'»^m 4 ^^y-^l!^ <» ( #^ m# /^ —vTy^A"/^^?' \Jri I y/y-e^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Pittsburgh Library System http://wvvw.archive.org/details/sportsmanscabine02inlond J:^ l^rintedjvr t/it_^J^r(>pnftojy^ ) l80JK SPORTSMAN'S CABINET i OR, A CORRECT DELINEATION OF THE VARIOUS DOGS USED IN THE SPORTS OF THE FIELD: INCLUDING THE CANINE RACE IN GENERAL. CONSISTING OF 9i g>enes of €nsta\jmss OF EVERY DISTINCT BREED, FROM ORIGINAL PAINTINGS, TAKEN FROM LIFE. Interspersed with beaiitifiil Vignettes, engraved on Wood, ILLUSTRATED BY A COMPREHENSIVE, HISTORICAL AND SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT SPECIES j WITH A REVIEW OF THE VARIOUS DISEASES TO WHICH THEY ARE SUBJECT, AND THE MOST APPROVED AND EFFICACIOUS MODES OF TREATMENT AND CURE. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A SCIENTinC DISQDISITION UPON THE DISTEMPER, CANINE MADNESS, and the HYDROPHOBIA. BY A VETERAN SPORTSMAN. LONDON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETORS, BY J. CUNDEE, IVYLANE, PATERNOSTER-ROW; SOLD BY I. HUEST, PAIERNOSTER-EOW ; T. OSTELL, AVE-MABIi-LANE ; AND CHAPPLE, PALL-MALL. 1804. THE SPORTSMAN'S CABINET. STAG - HOUND. X HE animal passing under this particular denomination, is the largest and most powerful of all the different sizes and gradations so generally known by the sporting and distinguished appellation of hounds. As he is the highest in esti- mation, so is he the most majestic and commanding in his aspect ; having a countenance of expressive dignity, so blended with every trait of instinctive mildness, that it forcibly impresses upon the reflecting mind a strong idea of gentle and attracting solicitation. In respect to the origin of this distinct part of the species, it has been asserted, by naturalists of the first celebrity, and whose opinions are the most to be relied on, that the hound, harrier, turnspit, water-dog, and spaniel, may be considered as originally of the same race ; the figure, and nearly the instinctive properties of these being mostly the same, as they differ only in the length of their legs and the size of their ears, which are, however, in all of them long, soft, and pendulous. The hound and har- rier are, with a great degree of reason, conceived to have been natives of Britain, France, and Germany, as they have been perceived to degenerate when transported to warmer climates. As most of the matter respecting the origin of the different races, sizes, and propensities of the various kinds of dogs, must ever continue to rest upon con- jecture, it is by no means unfair to conclude, that the large, strong, bony hound, passing under the common acceptation of the term stag-hound, was the VOL. II. B primeval primeval stock from which every collateral branch of that particular race has jince descended ; with such deviations only as were occasioned by the crosses and improvements of those who, during so many centuries, were disposed to vary the breed and size, in proportion to the country in which they Mere to hunt, or the sort of game they were intended to pursue. Admitting this hypo- thesis to be the fact, no farther doubt, or contention, can arise respecting the lineage of hounds on account of a variation in size ; as it is universally known, that can be regulated by the piactical judgment of the breeder, who can, by the necessary and experienced crosses, either enlarge, or diminish the stature of his pack in the course of three or four canine generations. The stag-hounds now in use for the pursuit of that game only, at least in the establishment of the royal chase, was originally an improved cross between the old English, deep-tougued, southern, and the fleeter fox-hound ; grafted upon the basis of what was formerly called, and better known by the appellation of blood-hounds. The race passing under this denomination had, in less en- lightened times, a degree of fabulous infallibility ascribed to them of pursuing, taking, and seizing murderers, robbers, or depredators of whatever description, when they could be procured, and laid on (within a given time) upon the scent, or footsteps of the particular object they were intended to pursue ; and of their possessing this peculiar property there is not the least doubt, Mhen the expe- rience of ages, transmitted to us by our predecessors, as well as our own obser- vations, have afforded innumerable and incontrovertible proofs, that hounds of every kind, great or small, may be decisively taught (or in other words broke in) to carry on any particular scent when forcibly and feelingly convinced they are to hunt no other. Of this we have ample and demonstrative proof every year we live, for it is frequently seen, and is universally known to every sports- man of experience, that a pack, who, for years past, has hunted fallow-deer in the possession of one, shall become most complete and perfect harriers in the establishment of another. In respect to the received opinion of what were formerly called blood-hounds, the fact is simply this ; the original stock of the breed so termed (which may be remembered within the present generation by many now living) exceeded in size, weight, substance, strength, and courage, every other kind of hound in ex- istence, thereby acquiring and possessing a kind of sagacious, or serious solem- nity admirably calculated to impress the necessitous with fear, naturally tending to to keep them in awe. These hounds destined to only one particular species of pursuit were, of course, rendered entire strangers to every other ; they were never brought into the chase, or employed in the sports of the field, but sup- ported and preserved (as a constable, or thief- taker of the present day,) for the purposes of pursuit and detection, whenever they could be laid with expedition upon the scent or footsteps of the offender it was thought necessary or expe- dient to pursue. At the time blood-hounds were in use, deer-stealing was so prevalent and incessant, the forest and park-keepers, in most parts of the kingdom, were perpetually engaged in a kind of eternal watching and nocturnal warfare ; these hounds were then so regularly trained and accustomed to the practice, that when once laid upon the scent, they so closely and invariably ad- hered to it, that however long, tedious, and difficult the pursuit might be, de- tection was certain and inevitable : from this persevering instinct and infallibility they acquired the name so long retained, and an offending criminal, in the first half of the last century, was absolutely conceived to be certainly taken, and half convicted, the moment a hound of this description. could be obtained. As there is no clue by which can be ascertained the precise period when the sports of the field (but more particularly the chase) began to assume the first feature of their present improvement ; it can only be collected from the best authorities, that the jurisprudence of the Roman empire, which was accommo- dated to the manners of the earliest ages, established it as a law, that as the na- tural right of such things as have no proprietor belongs to their first possessor, so all kinds of wild beasts, birds, and fishes were the property of those who could first obtain them. But the northern barbarians, who over-ran the Roman em- pire, entertaining a strong relish for this rude amusement, and being now pos- sessed of more easy means of subsistence from the lands they had conquered, their leaders and chiefs b^gan to claim, and appropriate the sole right of hunt- ing to themselves, and instead of considering, or continuing it longer a right of nature, they stamped it with the privilege of royalty. At that precise era when the Saxon kings had established themselves into aa heptarchy, the chases were reserved by each sovereign for his own particular di- version ; the arts of war, and the enjoyment of the chase, in those uncivilized ages, constituted the only employments of the great; their active, but unculti- vated minds, were susceptible of no pleasures but such as were of a violent kind ; these seeming peculiarly adapted as exercise for their bodies, and a pre- ventative 6 ventativc to reflection. But as the lands so appropriated to the sole use of the Saxon kings were only those laying waste, and not under cultivation, no injury to individuals was sustained. The case, however, was totally reversed when the Normans got possession of the throne ; for the unrestrained and invincible passion for hunting was then carried to the utmost excess, and every civil right was individually annihilated and involved in one universal ruin. Even in that age of ignorance and superstition, the ardour for hunting was much stronger than the fervour of religion ; the village communities, nay, even the most sa- cred edifices, were destroyed, and turned into one extensive waste, in order to make room for pleasures predominating over every humane and philanthropic consideration. Sanguinary laws were at this time introduced for the preserva- tion of the game, and in those reigns it was considered less criminal to be guiltj' of an unpremeditated murder than to wilfully destroy a beast of chase. This system of tyranny was persevered in duiing the time the Norman line filled the throne; but when the Saxon line was restored in Henry the Second, the impo- litic rigour of the Forest-laws was materially meliorated. The barons also, for a considerable time, imitated not only the rapid encroachments, but also the pleasurable amusements of their monarchs ; yet, when property began to be more equally distributed (through the introduction of arts and the progress of industry), these hunting districts became more limited ; and as tillage and hus- bandry increased, beasts of chase were obliged to give way to those which man- kind, for the support of society, had found it indispensably necessary to take more immediately under their protection. In proportion to the cultivated state and improved face of the country, beasts of chacc became gradationally reduced ; and the stag, by a continued reduction of its species, as well as by a reduction of its sequestered abodes, is but little seen in the