The Press.
London, England, 1853-06-11 00:00:00

THE PRESS

of travel over such well-woru routes as those
lying between New York tun' New Orleans,
and between New Orleans and the sources of
the Missouri, and yet can tell us so much that
is both racy and new. neviEv that Ametican
city society which we fauqwe knew so tho-
roughly by the daguerreotypes—anything but
flattering—of Trollope and Hall, of Dickens
and Marryat, Mr. Palliser gives us a novel
and probably truer, because more genial, por-
traiture. It is, however, upon his own
manor" in the wild, with his trusty rifle
iu his hand, a well-trained gallant grey beneath
and a herd of buffaloes or some fresh
tracks of wapiti in front, that Mr. Palliser
comes out in his true colours. Succeeding
sportsmen—and that our author will have many
successors, and successful ones too, over
ill thank
e
same ground, we hope and believe
—w
us for repeating his directions whereby to en.
sure success
Of guns the most valuable and indispensable is the
plain, smooth-bore, donble-burrelled gun, about fourteen
to twelve in the bore. Itet it be made by a tirst-ratt- maker,
one who himself superintends the manufacture of every
portion of his guns • for, in a country where there toe no
gunsmiths to run to in case of an accident, the tweaking of
a trigger or a shear, or the failure of some strew of inferior
metal or workuumship, may involve the most serious con-
sequences. 1, for my own pout, its well as both my brothers,
in our numerous hunting expedif s innd t Amitles erwa,e m-
r
em! Ceylon, have always used the guns a t
lock and Son, of Dawson-strert, IMblitt, which, for seeen
n-
racy, power, and trustworthiness, 1 have seldom se
equalled, and never excelled. Nothing gives the stains-
num so much contidenve in using the heavy eharges re-
quired in elephant-shooting AS the knowledge that the
barrels iu his hands have been forged by a good maker.
I do not deny that good laurels may be made in
mingham ; but lam convinced that there nothing like
the master's eye over a gnu in every stage of its con-
struction. For close mid dangerous shooting I know
nothing equal to the double-barrelled, smooth-bore gun.
You can haul it more rapidly and handle it more quiekly
and dextrously than any other, also at the some time
sufficiently depend upon it for lu-curacy as far as sixty Or
seventy yards.
Next ill importance I would suggest a single-barrelled,
twoo-gnooved ride, which 1 inneh prefer to the poly- or many-
grooved, for the reasons that with the twiner you can use a
larger charge of powder with out danger o
shotsf the bullet
et
tripping; you may tire greater numer with
fouling the bane' or losing in aceonnwy,witlt antl,if you use fancy
of
conical projectiles, you wily dSO less chance
damage to your rifle.
Were 1 so circumstanced that I could take a third gun
with me, it would be a double-barrelled, two-grooved ritte,
whose execution at long range, though lwlow that of the
single rifle, is of course far wore twettrate thaw that of the
smooth-bore : experience has, indeed, satisfi me that, for
a very long shot, you never enil COMA, upon ted
he pre-
cision with a double as with a single barrel. Even sup-
posing the laurels to be perfectly parallel (which is almost
out impossibility ), still the direction of metal of reel' when
tired is different, and hots a different effect upon the Hight
of the bullet ; so that barrels, which would throw almost
exactly parallel when discharged front a vice, will slightly
diverge from each other when tired front the shoulder.
You must not infer front these remarks that I uudenalue
the (Wilde rifle. For deer-shooting, especially, it is in-
valuable, sod often, when I have missed it deer with the
first barrel, has the animal stood still at the report, as if
front curiosity, and afforded me a second shot. I merely
would not have you expect too much from it, ow reckon
that its accuracy of execution beyond one hundred mid
fifty yards is equal to that of a good single-harrel rifle.
As to (sallow, sportsmen of the Western are much at
variance with those of the Eastern World, the former pre-
ferring the small bullet of thirty-two, forty, or even fifty to
the isamol, while their East. Indian 11111111111 KM as strongly
in 1111 l 'of the large had', running front sixteen to twelve
or even eight tally, to the imam& The reason ut
erepsney 1 limey is this, that the difficulty of olden.
good pontlin' in mulch in time Wt•St than in the East
tot, the larger 1411, the greater the necessity for superior
powder. For my own part, I 1411011141 is iueliuedto select
a size carrying front twenty-four to si7tteen to the pound.
In your choice of knives, do not lot.- induced to
en-
cumber yourself with any highly-illuminated
cutlery of the Getman !ji ges. fitsi l 444 I : they are very hand-
some to look at, when hint; op over a clumneypiece, lout
very ineffective in the titdol, wearying and blistering the
hands, and splintering against the hones of any large ai-
mal. rite best knife for bundle, purposes, in my pinion,
is a good, plain, wooden-hand:al butcher-knife ;u let tint
handle he bong and the blade thin.
In horses your great object should he to combine the
greatest hardiness with the highest courage. A thorough-
bred horse you can train to rush at anything ; iris being
• 'tl fit first, or apt to shy, has noodling to tbo with any
absence of courage. By patience and perseverance you
will teach him to charge any animal, not excepting a grisly
bear; while a common, laully-bred
andsbe will not even
Impute a bison. Mules, for packing, il some respects
superior to horses; hut they cannot supine ind
tennse cstan t
old
nearly so well. I strongly advise especial an co
attention to saddles. tilt where you will, and all over the
world, your will find nothing to equal the English saddle.
Provide yourselves with them at ally cost, and tnmsport
them at any ineonvenience. When on the prairie, travel
with a blanket saddle-cloth. You will Mal it a (smite:table
addition to y • bed; but be careful before putting the
*addle over it vu the hum that there is no cretute in its

