pastime of tramping the water-meadows, or waiting for the flight; I need only observe, that wearing a hat, and particularly a black one, should be avoided, and drab is, on the whole, about the best colour. For the latter pursuit, the shooter should have a gunning-coat, lined with shag, that has pockets convenient for loading; a flap to fall over his lock, and a quaker's collar, which will not interfere with his gun. This coat, with a shawl handkerchief, should be worn over his shooting jacket; and of course, not put on till he ceases to be in motion; or he might, otherwise, get heated and take cold.

If he wishes to sit down, never let him be so imprudent as to sit on the damp ground, but have either a handbasket or a bag full of straw, or something of this kind and the lower his seat, the better he will be able to shoot at fowl when they are going over his head.

The foregoing directions, I trust, explain all that is requisite on the subject; and in this article, as well as in many others, I have to beg pardon for the style in which I have written. But in a work where the poor author is left without a single muse to inspire him, the subject will often become, both to the writer and the reader, like a dreary journey, where any trifling observation may be admissible to lighten the way. For instance, when we give a dissertation on water boots, hot oil, and Russiaduck, the hero of his own tale might, it is presumed, crave a little indulgence for what the sceptic might consider playing the fool with his pen; or, in another point of view, taking the advice of Esop to the Athenian philosopher, and unbending that bow, which the sceptic himself admits, has been already strained too hard by the generality of authors and travellers.

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TO PRESERVE GUNNING CLOTHES FROM THE MOTH.

TO PRESERVE GUNNING CLOTHES FROM THE MOTH.

To keep your gunning-dresses, and indeed all other clothes, furs, &c. free from the moth, let them be perfectly well aired, and then sewed up in a bag of brown Holland, or other linen, which, if sewn tight, and kept dry, will rarely ever fail to preserve them. But if you wish to be doubly sure, you may put in the bag with them, either half a pint of peppercorns; or what is still better, equal quantities of camphor and carbonate of ammonia. A bladder filled with turpentine is another good remedy.

TO PRESERVE GUNS FROM SALT WATER.

FOR this recipe I shall copy Mr. Daniel, from whom I took it.

"Three ounces of black lead, half a pound of hogs' lard, one quarter of an ounce of camphor, boiled upon a slow fire; the gun barrels to be rubbed with this; and after three days, wiped with a linen cloth. Twice in a winter will keep off the rust, which the salt water is otherwise sure to bring out continually from the iron."

This recipe I had adopted, ever since taking it from Mr. Daniel's "Rural Sports ;" and, up to 1822, found it answer infinitely better than anything I had before

tried.

In that year, however, I was recommended to use mercurial ointment, which I find, gives less trouble, and answers quite as well, if not better.

When on the sea, always use neat's foot oil for every part of your gun, except the works of the locks; because sweet oil has not body enough to repel the effect of the salt water.

I have lately found this answer so well as to become a very good substitute for all other dressings.

If the salt water should have stained your barrels, you will, I think, find yellow soap and warm water the best recipe to restore their colour.

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TO PRESERVE GUNS FROM SALT WATER.

My reason for now using neat's foot oil is, because I have found that linseed oil is apt to stain the barrels. Nothing can surpass the neat's foot for every part of a gun, except among the works of locks, for which it has too much body.

WILKINSON'S OIL.

Mr. Henry Wilkinson, of Pall Mall, has discovered a method of purifying oil for chronometers, gun-locks, and other fine kinds of mechanism, for which the Society of Arts rewarded him with their gold medal, and published an account of the process in the forty-seventh volume of their Transactions, with certificates from some eminent watchmakers who had used his oil for seven years; and as I have myself proved its decided superiority for all gun-locks, I give the recipe to make it, for the benefit of those who will undertake the trouble which it requires, and in the very words that Mr. H. W. has been good enough to write on purpose for me to publish.

"The finest olive oil is first exposed to a temperature of about 32° F., by which a large portion becomes solidified, as seen in the oil shops in the winter. While in this state, it is poured on a filter of bibulous paper, and the fluid portion allowed to pass through; the solid which is left on the filter being rejected. It is now raised to a temperature above 212°, but not exceeding 230°, for about one hour. This process drives off all the water and acetic acid it may contain, by evaporation; and the purification is completed by repeated filtrations through recently prepared animal charcoal.” *

This oil is sold by Mr. W. under the denomination of "Pure Vegetable Oil;" and with the addition of half a

* Prepared by burning bones, in a crucible, without access of air.

pound of camphor to one gallon of this oil, by the name of "Persian Oil," which he has used for many years to preserve the outside, or iron and steel work of guns, from rust, on a long sea voyage; as it acts like a fine transparent varnish, and does not injure the appearance on opening the gun-case.