state of nature in which it was formerly found ; they having been for many years bred and preserved only in the forests, parks, and chases of his INIa- jesty, and some of the most opulent and distinguished individuals in the king- dom, and that principally for the purposes of the chase. They cannot, how- ever, though but very rarely found at large, be said to be quite extirpated ; some few having been seen in those extensive moors upon the borders of Corn- wall and Devonshire ; more in the highlands of Scotland, and a greater plenty in the mountains of Kerry, in Ireland, where the sport they afford with the hounds and the horns add greatly to the magnificent and exhilarating scenes of the justly celebrated lake of Killarney. Although Although it has been transmitted to us from the best authorities, that hunting is of the first antiquity, yet it does not appear at what period of the progressive ages it began to assume the leading points to its present state of unprecedented perfection. It has been observed, by a writer of some celebrity, that the ori- ginal ardour for prey has formed an union between the dog, the horse, the fal- con, and man. This association so long since began, has not yet entirely ceased even with the hawk, but the others Avill, probably, be ever permanent, and continue in active use ; but although (as before observed) hunting was origi- nally assumed as a natural right, yet there is scarce a country that has not found it necessary to restrain, by laws, this disposition in the people, lest it should be followed with an avidity injurious to individuals, as well as to the general inte- rests of society. The liberty of the chase has, therefore, had restrictions intro- duced from almost the earliest ages, and kings and princes have successively augmented their assumed rights in hunting, claiming to themselves the pri- mitive and sole title to hunt, and restraining their nobles and dependants from that entertainment, unless the privilege was granted by themselves, and them with the mortifying appendage of submitting to the having it recalled at plea- sure. This authority has been unavoidably assented to by every nation in a state of civilization, and it is a corroborated fact, that in the very early period of the French monarchy, as well as some others, no noble, or freeman ever went abroad without a hawk upon his wrist, which constituted the distinguishing trait between him and his vassal. Nay, in our own country, under Canute, the hunting or coursing a royal stag by a freeman was punished by the loss of his liberty for a year ; and if lie was a bondman he was outlawed ; and so severe were the Forest-laws introduced by the Conqueror, that the death of a beast of chase was deemed equally criminal with the murder of a man ; and, among other punishments for offences against these laws (which were afterwards re- pealed by Richard the First), were castration, loss of eyes, and cutting off both hands and feet. It affords ample food for reflection, that the son should have been accidentally slain, during the pursuit of a deer, in the very district which had been previously depopulated by his father for their increase and preserva- tion ; carrying with it a striking verification of the scriptural admonition, that " the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." Whatever 8 "Whatever may have been the former mode of subduing and taking the stag, whether by small or large bodies of hounds, there are but very few (except those of the royal establishment) kept by any of the most opulent individuals in the kingdom solely for this amusement. Those of the greatest celebrity, are his ^Majesty's, kept at Ascot- Heath, in Windsor-Forest ; the Earl of Derby's, at his lordships seat of the Oaks, near Epsom, in Surry ; and the pack supported by subscription (principally appertaining to the metropolis), near Enfield Chase, in Essex, about ten miles from London. As there are not known to the writer any authentic records, or official documents from which may be extracted the original formation of the royal establishment of the stag-hounds, it must suffice to observe, that Queen Elizabeth was rapturously fond of the chase, and fre- quently followed the hounds, as remarked in a letter from Mr. Rowland White, in a letter to Sir Robert Sidney, where he says, " her majesty is well, and ex- cellently disposed to hunting, for every second day she is on horseback, and enjoys the sport long." The date of this letter was Sept. 12, A. D. 1 600, at which period her majesty had entered her seventy-seventh year, and it may be considered no small proof of the salutary advantages derived from that exercise. That a comparative statement may be made between the expences of the royal retinue at that time and the present, the following particulars may not be inapplicably introduced. The annual expenditure for the support of the hunting establishment, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was as follows : — BUCK -HOUNDS. Master's Fee — wbereof to himself, per diem, twelve-pence, and the rest to sundry hunts- L. s. d. men, serving under his appointment 50 0 0 Serjeants, two, fee a-piece 20 0 0 Yeomen Prickers, two, fee a-piece 926 Hounds, and meat to the grooms of the buck-houiids, and allowances . . 13 6 8 df. 92 9 2 HART HART (or STAG) HOUNDS. £. s. d. Master's Fee 13 6 8 Serjeant's Fee 11 8 1 Officers, and others, serving the said master, wages and allowances 13 6 8 £.38 1 5 HUNTING HARRIERS. Master of the Harriers Fee 11 6 0 Yeoman's Fee 6 0 Q Officers, and others serving under the same master, wages and allowances .... 79 1 8 £.96 7 8 OTTER-HOUNDS. Master's Fee 13 6 8 Making in the aggregate of.SiO 4 11 Which, even in those days, must have been admitted a very small sum for so extensive an establishment. In proof of this, they were, in the following reign of James the First, advanced to a more liberal and princely compensation, under the head of HUNTSMEN, X. s. d. To Sir Patrick Howme, Master of the Privy Harriers, per ann j . . 120 0 0 And for keeping one footman, four horses, and twenty couple of hounds 100 0 0 To Thomas Pott, Master of the Hunt, for his fee, 4s. per diem — For three Yeomen Prickers, to each 2s. per diem. — For one Groom, Is. per diem. — And for keeping twelve couple of dogs, 501. per annum 250 15 0 To Robert Rayne, Serjeant of the Buck-Hounds, per ann 50 0 0 More to him, as one of the Yeomen of the Privy Harriers, 31. per mensem . . . . 36 0 0 To William Battle, another of the Yeomen, the like fee S6 0 t) To Richard Barnard, another of the same, the like fee 36 . 0 0 To Nicholas Cockeine, another of the Yeomen, the like fee 36 0 0 To Richard Lazonby, Master of the Lyam Hounds, per ann 40 0 0 To Richard Gwyne, Groom of the Harriers to the Prince, 13d. per diem, and 20s. per annum for his livery . 20 16 5 To John Waters, Yeoman of the Harriers to the King, 1 2d. per diem 18 a 0 To Robert Walker, Serjeant of the King's Hounds, per ann 50 0 0 To Richard Brasse, Yeoman of the King's Hounds, ditto 50 0 0 ^. 843 15 5 vol, II. c - At 10 At this period, it is to be presumed, the expcnces of these departments were defrayed from the privy purse ; but, in a subsequent reign, the stag-hounds were lionoured with a new arrangement, and became a part of the regular crown establisliment, having been also fartlier favoured by increased salaries, and other local privileges, since his present Majesty came to the throne. They arc called the King's Hounds, and the kennel in which they are kept is situate upon Ascot-Heath, near the race-course, about six miles from Windsor-Castle. At about a mile distance from the kennel, is Swinley-Lodge, a most rural and delightful spot, the official residence of tlie master of the stag-hounds, an ap- pointment seldom conferred but on one of high rank, and is considered an office of great honour, to which is annexed a salary of txco thousand pounds a year. The presence of the master of the stag-hounds at all times, in the field, is not a matter of necessity, but depending entirely on choice, unless when his Majesty hunts, and then his personal attendance is indispensible, appearing invariably with his badge of office, a pair of gold dog-couples, with leather collars, which hang suspended from a hunting-belt on his left side. Tiie huntsman has a handsome residence at the kennel, with a salary of 1251. per ann. to whom there are six assistants (called yeomen-prickers), each having a salary of 104-1. a year, with the royal livery richly ornamented, and an annual supply of saddles, bridles, horse-cloths, and every other necessary stable- appendage, except their horses, which it is the regulation of that department they find themselves. The season for stag-hunting commences on Holyrood- day (the 25th of September), and continues on every Tuesday and Saturday till the first Saturday in May ; with the exception of Christmas and Easter weeks, when they hunt the three alternate days in each. Holyrood-day, and Easter- Monday, are the two grand days of the season, when, if the weather is pro- pitious, the assemblage of the people, and the splendour of the scene, exceed description. As the word hunting, in its general sense, and common acceptation, is known to comprize an imaginary view of the different kinds of pursuit coming under so concise a term ; so such various remarks will be found under the respective descriptions of each, whether in hunting the stag, the fox, or the hare, as will evidently tend to elucidate the pleasures and perfections of the whole. Con- trary opinions have ever been entertained by the advocates for each particular kmd of chase as may have proved most congenial and convenient to their own disposition, 11 disposition, situation, occasions, residence, or time of life. Tiiat every dis- tinct kind of hunting has its proportional attraction to its different votaries is a matter that cannot admit of a doubt; but the constant struggle for superiority in vindication of their respective sports, has ever been between those who hunt fox, and those who hunt stag; each being equally violent in defence of the cause his private, or personal reasons may prompt him