The Short Tatham No.10 Rifle Carried A Heavy Cylinder,
Instead Of The Original Spherical Ball.
I had only fired two
shots with this rifle, and the recoil had been so tremendous,
owing to the
Heavy weight of the projectile, that I had
mistrusted the weapon; therefore, when the moment arrived to fire
off all the guns preparatory to cleaning, my good angel whispered
a providential warning, and I agreed to fire this particular
rifle by a long fishing-line attached to the trigger, while the
gun should be fastened to a tree. It blew all to pieces! The
locks were blown entirely away, and the stock was shattered into
fragments: nothing remained but the thick end near the
shoulder-plate. I had received a mysterious presentiment of this;
had I fired that rifle in the usual manner, I must have been
killed on the spot. The charge was five drachms, which was small
in proportion to the weight of the cylindrical projectile. This
may be a warning to such sportsmen who adopt new-fashioned
projectiles to old-fashioned rifles, that were proved with the
spherical bullet, which in weight and friction bears no
proportion to the heavy cylinder; nevertheless, this rifle should
not have burst, and the metal showed great inferiority, by
blowing into fragments instead of splitting.
The leader of Mek Nimmur's party returned, as he had promised, to
be our guide. I extract from my journal, verbatim, my notes upon
that date.
"March 19, 1862.--Started at 1.30 P.M., and halted at 5 P.M.
There is no water for about thirty miles; thus we had watered all
the animals at the usual hour (noon), and they will accordingly
endure until to-morrow evening.
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