kt dtw
ig

-,—.-----------
folds ; for a sore on your horse's back isood a serious Meow
vettience to a king Journe. It is a g 'thin, Wore
fastening the girths, to pass your forefinger under the
stuldle-chalt. and lift it slightly it the horse's withets.
For clothing 1 think there is nothing like Scotch
woollen stuffs; leather, after all, is but an in
substitute for these • for. though it has its advantages in
point of wear, it is horribly uncomfortable in Net feather,
510 dries as hard and stiff as parchment.
Keep your gunpowder in airtight packages ; exposure
to the atmosphere weakens it. Ihi not lutrilett yourselves
uselessly by trying to forestall a thousand imaginary
necessities. Beyond your guns and horses, with their
several atipurtenances, yon will absolutely require nothing
ou the prairie but your knife, dint and steel, and pipe, an
iron bulk for melting lead, ti iill tong, and two iron kettles
—one for cooking, the other for Wiling coffee—with irou
covers to them, which will respectively do for frying melt,
and for roasting your cottee.
'Before leaving the settlements, provide yourselves with
lead, tobacco, 'vireo, sugar, salt, needles, awls, strong
thread, and shoemaker's WAX, 111R1 ALSO one or two divssed
skins, for making and In
mending .tissinsen; an
dto the
ith
this equipment you may pass om depdence

Pacific Ocean.
But as, au fond, the excitement of the chase
can be traced to the savage impulse of hunger,
so the interest of a book devoted to its descrip-
tion will be euhtuwed by pictures of savage or
quasi-savage life—will rise or fall in the degree
to which its hero dares to identity himself with
a savage existence, and risk his safety or his
subsistence upon the Mille hazards among
which the natural untamed savages of the pro
coeval forest hold the precarious tenure of their
lives. This test Mr. Palliser eau meet without
misgiving. Very early in his volume he con-
fesses, with natal candour, both the disgust
and the awkwardness attendant upon his
attempting for the first time the duties of the
butcher and the cook. The sportsman edu-
cated amidst the conventionalities of eivilised
society has no care beyond that of bagging his
game. The natural hunter must know how to
skin, carve, and broil it afterwards, if he would
not lose not merely the trophies of his prowess
but his supper into the bargain. This to our
dandy sportsmen of the covert or the moor
would doubtless be a puzzling, and perhaps
revolting, novelty ; but we have an idea that
the advantages on the whole would not lie on
their side. All physical endurance and peril
notwithstanding, there must have been much
that was exciting, iu the way of a new sensa-
tion, in the three days fasting and hunting
which Mr. Palliser, left alone in the middle of
a long tour to the Fur Company's fort, had to
undergo before he succeeded in capturing his
long-delayed dinner :
The next day was very mad, in consequence of
northerly wind which blew pretty hard. In these regi
the cold ill winter is always easily supportable in Cahn
WClteller; lint the cold, when Ileelitittumied by wind, becomes
rao piercing, that great CAW and CialSiallt activity are
requisite when travelling to avoid fir•st,hiti.s.
Colleloll timiit of rlln and decayed tintla.r awl lark,
and 4
builta mysedlfy a ae Inn, ill which 1
weathered the stoOli bill:rattily well. Towards 1101111 it.
began to snow, anal coot' d all night, tilling all the
crevices between the layers of bark, willow, &c., that formed
the roof and sides of my cabin, thus further contributing
to my comfort, which was only diaturhea at intervals of a
few hours, by my having to go out and IeIICW my lire.
little after The
following day I continued my j ttttt trey until a
noon, wheit, having no none meat, I unharnessed the dog
and set off to hunt for my supper. That galls+ was very
scarce here I soon forma, as 1 searched fruitlessly for
tracks in the recently fallen slaw. I hunted bug and
hard, but in vain : night Was stealing on me, and I wits
einorttled to avail myself of the small port' of daylight
that remained to retrace my steps to the spot where l had
left my travail, where I made my camp and went supperless
to bed.
Next morning I arose, and delatted with myself for some
time whether I should begin by another hunt in this ute,
promising region, or pack up and resume my journey until
after noon RS l lull done on the previous day. After a
little deliberation I adopted the latter plan, and travelled
on moil about noon, when I fell in with souse ft-4.sh wapiti
tracks. These 1 palmed for a long distance, and at last
value in sight of some does, who unfortunately were so far
out on the plain as to defy every possible etlint of mine to
approach than. y stalk was unsuccessful, fro inability
to conceal myself rust toy dog; Inul tied hint from inability
I new
his fitmtic howling would SOOll potl every living thinkg in
these regions Ott the alert, rs. I Was 141111154101 tdl
come too. He followed as I had trained him, ever
attempting to precede roe, lint all my etforts p nosed
fruitless; my game escaped without my hieing able even to
venture a shirt, and I hall the mortification of seeps; these
stately and graceful creatures break ;may at a rapid trot,
which they soon increased into a gallop that speedily
carried them out of sight, and thus vanished my chance of
supper for another night. I felt very hungry indeed, and
was besides very tired. IL slept feverishly, awaked at
intervals front visions of the most ram and delicious dishes
Owe.' before 1111% I dreamed I stood before the hospitable
mansion of an old friend, who led me, in spite of my ire
conuoum costume, ito his brilliantly-lighted parlour, and
klacegr d me down to an table loaded with all the delicacies of