to espouse. A writer of some celebrity, when animadverting upon the stag in a recent publication, has introduced the following remarks: — "At the present day, as an object of chase to the sportsman, the stag requires but cursory mention : those, indeed, who are fond of pomp and parade in hunting, will not accede to this opinion; but the only mode in which this chase can recommend itself to the real sportsman, is, when the deer is sought for, and found in the same man- ner as other game which hounds pursue. At present, very few hounds, except those of the royal establishment, are kept exclusively for this amusement; and were the king once to see a fox well found, and killed handsomely, he would, in all probability, give a decided preference in favour of fox-hounds; for what a marked difference is there between conveying, in a covered cart, an animal, nearly as big as the horse who draws it, to a particular spot, where he is libe- rated, and cheerly riding to the covert side with all the ecstasy of hope and ex- pectation !" After proceeding to quote a few lines of beautiful imagery from the poetic-sublime of Somerville, descriptive of throwing off, the drag, the un- kennelling, and the breaking covert with fox-hounds, he proceeds thus: — " The most impassioned stag-hunter must confess, that no part of his chase ad- mits of such description. The only variety he can fairly expect, depends upon the wind and the temper of the deer, who, by being either sulky, or not in condi- tion to maintain a contest with the hounds (to whom he leaves a burning scent, that gives them no trouble in the pursuit), shortens or extends his gallop; but there is none of the enthusiasm of hunting, which the sportsman feels wlien he is following an animal, upon whose exertions of speed and craftiness his life is staked, and where no stoppages, but the checks arising from the two sources above-mentioned, intervene," Not wishing to indulge the most distant intent of endeavouring to degrade, or depreciate the noble, exhilarating, delightful, and universally admitted excel- lence of fox-hunting (of which, by the bye, no adequate description can be given), such just and applicable remarks may be made, as will display the sport c 2 of 12 of stag-hunting in a dificrent point of view, to that in which the writer just men- tioned has been pleased to place the picture ; and, probably, rescue it from any little stigma of disgrace, or inferiority, which his promulgated opinion may have stamped upon the canvass. There can be no doubt but every kind of chase has its peculiar attractions too powerful to resist, as well as some incon- venient contingences impossible to remove ; these, however, either on one side or the other, must be reconcileable to the modification of those, whose motives and constitutional sensations prompt, or induce them to engage in either. Previous to the accurate recital of a chase with the stag -hounds, a few pre- paratory and comparative remarks are due to the observations already extracted from the production before mentioned. That there are but " few establish- ments" of the kind must be admitted, and for a most self-evident reason ; if such were numerous, the question naturally presenting itself would be, from whence are they to be supplied with a sufficiency of game for the continuance of their sport? The author's idea of " the kings giving the preference to fox- hunting, if he had once seen a fox well found, and killed handsomely," is a thought in itself entitled to consideration upon the score of its novelty, and the more particularly, as it affords immediate mental reference to the degrada- tion of majestic dignit}', should it ever be found exploring its dreary way through the bushy brambles of a beechen wood, two or three miles in length, following the chase by the reverberating sounds of distant " hark forwards," but without the sight, or sound of a single hound. This, every experienced sportsman will allow, is a constantly occurring trait in fox-hunting, constituting no small draw- back upon its acknowledged perfection. Impartial investigation, and rational reflection must admit, that which ever kind of chase is pursued, the ultimatum of enjoyment is nearly the same; horses, hounds, air, exercise, health, society, and exhilaration, constitute the aggregate : and time, which to the opulent and independent seems of but mat- ter of little moment, and to which they are almost insensibly indifferent, is, to the scientific inquisitant, or professional practitioner, neither more or less than a life-estate, no part of which, with the wise or the prudent, should be wasted or squandered away. The former class, in general, are well known to be most industriously engaged in killing time; the latter, who better know and feel its worth, are as indefatigably employed in its preservation. The loss of this inva- luable 13 luable article, time, in the enjoyment of the two separate and distinct chases, is nearly, or full half between one and the other ; this is a circumstance, however, not likely to attract the serious attention of the gentleman who has thus attacked the " pomp and parade" of hunting the stag; for being a son of the church, he had all the loose time of the week upon his hands, and only professionally engaged on a Sunday ! To owe of this description, who has most of his time to kill, and very little to employ, a long and dreary day through the gloomy co- verts of a distant and dirty country, without a single challenge, or one consola- tory chop or drag, must prove a scene of the most ecstatic enjoyment ; and in the very zenith of sporting exultation, it must be acknowledged, by professed and energetic juveniles, that riding thirty, or forty miles in wet and dirt (alter- nately replete with alternate hope, suspense, and expectation), to enjoy the su- preme happiness of repeated disappointments, terminating in a blank day, must be equal, if not superior to, a stag-hunt of even the first description. Independent of every collateral consideration, the greatest inducement to stag-hunting, in preference to any other, is the invariable certainty of sport (or what is termed a good run) that first object of desirable attainment not lo be insured Math hounds of a different description, is the great and inexpressible gratification of going away with the pack, and covering an extensive scope of country, without perpetual interruption from intervening coverts, where checks, faults, delays, and a repetition of wood-riding so often ensue. Stag-hunting, indifferent as it is spoken and thought of by many, is too severe and arduous for others to pursue ; laborious as it is to the horse, it is, in a variety of cases, not less so to the rider ; difficulties very frequently occur which require great exertions in one, and no small share of fortitude in the other, and none but those possessing enei-gy, temper, and personal courage can ever expect to lay any where near the side of the hounds. Joyously transporting, as is the moment of meeting and throwing off with fox-hounds thus pathetically described by Somervile : — Delightful scene ! Where all around is gay, men, horses, dogs : ^ See how they range Dispers'd how busily this way and that They cross, examining with curious nose Each likely haunt. Hark ! on the drag I hear 14 Their doubtful notes, preluding to a cry More nobly full, and swelled with every mouth Hark ! what loud shouts Re-echo thro' the groves; he breaks away. Shrill horns proclaim his flight. Each straggling bound Strains o'er the lav.n to reach the distant pack. 'Tis triumph all and joy." No less so is the awfully impressive prelude to singling from the herd, or turning out a deer. This scene is most affectingly grand ; and, being very far beyond the power of literary description, can only be seen to be perfectly under- stood. Unless an outlying deer is drawn for, and unharboured in some of the neighbouring woods (as is sometimes the case) a stag, hind, or heavier, is con- veyed in a covered vehicle, called a deer-cart, from the paddocks of his Ma- jesty at Swinley- Lodge before-mentioned, which is the natural lair of the breed- ing herd at liberty, and, in the paddocks of which, the hunting-deer are con- fined, and regularly corn-fed in preparation for the chase. From hence they reach the place previously appointed at a certain hour, which is generally about ten o'clock in the morning, and of this the surrounding neighbourhood are al- ways sufficiently apprized. At the distance of one third, or half a mile from the convenience containing the deer, are the body of the hounds in waiting, headed by the huntsman, and surrounded by his assistants (officially termed yeomen- prickers), richly apparelled in short hunting-jackets of scarlet and gold; a part of these having French-horns appropriate to the chase. His ]Majesty being, at all times, critically exact in respect to time, is soon seen approaching, attended by the master of the horse, and the two equerries in waiting; it being the official duty of the master of the hounds to be stationed with them, ready to receive his majesty upon his arrival. So soon as his majesty resigns his hackney, and is remounted for the chase, the huntsman leceives an injunctive signal from the master of the hounds to liberate the deer ; which being done, what is termed the law, amounting to live or ten minutes, is allowed for his going away : during this interval, the sonorous strains of the horns, the mu- sical melodious echo of the hounds, the mutual gratulations of so distinguished an assemblage, and the condescending affability and kindness of the Sovereign to the loyal subjects who love and surround him, may be candidly considered a repast too rich, a treat too luxurious, for a meeting at the side of a fox-huntinw covert to be brought into a successful competition with. The 15 The anxious and inspirative moment at length arrived, and every bosom glowing with the most emulative impatience for the gradual declination of the horns ; these ceasing, a single aspiration of acquiescence from the musical tone of the huntsman, and a removal of the horse who heads the hounds, affords a