a dread-nought, which as wet weather has of late years been "so much in fashion," will, I trust, be doing service, not only to gunners, but to every class of the community, except the tailors, who might lose business by it, and their satellites the dandies, who would faint at the sight of it. It is but fair that the man who gave me the recipe should be immortalized by its introduction, and not I, who am the mere copyist. I got it at Winterton, in Norfolk, from the factotum of all the wet work, one Larry Rogers, who calls it his "Sou'wester," and gets it all for nine shillings. In this dress, with water boots and overalls, every thing (but a man's eyes, which he may defend with goggles, and his mouth and nose, which he may fortify at Messrs. Fribourgs') is as independent of rain as was once! a Corinthian "Charley" in his watch-box. Add to this, it is so light and convenient for the arms, that you may walk, ride, row, or take any exercise without being heated, as with other surOil-skin might do likewise; but this very soon wears out, and comes to six times the price. [In case the logician should condemn the arrangement of this latter sentence, I must humbly beg leave to argue that he would be wrong; because it is the fashion (although long credit and cheating generally go together) to wear out the coat first and pay for it afterwards-I mean if paid for at all.]

touts.

Now to the point:

Make, with Russia duck (which, as well as swanskin, should be previously wetted and dried, to prevent shrinking), a loose over-all frock coat, and a hood; or a cap, with a flap behind, similar to a coalheaver's hat, and dress them as follows:

:

Take three quarts of linseed oil, and boil them till reduced to two quarts and a half, the doing which will require about three hours; and when the oil is sufficiently boiled, it will burn a feather. The addition of some Indian rubber was suggested to me; but of this I did not make a trial; because the dressing (for Russia Duck), answered so well without it. When the oil is quite cold, take a clean paint-brush, and well work it into the outside of the whole apparel, and it will soon find its way to the inside. Let the apparel then be put out in the air every dry day, for a fortnight or three weeks; and, at the expiration of that time, provided the oil on it be thoroughly dry, take the remainder of your prepared oil, and give it the second coat, which will dry much quicker than the first.

I was told that one coat of oil would do, as the dressing could be renewed at pleasure. The difference, however, was this:-The first coat would barely stand a hard day's rain; but after the second coat was on, this garment, if held up, would hold gallons of water as tight as the pail from which I poured them.

In short, this recipe, after fourteen years' trial, proved to answer so well, that I have no doubt if it had been disguised, and "set a going" by some gentleman who was a "dab" at preaching, puffing, and wallchalking, he might soon have made a little fortune by it, and set up for an E-S-Q.; with his "cad," and his" cab," and his-, &c.

N. B. Tell the person who boils the oil to beware of getting burnt; and let him do it out of doors, or he might run a risk of setting your house on fire.

Add to this, the smell of it, when boiling, is a great nuisance; although the dress after being thoroughly dry, will retain scarcely so much of it as common oil-skin.

In

This garment, if made double-breasted, with buttons only on the right side, and none on the sleeves, which should be sewn close, is, without exception, the best I ever used for throwing a casting-net. addition to the coverings herein named, I find that a very large old umbrella, fitted up with brown Holland, and thus oiled, is the greatest possible comfort and shelter to those who go in a punt. Moreover, it makes a capital mizen-sail when going before the wind; and is a complete shield to you and your man, from the shaking of a wet dog, should you have no following-boat to rid you of this annoyance.

Here, I conceive, is all the covering that can be required for real wildfowl shooting: and as for the little 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. [The pattern for this coat, and the recipe for the Sou'wester, I have given to Mr. Davies, late Christie (deceased) and Davies, 49, Poland-street.]*

* I likewise gave him one for a common shooting jacket and waistcoat; having observed that these articles are in general most abominably ill made by the fashionable tailors. Many of them are cut more suitable for gliding through a quadrille at Almack's than using a gun in the field.

BB

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 hand-basket 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 Russia Duck, 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.

TO PRESERVE GUNNING CLOTHES FROM THE MOTH. 371 CLOT

TO PRESERVE GUNNING CLOTHES FROM THE MOTH.

To keep your gunning-dresses, and indeed all other cloths, 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 pepper-corns; or, what is still better, equal quantities of camphor and carbonate of ammonia. A bladder filled with turpentine is another good remedy.