out—so very little vigour is necessary for the
discharge, and so strong is the probability
that we shall escape hitting anything, or being
hit. But now, like the manufacturer, we turn
with relish to the weapons which are not
made for manslaughter, in any form.

Here is a walking-stick. It looks heavy.
Let us feel it. Heavy, indeed! What does
it mean? It is a walking-stick which is in
high favour with anglers, who have good
opportunity for fowling. You seldom see an
angler who has not a passion for remarkable
birds. This stick is a disguised fowlingpiece,
which can lie, loaded, on the bank
beside the basket, and be caught up in a
moment, if water-fowl appear among the
sedges, or any rare wading bird is seen carrying
on a rival fishing in the stream. The piece is
also curved a little, towards the stock end, so
as to be convenient for carrying the basket.
Then, there is a "whip-gun," the handle of
which is a gun. And there is a "plantation
gun," for the detection of poachers: not for
their destruction, for the law no longer allows
it; but just to show where they are. It is
somewhat like a little steel Pan's pipe, with
four holes. A spring is set: on a string
being touched, the spring snaps, and up goes
a blue rocket, or a detonating ball, or both.
The English have lately been pointed out as
well fitted for self-defence by their sporting
and poaching habits; and such a spectacle as
this room, with its cases of sporting weapons,
makes us fancy that the English have not
been untruly characterised.

Leaving this armoury, we go over the
premises, on either side of the yard where the
target is placed, affording an aim of forty-five
yards. We see processes which we need
not describe in detail, as the hardening and
tempering of steel, and the grinding, polishing,
and engraving of metal are much, alike, in
whatever manufactory they are seen. It will
answer a better purpose to show what goes
to the making of a gun. We saw, in the
proprietor's books, that when an order for
military arms arrives, twenty-four items of
manufacture have to be attended to, involving
thirty-two trades, at the least. A brief glance
at these will give the best idea of the process.

1. The barrel, of which we have said quite
enough, except that the managing of the iron
and the welding are separate trades.

2. The lock. Locks, varying in cost from
half-a-crown to three guineas, are made in the
neighbourhood of Birmingham.

3. The stock: already discussed.

4. The furniture: the various metal parts,
made by almost as many artificers.

5. The platina, and, 6. The silver, for
ornamenting.

7. The rod; and the tip, of ivory; separate
trades.

8. The ironwork.

9. The finishing: the putting the parts
together.

10. The bag: to contain it.

11. The stocking: preparing the stock to
receive the metal work.

12. The polishing: of the steel portions.

13. The engraving.

14. The browning: bringing out the veining
of the barrel, with diluted acid, and
polishing with a brush of fine steel wire.

15. Ribbing: connecting the barrels of a
double-barrelled gun with a rib of steel.

16. Varnishing; the stock.

17. Percussioning: opening the screw holes,
and connecting the barrel and lock. .

18. Break-off fitting: connecting the stock
with the fore part of the gun.

19. Hair-trigger.

20. Shooting: trying the weapon.

21. The bayonet.

22. The mould: for making the bullets.

23. Sights and swivels. The sight is a brass
frame, about three inches by one, which lies
down or stands up before the eye of the
soldier, and is traversed by a slide which
enables him to estimate distance in taking his
aim. All our muskets are henceforth to be
furnished with sights.

24. Rifling: of which enough has been said.

Add to these, the carriage of the article,
and we have twenty-five items of separate
charge for a gun; and the dispersion of the
work among thirty-two orders of artificers,
accounts for so few people having witnessed
the, manufacture of a gun.

We are not going home yet. There is the
Government Proof House to be seen before
we can feel that we have done with guns. To
this place every barrel must be sent to be
proved, under a penalty 'of ten pound per
barrel. To forge the Proof House mark is a
serious offence, punishable by high fines, and
imprisonment in default. At present, the
proving is going on at such a rate that it
requires some management to step in at an hour
when the establishment is open, and escape
the explosion. Guests at a house two miles
from the place are apt to announce thunder in
all seasons, and all sorts of weather, till taught
to distinguish the explosions of the Proof
House from those of the sky. It may well be
a striking sound to strangers; for no fewer
than one hundred and thirty-seven gun-barrels
are discharged at once. The place in
which this is done is a room, partly
underground, cased in iron plates, strongly bolted
together. The door is iron; and towards the
yard the side of-the room is closed by massive
iron shutters, which are fastened up before
the train is fired. A great heap of black sand,
a thick bank of it, faces the muzzles, and
receives the balls. The barrels are laid in a
row, separated by bars of lead, and all their
touch-holes communicating with a train of
gunpowder. The train is lighted at one end;
everybody draws off from the spot, and then
comes the boom and bang, which is heard,
through all the iron casings, miles off. In a
minute or two, when the smoke is supposed
to have subsided a little, the shutters and