rapturous and exulting loose to all the pack, as well as to their numerous fol- lowers, and superlatively happy he who is the best enabled to lay by the side of them. Wiien the deer is first liberated, and going off from the cart, two of the yeomen-prickers start likewise, in such parallel directions to the right and left, as not to lose sight of the line he takes so long as they can keep him in view ; by which means they get four or five miles forward to assist in stopping the hounds at any point required, but more particularly when they have broken away, and are got too much a head of the horsemen behind them ; and, if it was not for this prudent and necessary precaution, a great part of the com- pany would never again view either the hounds or the deer in the course of the day. The enlivening, joyous, general burst, and the no longer restrained velocity of every hound (individually energetic) followed by upwards of a hundred horsemen in emulative action at a single view ; the surrounding spot embel- lished, and beautifully variegated with carriages of different constructions, con- taining ladies of the first distinction (who grace the scene not more in compli- ment to the presence of Majesty, than to enjoy the commencement of the sport), and the almost incredible competition of horses, men, and hounds, afford in the aggregate such a blaze of brilliancy, that it is very much beyond the power of the most fertile pen to describe. At this important crisis of rapturous exul- tation only, it is, that the sort of horse indispensably necessary for this paticu- lar kind of chase can be ascertained ; for out of an original body, of from an hundred to a hundred and fifty horsemen, not more than ten, or a dozen, shall lay (when racing over a country) any where near, or within two hundred yards of the hounds; for it is a well-known fact, that the longer and the more severe the first burst, the more the slow-going horses tail : so that when the hounds are stopt upon the heath, or in an open country, by those who are first up, lines of horsemen may be seen behind, in a variety of directions, more than a mile in length, bearing no ill affinity to different teams of wild-ducks in their flight from one part of the country to another. These 16 These cross-bred horses, to whom the common hunting stroke of a thorough bred horse is all labour, are so exceedingly distrest even \vi\h the first burst, that if the deer gallantly crosses the country, and the hounds break away with intervening, boggy, or bad ground, to prevent their being stopt, there is but little chance of their being seen at the end of the second. This well-known fact is a most palpable and incontrovertible demonstration, that although any horse (fashionably denominated a hunter) may follow, none but perfect blood-horses can go by the side of the hounds. When the great body of the company are left at a considerable distance behind, with a probable chance of being thrown out, the leading hounds are headed and stopt, by those who are the best mounted, that the slow and philosophic sportsmen may have time to get up. During this temporary suspension of the chase (which continues till the king appears) the hounds are kept at bay; and, at this transporting crisis, the exhi- larating sound of the horns to restrain them, and the clamorous impatience of the whole pack to proceed, constitute a scene so luxuriously rich and ecstatic, that the tear of excessive joy, and grateful sensibility may be frequently seen in the eyes of those who are sympathetically affected by the splendid magnificence and philanthropic influence of the whole. When a few minutes relief has thus been afforded to both hoises and hounds, in which they have been enabled to collect their wind — become proportionally refreshed, and the nearest part of the distant stragglers got up ; the hounds are permitted again to break away, which they do with a renovated ardour, as if it had absolutely increased from their recent restraint. A repetition of simi- lar racing with the fleetest, and tailing with the slowest continues, during every succeeding burst, to the termination of the chase, the longer which is, the more the unfortunate field of slow horsemen become reduced: while the thorough-bred horses, who move in perfect unison, lay at their common rating stroke with the hounds ; and this is the sole reason why, in long runs, so many are completely thrown out, and left to explore their way in different parts of the country through which the chase has passed. To the liberal and humane sports- man, one material and consolatory difference is known to exist between this kind of field-sport and every other ; the utmost fortitude and indefatigable efforts are, in this chase, made to save the object of pursuit ; in every other, the sum- mit of temporary happiness, the sole gratification of local ambition is to kill, so that the priority of stag-hunting has to boast the plea of humanity in its favour: 17 in ample proof of which, the hounds are never near their game, or observed to run from chase to view, but every individual is instantly and feelingly alive to the danger of the deer who has so largely and laboriously conti'ibuted to the general happiness of the day. Some secret inspiration at the moment operates upon every latent spring of human sensibility, and no difficulty or danger, at the energetic crisis, seems too great to attempt for the preservation of a life in which every spectator evidently feels himself concerned. This terminating burst of a stag-hunt is sometimes most dreadfully severe, more particularly if the last mile or two is run in view ; when which is the case, the poor animal nearly exhausted in speed, exerts all his utmost and remaining strength and power to avail himself of a sheet of water, if within his reach ; this he sometimes succeeds in with the leading hounds so close to his haunches, that it is absolutely impracticable to prevent their plunging with him into the stream. In such predicament it is frequently impos- sible to draw off the hounds to insure his safetjr, and so truly and anxiously eager is the general wish for his preservation, that the yeomen-prickers, and others (who have no interest whatever in the event), are seen up to their mid- dles in the water (uncertain of its depth), endeavouring to preserve the hfe of the deer at the hazard of their own. The writei', during five-and-thirty years enjoyment with the stag-hounds, has found the most moderate runs, upon an average, to extend from an hour and a half to two hours ; but there are many instances, with seasoned and staunch- running deer, of chases from three to four hours in the course of a season. This is the time which calls upon the judgment, prudence, and precaution of the inexperienced sportsman, horses deficient in speed, too heavy in formation, too full of flesh, or too foul in condition, frequently fall martyrs to the impe- tuosity and indiscretion of their riders during, or in a few hours after, a chase of this description. Those who encounter the probable difficulties and unex- pected obstacles in crossing a country with stag-hounds, should be patiently prepared to know (without a prompter) when his horse gradually becomes op- pressed, and should, with benignant humanity, bow implicit and instantaneous obedience to the occasion ; there are times when self-denial would add lustre to the brow of a monarch, and it can never be displayed in a better cause, or with a more humane and gratifying effect, than in the timely preservation of an ani- mal, who, being deprived the privilege of free-agency, is not in possession of the VOL. II. D power 18 power to save himself. Under the impressive influence of which reflection, it is to be presumed there is not a sportsman of humanity and experience existing who would not much rather retire with patient mortification from the field, to save the life of a faithful, obedient, persevering companion, than to see him sink, never more to ri^c, a victim to inadvertency, folly, madness, or indis- cretion. To every sportsman of judgment and experience it is generally known, that a thorough-bred horse, though, in appearance, seemingly inadequate to the weight he carries, and the task he has to perform, is seen doing his work with spirit, ease, and avidity (to the comfort of his rider) ; while the horse so fre- quently extolled for his great strength, superior power and bone, is as constantly seen in the second hour of the chase, failing under the enormity of his own weight, gradationally declining from one pace to another, or, in other words, from a short and tired stroke to a stand still, the owner most reluctantly, but compulsively, relinquishing farther pursuit, with no other than the mortifying alternative of reaching the first place of accommodation, where nature may be recruited, and disgrace obscured. From this scene of perplexing despondency (of which there are various instances in the same day), we naturally advert to the happier and more fortunate leaders, enjoying, at the head of the hounds, the very essence and emulation of the chase ; here may be seen the ecstatic glow of instinctive ardour, irresistible speed, and invincible courage, far beyond the power of literary description ; the pen cannot, the pencil may, delineate those pleasing traits of exulting happiness and conscious superiority, that inva- riably takes possession of every countenance, when enjoying, with ease, a seat of safety parallel with the head of the hounds. At this critical and rapturous moment, in the midst of the exhilarating burst, the genial glee, the inexpressible joy that pervades the whole, the scent seems imperceptibly to improve, the hounds pressing upon each other renew their vi- gorous eff"orts, and their sonorous notes re-echo with a more than double impa- tience. This infallibly denotes a rapid progress upon the game, and is an indi- cation too certain to be mistaken ; as was predicted, so it proves, a viezv ! and happy he who can first obtain it. Every idea of fear, every alarm of danger are suppressed in the moment of formation, and there is not an individual in the field who does