126 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 
     
    
   
   
    
     marksmen left for Truro, where they arrived the next day, 
     
     under the Adjutant General’s command. 
     
    
   
   
    
     On the morning of the 12th, all being in readiness for the 
     
     contest, every movement in connection with which, being 
     
     under strict military rules and regulations, superintended by 
     
     officers and non-commissioned officers of the garrison at Hali- 
     
     fax, argued that the contest was to be a stiff one. 
     
    
   
   
    
     At the hour of nine o’clock, the bugles sounded the assem- 
     
     bling of the teams in front of the sites of six sets of targets. 
     
     They were told off into six squads, so intermixed that every 
     
     third man was either a Nova Scotian, New Brunswicker, or an 
     
     Islander. At eleven o’clock the bugles again sounded the com— 
     
     mencement, when under the scorching rays of an autumn’s sun 
     
     and a serene atmosphere, the teams began to blaze away till 
     
     each man had fired five rounds. The range was then changed 
     
     from 200 to 300 yards, but the narrow target with its 8 inch 
     
     circular bull’s eye and standing position, was still adhered to. 
     
     At the 400 yards range, the targets were increased to the width 
     
     of 6 feet— bulls eye being dispensed with—and kneeling posi- 
     
     tion admitted. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The firing at the various ranges having been finished, it was 
     
     then found that three competitors—namely, Sergeant Kelly, of 
     
     the Nova Scotia team, Major Pollard and Private Maclaren, of 
     
     the Island team, had each scored 21 points, but in reference to 
     
     the number of hits, the Sergeant, as discovered, missed the 
     
     target once, while of the Islanders, every shot told; the two 
     
     latter competitors were then called to the front to fire off for 
     
     ownership of the prize,——a handsome silver cup, standing 18 
     
     inches high, decorated with the arms of Nova Scotia, and 
     
     entwined with richly embossed wild foliage of that Province,— 
     
     resulting in the trophy being captured by Major Pollard. 
     
    

    
     The following is the average of the shooting Upon this occa- 
     
     sion: New Brunswick 13.50, Nova Scotia 13.70, Prince Ed- 
     
     ward Island 16.30. 
     
    

    
     When the news reached Charlottetown that the prize had 
     
     been won by a member of the Island team, there arose consid— 
     
     erable excitement and rejoicing. A bonfire was set off on 
     
     Queen Square, which continued to send forth a cheering blaze 
     
     until a late hour of the night, while frequent volleys of mus- 
     
     ketry, and an almost incessant blaze of small fireworks bore 
     
     testimony to, and kept alive the general enthusiasm.