http://books.google.com/books?id=94YVAAAAYAAJ&dq=the%20sling%20constitutes%20one%20of%20the%20boyish%20sports&lr=&as_brr=3&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q=&f=false


Quote:

These slings have a loop for the hand in one end, in order to keep the sling fast when they discharge the stone, and a broad place is constructed for the reception of the stone. In charging the sling they hold it round their shoulders, keeping the stone fast with their left thumb, and, jumping, swing the sling three times round their heads, holding the left hand grasped on the wrist of the right; and thus they discharge the stone with a force sufficient to enter the bark of a tree at two hundred yards distant, the stone flying at an equal distance from the ground all the way.