not consider himself bound by every tie of honour and humanity to embark in the cause of determined preservation. The pack thus perse- veringly 19 veringly pressing upon their expectant, and expected victim, lie at length stops — turns — surveys — again proceeds, exerts his utmost strength, whicli now be- gins to fail him ; when with all his powers nearly exhausted, he once more turns — views his approaching foes — and faintly turns again ; the blood-thirsty hope, and instinctive impulse of his inveterate pursuers, soon serve to convince him that farther attempts at flight are unavailing — the leading hounds press close upon him, and the eager horsemen are parallel with those ; in this extremity he turns, and, as his last effort, boldly faces his assailants, and with the exaspe- rated use of both head and heels fortunately possesses, in general, force suffi- cient to keep the head hounds at bay, and himself uninjured till the united as- sistance of those horsemen, who are happily up, keep off the clamorous crew Avith their whips, while the reprieved object of the day being secured, and pro- tected by the huntsmen and yeomen-prickers, bows obedience to the exulting, eager, impetuous peals of the impatient pack, at the restraint they are undei', in sight of that game they have so long and so laboriously pursued. During this ceremony his Majesty gets up, and never fails to bestow the great- est encomiums on those who have so earnestly exerted themselves for the safety and preservation of the deer. The horns now repeat the musical prelude of the morning, their enlivening strains, intermixed with the vociferous predomi- nance of the hounds at the view of their game, in the presence of our most gracious Sovereign (unattended by every guard but unsullied loyalty and unli- mited affection), constitute a scene of philanthropy, and universal benevolence, far exceeding the brilliancy, personal ambition, paltry parade, and external ornaments of those fashionable, but fallacious pleasures with which the metro- polis so plentifully abounds. This ceremony continuing a few minutes for the purpose of demonstrating to the hounds, that they have obtained a victory, they are then drawn off, and the deer conducted to the first farm-house, or re- ceptacle of safety, from whence he is removed, on the following day, to the Paddocks, at Swinley- Lodge, before described. The time and place of meet- ing for a future day, being adjusted before the departure of his Majesty, with his attendants, he generally proceeds to the nearest town where a post convey- ance can be procured, and returns instantly to Windsor ; and most frequently without taking the least refreshment, whatever may be the distance, or the length of the chase, instances having occurred where his Majesty has not reached the castle till eight or nine in the evening at the dreariest season. D 2 Thus 20 Thus much having been introduced, that the whole of the chase, from its commencement to the termination, may be the more clearly comprehended by those who have never had opportunity to partake of the sport; it becomes equally applicable to extract from the manuscript records of the writer, such accurate recital of the most severe, and almost incredible chases (at every one of which he was present from beginning to end) as will forcibly convey to the knowledge of eveiy reader the wonderful strength, speed, and perseverance with which horses and hounds are endowed. Previous to which it will be di- rectly in point to observe, that in former times, when the king lost a stag in hunting, open proclamations were made in all towns and villages near where the deer was supposed to remain, that no person should kill, hunt, or chase him, that he might safely return to the forest again, and the foresters were ordered to harbour the said hart, and, by degrees, to bring him back to the forest, and that deer was ever after ^^ a Hart Royal Proclaimed.'' Some years since an old record remained in Nottingham- Castle, stating, that in 1194, Richard the First hunted a hart from Sherwood-Forest to Barnes-Dale, in York- shire, and there lost him. He made proclamation at Tunhill, in Yorkshire, and divers other places in the neighbourhood of Barnsdale, that no person should chase, kill, or hunt the said deer, that he might return to his lair in the forest of Sherwood. This ceremony, however, has been long since discontinued, and bids fair to be buried in oblivion, as two instances have occurred, in the last few years, well worthy recital : one in the neighbourhood of High-Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, where the stag was shot before the hounds, by a rustic, during the heat of the chase in which the King was at the time personally engaged. And another at Mapledurham, in Oxfordshire, where one of the best running deer in the King's collection was most wan- tonly and inhumanly shot, as he lay in a willow-bank, near the Thames, two days after he had completely beaten the hounds ; yet it is publicly known, in the forest and its district, that no steps whatever were taken to prosecute or punish the offenders. REMAR- 21 REMARKABLE CHASES HIS MAJESTY'S STAG-HOUNDS. "Moonshine," the famous deer of that name, was so called in conse- quence of his almost constantly leading the chase till night, and twice had the honour of beating the hounds when thirty couple were out, tiring a field of fifty or sixty horsemen, being at the approach of night left totally at large ; the chase renewed the following day, and then not subdued in less than two, three, and four hours. He has repeatedly covered such a tract of country that would hardly be credited were it to be given in recital ; such only, however, shall be introduced as are truly authentic, and so confirmed upon the reputation of the writer, who pledges himself to have been present from the beginning to the end of every chase he has presumed to report. In the first week of April, 1793, Moonshine was turned out before his Majesty, and a most numerous field, at New Lodge, in the Forest, about five miles from Windsor- Castle; going away in high style over the commons of Waltham, he passed through the parish of Bin- field, to the coverts of Easthampstead ; here he waited for the hounds, and they eagerly pressing upon him, he topped the paling of Easthampstead-Park, which going across, he most gallantly bid them adieu ! Facing the open country with a space of near twenty miles before him, with undiminished fortitude, he could depend upon his speed and bottom only for extrication from impending danger. Without being once brought to view by his pursuers, he covered the extensive barren tract to Sandhurst, and Midley-Warren, beyond Black- Water, where a stop of the hounds was made of short duration for his Majesty to get up ; the hounds were then halloo'd forward ; and passing through Cove, Hawley, and a large sheet of water upon the heath called Fleet-Pond (three miles in circum- ference), crossed the heath country to Ewshot, near Farnham, in Surrey, and to Crondall, in Hants, where he was taken unhurt, after a run of five hours, and upwards of forty miles ; not more than one-sixth of the original field being ' present 22 present, the remainder having been scattered in diflerent parts of the country, lamenting the want of condition in their horses that had prevented their longer pursuing what, from a deficiency in sporting knowledge and experience, they had presumed to satirize with the appellation of " calf-hunting," as a chase too trifling aud insignificant for such high-bred and high-minded sportsmen. Various other instances of the speed, strength, and persevering fortitude of this extraordinary animal might be introduced, but they may be readily conceived when put in competition with the ability of his cotemporary, Yoinig Highfyer, who nearly equalled him in all his qualifications. This most surprising and beautiful animal has been, in different chases, repeatedly taken unhurt, at the distance of thirty miles, in a direct line from the spot in which the hounds were originally laid on ; he has led the chase twenty miles from home, and suddenly making a double, has returned, with very little variation from his former track, and leaped into his paddock over paling of eight feet high. He has repeatedly beat the hounds till night has obliged them to relinquish the pursuit, but more parti- cularly in Buckinghamshire, after having CTOssed the river Thames ; where try- ing for him on the following day, and again the second without success, he was, on the third, discovered by the herdsmen at home, amidst his herd of " velvet friends," at the distance of twenty miles (with the intervening Thames) from the spot where he had previously beaten the hounds ; a circumstance sufficiently demonstrative of their possessing sagacity in addition to their other properties already described. On the Thursday of Easter week, in the year before alluded to. Young High- jiyer was turned out before the king, and a numerous field, at Kings-Beech, near Sunning-hill, when going off" in his usual high style, and bidding defiance to the early speed of his pursuers, he most indifferently passed his native spot (Svvinley-Lodge) with the herd in his sight, and in passing over Wick-Hill, being accidentally headed, he doubled, and in returning repassed his relatives and friends in the herd at a very small distance, without attempting to join them, or to avail himself of the least advantage; taking a deliberate survey of the hounds and cavalcade of horsemen from the high hill of Ascot, he continued his career with seeming perfect ease over the race-ground, through Sunning-Hill Park, and Cranbourne-Wood, where wantonly waiting for the hounds till they were pretty near him, he once more bid them adieu, going away at his rate through Spit- tle-enclosures, and Clewer-fields, he crossed the Thames above Windsor- Bridge, through 23 through the parishes of Dorney and Boveney, Avhen reaching Lord Chesterfield's park, at Stoke, he once more waited for the hounds, who suddenly clapping at him got nearly close to his haunches, when finding it now too serious a busi- ness to trifle