a grave defect. In none of them is any instruction given which shall
enable a man to obtain a conversational as well as a merely shooting
success. Every pursuit has its proper conversational complement. The
Farmer must know how to speak of crops and the weather in picturesque
and inflammatory language; the Barrister must note, for use at the
dinner-table, the subtle jests of his colleagues, the perplexity
of stumbling witnesses, and the soul-stirring jokes of Judges;
the Clergyman must babble of Sunday-schools and Choir-practices.
Similarly, a Shooter must be able to speak of his sport and its varied
incidents. To be merely a good shot is nothing. Many dull men can
be that. The great thing, surely, is to be both a good shot and a
cheerful light-hearted companion, with a fund of anecdotes and a rich
store of allusions appropriate to every phase of shooting. _Mr. Punch_
ventures to hope that the hints he has here put together, may be of
value to all who propose to go out and "kill something" with a gun.

THE GUN.

No subject offers a greater variety of conversation than this. But,
of course, the occasion counts for a good deal. It would be foolish to
discharge it (metaphorically speaking) at the head of the first comer.
You must watch for your opportunity. For instance, guns ought not
to be talked about directly after breakfast, before a shot has been
fired. Better wait till after the shooting-lunch, when a fresh start
is being made, say for the High Covert half a mile away. You can then
begin after this fashion to your host:--"That's a nice gun of yours,
CHALMERS. I saw you doing rare work with it at the corner of the new
plantation this morning." CHALMERS is sure to be pleased. You not only
call attention to his skill, but you praise his gun, and a man's gun
is, as a rule, as sacred to him as his pipe, his political prejudices,