned out of office.

ONCE upon a time there dwelt in a desert a certain Lion, who was mighty famous and formidable in his day and generation. The numbers of unfortunate quadrupeds, who had found a long home in his insatiable maw, are beyond computation. But even a Lion cannot last forever. He became old and decrepit; and in this state happened one day to fall down a rocky precipice and knock out his grinders. This became a serious misfortune; for whenever he ate his dinner afterwards, he made such a mumbling job of it, that great pieces of meat stuck in his teeth. Now the Lion, like all old nabobs who love good eating, was accustomed to take a nap after dinner; and, as he commonly fell a snoring with his mouth open, the mice would creep slily in and nibble the tit-bits among his ivory, whereby the Lion's nap was broken, and great disturbance and vexation caused him.

The Lion bore the annoyance for some time, not knowing how to devise a remedy; but, after having his gums tickled in this manner for three or four weeks, he sent for the fox and laid the case before him. The fox put on a long face, and after weighing the matter deliberately, advised his majesty to call in the cat. The Lion sent for the cat and ordered her to stand sentry. The cat took her post, and when the mice came the next time, thinking to play their old gum-game in the Lion's jaws, bounce! she sprang among them, and the whole troop scampered off pell-mell. Now was tranquility restored, and the Lion slept well in spite of his teeth. He promoted the cat, as in duty bound ; for a man in office should always be ready to give his friend a lift.

The cat was no fool, but managed the affair with a foresight and calculation that would have done honor to a grand vizier. "If I kill the mice," quoth she to herself, "the Lion will have no need of my services, and then I may go whistle; but if I content myself with scaring them away, I shall be the Lion's body guard for life!" True to this maxim, she never put one of the mice to death, but only gave them a dab or two with the fore-paw, or a back-handed wipe with the end of her long tail. Things went on swimmingly, and the cat lived in clover. But one day, the cat went off to gossip with an acquaintance in the neighborhood, and left her kitten to do duty. Young puss no sooner saw the mice approach, than she sprang upon them and demolished the whole brood in a jiffy. The Lion, finding there were no more mice to trouble him, was suddenly seized with a reforming

His body guard were informed that his majesty had no further occasion for their services; and both cat and kitten were obliged to cut and run.

MORAL.

A shrewd politician knows how to make rogues useful. Great knaves thrive only by winking at the knavery of their understrappers.

TALE II. How one trick may serve a turn till it is met in the face by another; or the story of the Goldsmith and Carpenter.

A GOLDSMITH and a carpenter were once boon companions; and, being in pretty easy circumstances, passed the most of their lives in junketting and making merry. Pity it is that so pleasant a life could not last forever; but just at the moment when these jovial fellows fancied themselves the happiest of men, their last coin was expended, and they found themselves a couple of miserable dogs. They tried to borrow money, but, as ill luck would have it, cash happened to be particularly scarce wherever they applied. In short, they were at their wit's end to get a living, yet managed, by hook and by crook, to escape starvation. One day, in strolling about the country, they came to a temple, when a thought struck the goldsmith. "Let us feign ourselves Brahmins," said he to the carpenter, "and get admission into the temple; who knows but we shall find good picking there?" No sooner said than done; they stretched their faces into a dismally pious look, and bolted in. Here they found a great number of golden idols, and numerous Brahmins worshiping. Our two rogues, nothing abashed, fell to imitating them, and so well did they sham the devotee, that the Brahmins left the temple in their charge. When night came, they seized the idols and decamped. Having reached a lonely part of the woods, they buried the idols under a tree, and agreed to let them lie snug till the fame of the theft had blown over.

But when were a couple of rogues known to lay their heads together, without, in the end, plotting to cheat each other? Ere a week had passed, the goldsmith went by stealth, dug up the idols, and hid them in a place of his own. Next morning, going with the carpenter to the tree, and finding them gone, he feigned a terrible rage, and laid the theft upon the carpenter. "You chip of a crooked log," he exclaimed, "no one but you could have stolen them." The carpenter was thunderstruck; but, after hearing the goldsmith storm away at such a rate, he became convinced that his worthy partner was the real thief. However, feigning not to suspect him, he replied, " you are out of your wits to lay such a thing to my charge; it must have been the rascally Brahmins, who tracked us to the spot, and nosed out the hiding-place of their blockhead deities."

The goldsmith pretended to be pacified, and they both returned home to their families. The carpenter set his wits to work to circumvent his old friend. He procured a log of wood, and made a figure exactly resembling the goldsmith, and clothed it in the dress he usually wore. Then going to a bear's den in the woods, he got a pair of young cubs, and kept them constantly about it; and when hungry,