with, he was compelled to break away at increased speed through Langley and the intervening country (in which a great deal of good running was enjoyed) to within a mile of Uxbridge, where he was run up to, and well saved, after a most excellent chase of three hours, in which there were but very few checks, stops, or interruptions. Although this run was, in many respects, very severe, yet no account transpired of any horses having suffered in consequence ; but much difficulty was experienced in getting many to the nearest inns, or proper receptacles for their accommodation, where " cordial-balls," warm wines, and other ingredients, were eagerly brought into use to insure their safety. On the next day but one, being Saturday, in the same week, a famous deer called Compton (so named from having once led a chase of five hours, when he was taken in a farm-yard in the village of that name, in the lower part of the county of Berks,) was turned out at the same spot that the deer had been on the Thursday, before his Majesty and a most wonderful assemlblage of peo- ple, sportsmen as well as spectators ; where the constitutional and unalarmed vigour of the deer, the energetic eagerness of the hounds, the sympathetic ar- dour of the attendants, the beauty and general stillness of the morning, the brilliancy of the extensive circle, and, to crown the whole, the singular cheer- fulness, condescending affability, and great spirits of his JNIajesty, enriched the scene beyond the limits of literary description. The deer having been indulged with the usual law of a few minutes, had only trotted on to a small willow covert near Brumwell-Hut, at Shrub's-Hill, where laying down at his ease, as if unpiir- sued, the hounds were presently up with him, when instantly breaking covert witli the whole pack close at his haunches, he crossed a small meadow, where leaping a monstrous fence into the midst of the body of horsemen (to their great alarm and confusion) he passed directly over the heath to Sunning-IIill, King's-Beech, Wickham-Bushes, and nearly to Bagshot-Bog, a complete racing burst of six miles in view (before the leading hound could be headed to make a stop), con- stituting such a scene of stag-hunting, that those only who have seen can believe, when it is positively affirmed by the writer, that only twelve out of an hundred and fifty horsemen Avere with the hounds for some minutes after they were stopt; the immense body of people originally together, being now disti'ibuted in every part 24 part of the heath, and the greatest mirth prevailing amongst those with the hounds, at seeing numbers in various directions endeavouring to get forward, though at two and three miles distance. Upon his Majesty's getting within reach of the chase, the hounds were again let loose, when, in a few minutes, a repetition of the same severity of racing ensued, for the deer soon waiting again for the hounds, they ran up close to him at South-IIill Park, when scorning to avail himself of the neighbouring enclo- sures (where he would have had the high fences in his favour), he most gal- lantly faced the open country, took over the extensive tract of Caesar's-Camp, Golden-Farmer-Hills, and Bagshot-Bog ; to the left, through Swinley over two paled-fences of eight feet high), Sunning-Hill, and to the right, over the great western road to Windlesham, where repeatedly covering a veiy great scope of country, he once more broke away through a dreadful swampy country for the horses, and was ultimately taken unhurt in the parish of Chobham, after a most wonderful run of three hours and a half, during which (the day proving exceed- ingly hot) more tired horses were observed constantly falling off, than ever were remembered upon any similar occasion. At the taking of the deer were about twenty of the original field, amongst whom were his Majesty, Lords Sand- wich, Cathcart, Scarborough, and Inchiquin ; Messrs. Crutchley, Batson, Palmer, &c. many of these changed horses in the course of the chase. On Tuesday, the 8th of October, in the same year, his jNIajesty was also present at a chase of much severity. The stag was turned out at New- Lodge, near Winkfield-Plain, when making a circle of some miles, he went off in a direct line for the Thames, which gallantly swimming, he (to the great morti- fication of the numerous horsemen) proceeded through much of the ^voodland country, where the hounds could by no means be stopt, and was, at length, run up to between Stonehouse and ^Nlarlow, after a most incredible run of four hours and a half; and although the deer was prevented receiving bodily injury from the hounds, yet he was so depressed and exhausted by the persevering ra- pidity of pursuit, that he dropped and expired in a few minutes after he was taken. A similar circumstance occurred on the last day of the same season, when a young deer was turned out before his IMajcsty at Tower-IIill, between Swinley-Lodge and Bagshot. The hounds being expeditiously brought up to the scent, the deer continued to run in good st}lc through the parishes of Easthamp- stead, WarfieldjWinkfield, and Binfield, and nearly to New-Lodge, before a view was 25 was obtained ; when laying well at him, and pressing him closely over the open commons of Waltham, and the adjoining enclosures, the most part of the lat- ter in view, they ran up to him in a small narrow stream near Brick-Bridcre, after a very steady and fleet run of one hour and forty minutes, to which his exertions doomed him a victim, as he fell dead so soon as the belt was fastened round his leg, and every one present considered him in a state of perfect pre- servation. It being the termination of the season for that year, the melodious concert of horns, surrounded by the echoing woods; the sonorous accompani- ment of the hounds, and the lifeless game extended upon the verdant glade in the presence of his Majesty; then engaged in taking the most amiable and friendly leave of the principal gentlemen in the hunt, " wishing every individual health, and the happiness of meeting again on the first day of the following season," constituted a scene of rapturous gratification that it is more within the power of every sporting reader to conceive, than a sportsman's pen to de- scribe. In the Easter-week of 1796, the sport of the three days absolutely exceeded every expectation. The concourse of people present on the Monday, at turning out the deer on Ascot-heath, was beyond conception, and the course of the running proved the destruction of many horses either ill calculated, or not in condition for tlie chase. Almost as soon as the deer had been liberated, the hounds suddenly broke away from the yeomen-prickers, who surrounded them, and continued the chase in such astonishing style, that in the first burst of ten miles the slow-going gentry formed a tail-line for full four miles of the ten ; upon reaching London Blackwater, in the great western road, the deer turned to the right, through Sandhurst and Finchampstead, till nearly reaching Wokingham- town end, and suddenly turning to the left, he continued his route in a most gallant and wonderful manner through the parishes of Barkham, Arborfield, over Farley-Hill, Swallowfield, INIortimer, through the river Kennet, and to Aldermaston, near Newbury, after one of the most severe and violent chases (of four hours and a quarter) ever known in the memory of man ; during which near fifty miles of ground were rode over, and many of the company had up- wards of thirty miles home. His Majesty (who by a change of horses was up before the deer was housed at a neighbouring farm) did not reach Windsor till half-past seven in the evening, where much anxiety prevailed for his safety. ]Many horses were broke down, and numbers crippled from tlie hardness of the VOL. II. E ground 26 frround, while others were unavoidably left in different parts of the country in a state of uncertainty. The inns at Ileckfield, Wokingham, and diilerent villages, were full of invalids, and the post-chaises, where they could be obtained, were generally employed in conveying home those who had no alternative but to leave their horses behind. On the Thursday his INIajest)', attended by Lords Sandwich, Walsingham, and others of his retinue, reached the starting-post, at Ascot-Heath (the place appointed for turning out), at half-past ten, when a beautiful little deer (called Sir Henry Gotte, from having been presented to his Majesty by a Buckingham- shire knight of that name) was liberated in the bottom, and at going off, equal- led in speed, any thing of the kind before seen. About ten minutes law having been given, the hounds were permitted to break away, and afforded a burst of the greatest emulation. The scent lying wonderfully well after the rain that had previously fallen, none but thorough-bred horses could lay any where near the hounds for the first hour and a half; not a check taking place, nor could the hounds be but once stopped during that time ; running nearly the same ground as on IMonday, till he made Wokingham ; he passed through the "ardens of that town, over Frog-Hall Green, through the parishes of Binfield, Warfield, the Hazes, and Shottesbrook-Coverts, Braywick, and vras taken at Holyport, after a chase of four hours as line running as ever was seen or re- membered by the oldest sportsmen in th6 field. On the Saturday circumstances seemed in a direct combination to terminate one of the richest sporting weeks ever witnessed within the limits of Windsor- Forest; the peculiar brightness of the morning, the immense number and bril- liancy of the company, and the spirits and affability of his Majesty, could only be equalled by the luxury of the scene that ensued. An own brother to the deer of Thursday (originally presented by Sir Henry Gotte to the Prince of Wales, and by his Royal Highness to the King) was turned out in the bottom, near the race-course, precisely at eleven; when after the usual prelude of horns, le-echoed by the hounds, they were drawn up to the scent, and a burst of al- most unprecedented rapidity followed too rich for recital. Without waiting to be pressed, the deer, in the uniform