To return to the appointments of the young aspirant to the honours of the trigger. Although I set out with supposing him equipped with the best double detonator that money can procure from a maker of known character, and all other mechanical appliances for the field, a proper management and judicious arrangement of them is by no means to be similarly obtained. Upon the condition of those mechanical aids his success depends, quite as much as the adroitness to which he may arrive in the use of them. Whether that department be in the hands of a gamekeeper fully competent to all its details, or there be an actual necessity for the master’s eye to direct it, a knowledge of the most approved means will be found equally essential. Proficiency in any art or science requires an intimacy with the whole machinery of its economy. It was this conviction that made an emperor a labourer in a dockyard, and should induce every sportsman to acquaint himself with the minutest particulars bearing upon his craft. To this end I will give a few rules, derived as well from personal experience as from some of the most approved authorities on the subject that have appeared in print. GUN-CLEANING.--Use cold water for the purpose of cleansing the barrel, and finish by pouring in boiling water, taking care to stop the touch-hole. Shake it up and down well, and drain it from the muzzle, which will clear the chamber. The hot water greatly aids the process of drying,--one of the most important parts of gun-washing. After the washing is concluded, by looking down the barrel with the touch-hole open, you will be enabled to see into the chamber, and ascertain whether it be effectually cleared out or otherwise. The foulness of the barrel of course must be the criterion by which the person employed in cleaning it will be decided. Should it require to be scoured, to remove powder encrusted on its sides, very fine sand and hot water should be used, and care taken to rinse it out thoroughly, at the last, with boiling water, to clear the chamber of anything that may have been driven into it by the washing-rod. The material in ordinary use for gun-cleaning is tow, to which there is the objection that particles are apt to become detached from it, and lodge in the chambers. To prevent any chance of this kind, I would recommend the substitution of cloth, which will be found to answer the purpose quite as well, being at the same time free from all such hazard. It is a bad habit to fall into, that of laying by your gun loaded: let the charge be drawn after the day’s work. If you have had but a few shots, the less trouble there will be in the cleaning: a mere hot-water rinse, and a good drying, will be enough. Should your gun contain an old charge when you go out, do not put your faith in it: the odds are all in favour of its hanging fire. Squib it off, first drawing the shot, and load again while the barrels are warm; probe your touch-holes; wipe your locks within and