Bengal Fire.—­7 parts nitre; 2 parts sulphur; 1 part antimony.

Bullets—­Sportsmen, fresh from England, and acknowledged as good shots at home, begin by shooting vilely with balls at large game.  They must not be discouraged at what is a general rule, but be satisfied that they will soon do themselves justice.

Alloy.—­Common bullets of lead, whether round or conical, are far inferior to those of hard alloy; for the latter penetrate much more deeply, and break bones, instead of flattening against them.  A mixture of very little tin, or pewter (which is lead and tin), with lead, hardens it:  we read of sportsmen melting up their spoons and dishes for this purpose.  A little quicksilver has the same effect.  Sir Samuel Baker, who is one of the most experienced sportsmen both in Ceylon and in Africa, latterly used a mixture of nine-tenths lead and one-tenth quicksilver for his bullets.  He says, “This is superior to all [other] mixtures for that purpose, as it combines hardness with extra weight; the lead must be melted in a pot by itself to a red heat, and the proportion of quicksilver must be added a ladleful at a time, and stirred quickly with a piece of iron just in sufficient quantity to make three or four bullets.  If the quicksilver is subjected to red heat in the large leadpot, it will evaporate.”  Proper alloy, or spelter, had best be ordered at a gun-maker’s shop, and taken from England instead of lead:  different alloys of spelter vary considerably in their degree of hardness, and therefore more than one specimen should be tried.

Shape of Bullets.—­Round iron bullets are worthless, except at very close quarters, on account of the lightness of the metal:  for the resistance of the air checks their force extremely.  Whether elongated iron bullets would succeed, remains to be Tried.  Some savages—­as, for instance, those of Timor—­when in want of bullets, use stones two or three inches long.  Some good sportsmen insist on the advantage, for shooting at very close quarters, of cleaving a conical bullet nearly down to its base, into four parts; these partly separate, and make a fearful wound.  I suppose that the bullet leaves the gun with the same force as if it were entire; and that it traverses too short a distance for the altered form to tell seriously upon the speed:  when it strikes, it acts like chain-shot.

Bullets, to carry.—­Bullets should be carried sewn up in their patches, for the convenience of loading, and they should not fit too tight:  a few may be carried bare, for the sake of rapid loading.

Recovering Bullets.—­When ammunition is scarce, make a practice of recovering the bullets that may have been shot into a beast; if they are of spelter, they will be found to have been very little knocked out of shape, and may often be used again without recasting.