style of the Meek, boldly faced the open coun- try, setting his pursuers at defiance with a speed and gallantry in a style beyond all precedent. After a circle of some few miles upon the heath, and by Sunning- Hill-Park, 27 Hill-Park, he passed Sunning-Hill-Wells, Brummel-Hut, and through Potnalls'- Warren, where he turned to the left, and reached the bridge at Virginia- Water; here he waited till the hounds came nearly up to him, when surveying the ap- proaching cavalcade with a haughty contemptuous indifference, he broke away with a seeming easy unconcern, and took the whole of the swampy country, and over the immense fences to Thorpe-Green; and leaving Chertsey to the right, passed through the string of meadows to, and crossed the Thames, con- tinuing his career over the common-fields to the town of Staines. Here he amused the inhabitants in their different gardens and orchards, where the deer and the hounds were repeatedly together, and his escape from destruction ap- peared almost inevitable; but by leaps of the most astonishing height, and exertions of strength beyond credibility, he once more broke view, crossed the western turnpike-road, and again led the chase in as high and gallant style as at first starting. Crossing the intervening enclosures to Wyradsbury, and nearly reaching Colnbrook, he then bore to the right, and was taken unhurt near the seat of Sir W. Gibbons, at Stanwell, after two hours and a half of as fine running as on either of the days already described ; but the company Avere so exceedingly numerous, and the major part of the horses so deficient in speed and perseverance, that the first few who were up at the saving of the deer, were soon increased to a little multitude by those who had been previously thrown out, and continued to pour in from different parts of the country. DEATH OF THE FAMOUS TAPLOW DEER. Lord Sandwich, and his prime minister, D. Johnson (the huntsman), on the 1st of October, 1797, afforded such a specimen of the superiority of stag- hunting, as can scarcely be found in the records of sporting history. Upon his Majesty's arrival at Ascot-Heath, on the morning already mentioned, the deer of this name was liberated below the Obelisk, and going off with the most de- termined courage, and inexpressible speed, bid a seeming adieu to all competi- tion. The hounds were laid on with only five minutes law, and the scent laying well, they went away, breast high, in a style that " beggars all description;" eight of the fleetest horses only, out of at least a hundred, being enabled to lay any where by the side of them, till headed in absolute racing by Johnson, the huntsman, assisted by Nottage and Gosden, two of the yeomen-prickers. At this lucky stop of the pack a treat was enjoyed by those few who were happily up E 2 with 28 with the hounds, for a few minutes had elapsed before the first of the cavalcade ivere seen coming over the hills at little less than two miles distance, when the liounds were gradually trotted on, and as the deer evidently waited for them, and headed several times in the enclosures near Bagshot, it afforded opportu- nity for many of those who had been previously thrown out to get up. This gratification, however, proved but of short duration, for the hounds catching a view, and clapping suddenly at him, they went away close to his haunches, through the whole of the inclosures and coverts to Windlesham, and to Bagshot-Heath, and by Sir W. Abdy's, at Chobhani, during which burst, great part of the original field were dispersed and lost. Here ensued a scene of the most luxurious exultation to those few who were enabled, by the speed and bottom of their horses, to enjoy it, till after a racing burst of eight miles the leading hounds were again stopped with only five horsemen at their head. When sufficient time had been given for his Majesty and retinue to get up, the hounds were again halloo'd forward, and laying close at him through the Moors and Coworth enclosures, they brought him to view at Black Nest ; here he re- peatedly endeavoured to leap the high paling of Windsor great Park, but with- out success ; here the deer, hounds, and horsemen, were all intermixed in one general scene of confusion, when, by a most wonderful exertion, the deer reached the park by the Ilaugh ! Haugh ! through the shrubbery, and plunging into the immense sheet of A'irginia-Water, passed entirely through it. Here his ^fa- jesty entered most energetically into the spirit of the chase, absolutely assisted in getting the hounds forward, laying them on where the deer left the water, and speaking to them in a sporting-like style. After running several bursts in view, through different parts of the park, and being closely pressed, he leaped the Park-Paling, crossed the great western road, and through the enclosures to Egham-ilill, where finding the hounds afforded him neither time or respite, visibly distressed, and his strength inadequate to longer contest, he took to the large coverts of St. Anne's-Hill ; these proving no more in his favour, and dreading the nearer approach of the hounds, he once more broke away, but in vain, for the hounds ran up to, pulled him down, and killed him in the first swampy ditch, after a most admirable chase of three hours, in which it was pre- sumed as much ground was run over as ever was known within the same space of time upon any occasion whatever. Not 29 Not to extend a recital of such chases beyond the original intent of demon- strating their severity, one more only shall be introduced, and that having proved the most singular, in respect to the destruction of horses of any yet known, has been reserved for the conclusion. The deer was liberated at the starting-post upon Ascot- Heath, and after making Bagshot-Park, proceeded without iiead or double over the open country to Sandhurst, through Finchampstead-Woods, Barkham, Arborfield, Swallowfield, Mortimer, across the river Kennet, and over the intervening country to Tilehurst, below Reading, in Berkshire, where the deer was taken unhurt, after a most incredible and desperate run of four hours and twenty minutes; horsemen being thrown out in every part of the country through which they passed : one horse dropt dead in the field ; another immediately after the chase, before he could reach a stable, and seven more within the week. Of such speed, and almost unprecedented severity was this run, that tired horses in great danger, and others completely leg-weary, or broken down, were unavoidably left at various inns, in different parts of the country. From the concise and abridged specimens here introduced, a tolerable idea may be formed, even by those who do not profess themselves sportsmen, what the powers of an English hunter should be, upon this unexaggerate representa- tion of what he has to perform ; some there are who are totally incredulous to the practicability, amongst whom was I\Ions. Sainbel, late professor of the Veterinary-College, who could never be brought to believe, " that any horse could be found capable of continuing a chase of this description four hours in succession."' That such exertions may be continued even with the best-bred horses, till nature is completely exhausted, cannot admit of a doubt; but that such accidents happen, in general, to horses too heavily formed, and by much too slow for the chase, as well as to those hunted in improper condition, is as clearly ascertained. The frequency of such losses seems, with the sporting- world, to have forcibly inculcated the indispensible necessity of selecting such horses for the chase as are peculiarly adapted for that purpose, and likewise the strict propriety of getting them into condition before they are brought into the field. Nothing can distress cross-bred horses more than the being continued a great length of time at the top of their speed ; and even the best-bred hunters should not, after such very severe chases, be too soon brought into similar exertions : numbers 30 numbers are crippled, and irrecoverably ruined for want of a little prudence and precautionary patience; for, brought into the field too early, with a stiff ri- gidity in the limbs, and without the usual elastic pliability in the joints, the spirits as well as the fiame naturally become equally affected by a consciousness of the deficiency, and the rider, upon making the discovery, moves in very little less misery than the horse, who, feeling his temporary debilit}', is evidently in fear of falling at every stroke. Any horse having been greatly fatigued by a rapidly severe, or tediously long chase, is best recovered from the effect by a great deal of gentle walking exercise upon the turf, and equally patient friction in the stable ; for no horse perceptibly affected in this way, and by these means, should be brought again into even exercise gallops, till every degree of stiffness is gradually worn aAvay, and obliterated in gentle motion, of which, they are themselves the first to make a discovery by their palpable renovation of spirits, strength, and action. In respect to the chase itself, nothing can more powerfully demonsti'ate its attracting power, and exhilirating effect, than the ecstatic rapture with which it is enjoyed, and the constantly increasing infinity of its devotees. Cynically li- gid opponents will always continue to be generated, inveterately averse to every pleasure (however sublime or select) that is not congenial to their own sensa- tions; and will, with an avowed avidity, declare perpetual war against any plea- sure, gratification, or enjoyment, in which they are not eventually interested, or personally concerned. Those constitutional admirers of the chase, who for time immemorial have been better known and distinguished by the appellation of sportsmen, are almost proverbial for their mutual offices of civility and friendship; no class enter more into the openness and glowing warmth of unsus- pecting society, the genial inspiration of philanthropy, and the infinite inex- pressible extent of unsullied hospitality. To the judicious and experienced it is universally known, that the prudent sportsman is invariably the guardian