Tae Annual Iuspeotion of our Volantear force being near at hand, some remarks on shooting from General Cameron, Commanding Her Majesty's forces in Hongkong, deserve considera. tion, The occasion was the presenta. tion of a Challenge Shield, the gift of Colonel Bond, who formerly commanded the Northamptonshires, or the 58th, now in Hougkong—to the A. Company of the regiment, Colonel Boud had been twenty-niue years in the regiment and was some time ago appointed to the command of the ps in Nat! He wereed in the teand Bose eatnpigns, aod wud of the tope ay Mejuin Hid after the death of Sir George Colley. At the Inst disaster he saw what the firing of the Boers could do, how destructive it was, not only of life but of the morale of their opponents, and this may have in some slight degree led to present the shield for the encouragement of shooting in the regiment, with which so much of his life had been passed and which he held in ante, soldierly regard. In the extracts from his letter, accompanying the gift, which were rend to the men Jompany, Colonel Bond ex-intention to be, that the Shield should be competed for annually by teama selected from the companies of the Regiment, He laid down hard and fast conditions, for the excellent reason that as musketry practice ly improving and developing he did not think it desirable that he should do 80; be therefore loft it to the commanding officer, for the time, to frame such rales and regulations as he tight think desirable. The Northamptous hire Regiment brought a good reputation to the Colony as possessing some excellent shots, and it nppeare to have greatly increased their number and improved on the general shooting of the men since their arrival.
General Cameron says that he had been constantly at the rifle ranges, and with the regiment at every sort of wuskelry practice, and therefore ought to know about. ite state of efficiency musketry, Hoe agreed with ils present Colonel that there was hardly a regiment in Her Majesty's service which equals the Northamptonshire in proficiency at shooting, and, as far ne ko could make out, the meu will be about twenty per cent. better than they were last year, This is very high praise, and we do not doubt that it well deser bat the efficient ite of the regiment has been attained by its having been made to do, whut General Cameron supposes to have been, more field praotioo and field Gring of various descriptions than any regt" mont in the service, adding for the consolation of any gamblers, and "you may depend upon it, you are all the better for it." The field firing had been varied and not of the ordinary descrip. tions which is generally see at homo and elsewhere; there were none of the measures taken which assist the men at the ordinary field firing, but every kind of surprise was prepared for thems. They came suddenly on position after position and small detached parties of the dummy enemy and had to fire within fa given time, probably about the tite they would lave had upon the field of battle, during which these parties of the enemy would have been in yigh Our Volunteers will be inspected jin the next two months by an officer accustomed to the efficiency of a crack regiment of the hue, who Las probably
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.