of his own honour at home, and of his safety abroad ; for however he may rely upon the attachment and punctuality of an old or faithful servant, he never declines the service of his own faculties, so long as he can derive advantage from their utility. He therefore seldom, if ever, however great his haste, or eager his pursuit, mounts his horse without taking a slight, but sufficient survey of his apparatus; he feels it a duty to himself to observe, and be convinced, that his saddle is not fixed in an impro- per 31 per place, but literally in the centre, equally free from the withers before, as from the hip-bones behind; that his girths are not only judiciously tightened, but that the girth-buckles extend considerably above the edge of the pad of the saddle on each side, and that the stirrup-leathers are in too firm and good a state to hazard a chance of their breaking; whenever which happens, paiticu- larly in the heat of the chace, the most dreadful accidents frequently ensue. Thus safely seated in the full persuasion of his own prudent precaution, he never permits himself, by the persuasions of the young, inconsiderate, or inex- perienced, to be diverted from his original purpose of proceeding deliberately to the place of meeting, or throwing off the hounds ; well knowing, not only the manly propriety, but the absolute sporting necessity of giving a horse every pos- sible opportunity of unloading his carcase, previous to his being brought into the powerful exertions of the chase. Upon joining his friends in the field, he is never seen entering into conversation beyond the salutations of the morning, knowing by long experience, the frivolities sported upon such occasions, by the young, the confident, and the inexperienced, are only calculated to excite the indignant resentment of the huntsman, and the contemptuous indifference of the company, by ridiculously attracting the attention of the hounds. The perfect sportsman, whether the hounds are drawing or running, is never seen in a place to incur disgrace by heading the game, or obstructing the hounds; the chase is a business in which he is a proficient, and he is never at a loss in the execution. From an innate and invincible attachment to the sport, and an implicit observance of its strictest rules, he becomes constitutionally insensible to the less attentive part of the company, but is, nevertheless, incessantly alive to every tongue of a hound. Not a promising whimper, an exhilarating chal- lenge, or a palpable hit, but vibrates sympathetically upon his anxious ear, and his whole soul seems absorbed in the earnest and eager hope of transmitting the enlivening signal of a view, to his distant friends who surround the covert in equal expectation. The chase once commenced, his utmost judgment is exerted to lay as well in with the hounds, as the speed of his horse and the state of the country will permit ; at which time, he stands upon no specious ceremony with, or servile subservience to local superiors: this alone is the happy spot, as well as the critical and exulting moment where all are equal, where personal pride can assume no consequence, dignity can claim no precedence, and where even an immensity of wealth is of no avail, but superlatively happy he who can ex- cel his peers and take the lead. Ever 32 Ever attentive to every motion of the ciiase, the steady sportsman, ruminates at the time, upon no other object than the object of pursuit; his mind is eter- nally intent upon the game, or the leading hound, the latter of which he is careful never to lose sight of, unless by an intervening covert, the pack is obscured from his view; •when with the advantage of the wind (which every old sportsman is sure to avail himself of), aided by that unerring monitor the ear, he is very sel- dom far from the hounds, and rarely, if ever, thrown out. In all chases of rapidity there are, as has been already described, plenty of slow goers behind ; these finding the impossibility of getting up, soon become subservient to the predominant passion of envy, and are never wanting in the petulant and voci- ferous exclamation of " hold hard.'" to those who are before, without knowing why they do so, w hich is, in fact, from no other than the jealous motive of not being themselves at the head of the hounds. To the clamours of such discon- tents he is habitually inattentive, if having viewed the game, or the leading hound, and sees the chase going on without interruption ; personally convinced, those who are the most forward, must best know the state of the scent by the checks, or the breast-high running of the hounds. Those who have been for a series of years accustomed to the sports of the field, well know there is invariably a jaundiced discontent with some about being too forward, which is a very predominant reason why the zealous sportsman will never condescend to be left a great way behind. He knows his place, and he keeps it; he is never seen in the body and bustle of the croud, riding in a di- rect line with, and pressing upon the heels of the hounds, but in a true sporting- like style, parallel with the three or four last couple of the pack: in which si- tuation, the horse (if well bred) is not only enabled to keep his place with ease, but the rider enjoys the additional advantage of most minutely observing every distinct winding of the chase; as well as the dashing efforts, and enchanting emulative struggles of the leading hounds. Keeping his ground in this situa- tion, he rapturously enjoys every alternate change and variety of the scene, by laying close to the hounds, and making the necessary observations, he is sure of seeing where and when they throw up, and of course knows to a cer- tainty how far they have carried the scent; consequently, those only who are forward, and know the state of the chase, are the best qualified to give the signal of " hold hard" to those behind, and not, as is too frequently the case, for those behind to transmit inconsistently the petulant exclamation to those before. The 33 The moment leading hounds are at fault, every judicious horseman invariably moves to a proper distance, that the body of the hounds may not be interrup- ted in making their casts, or get interspersed amidst the legs of the horses. Whenever a lucky hit is made, he instantly attends to the hound who made it, and upon a general recovery of the scent, goes immediately on with the chase ; for the loss of ground, at so critical a moment, it may be sometimes difficult to regain. In the midst of his enthusiastic attachment to the sport before him, the safety, case, and preservation of his horse preponderates over every other consideration; and this inflexible determination is supported by such a chain of invariable rules, that they are never permitted to be broken in upon under any plea, persuasion, or perversion whatever. No temptation can induce him to deviate from a plan previously adopted and prudently persevered in. The sportsman of this description is never seen embarking in any scheme of impru- dence, or unnecessary danger; equally a stranger to the furor of folly, and ju- venile indiscretion, he never enters into the spirit of racing competition durinw the chase, thereby distressing his hoi'se, and wantonly wasting the strength that may be so much wanting (and cannot be restored) at the conclusion of a long and severe day. Superior to every species of false ambition, and imaginary consequence, he scorns the idea of taking high, or large leaps unnecessarily, merely to attract attention, or to display his valour, well knowing discretion is the most striking proof of humanity; in which confirmed persuasion, he invariably regulates the pace of his horse by the nature of the country he has to go over, and is ob- served never to ride hardest in the deepest ground, for experience has long since demonstrated (even to the least attentive), that whatever distance may have been unavoidably lost under temporary obstacles, may with the less diffi- culty, be recovered, when the horse's strength and wind are carefully attended to, till he can go above the surface, and consequently more at his ease. Let what will have been the fate of the day, however sooner, or later the chase may have been concluded, the same steady and cool deliberation with which he started in the morning accompanies him on his return; he is induced by no rash juvenile, or inconsiderate examples, to reduce the estimation of a valuable hunter to the standard of a post-horse, for being reflectingly superior to the in- stability and impetuous impatience of those who surround him, he neither trots with one, or gallops with the other; but, without respect to distance, gently VOL. II. i. brings 34 brings his faithful friend and sporting companion to the place of his destina- tion (or his home), where he may leceive all the attention, and enjoy all the comforts to which he becomes so largely entitled. Having considered it a matter indispensably necessary, and directly applica- ble, to introduce the characteristic traits and systematic proceedings of an ex- perienced sportsman, as an useful and entertaining appendage to the chase ; it can prove no less so, to bring into a similar point of view, a contrast of very different description. The juvenile fashionable sportsman, or rather the sports- man of fashion, seems (as it were by instinctive impulse) to regulate his con- duct, by rules exactly opposite to the comfort of the company, and the general happiness of the chase. Exultingly emulous in a consciousness of his own self-sufficiency, he affects to believe, that all the world should, like himself, consider the sports of the field the only ecstatic enjoyment that a man of sense, and a man of pleasure can engage in. Confirmed in which emphatic furor, he holds it forth as a matter of the utmost magnitude to his domestics, and renders it, if possible, of still higher importance, by a communication of strict orders in the evening to every individual, that the house may be in early confusion (or rather regular preparation) the following morning. If he is luckily in posses- sion of a horse, the least entitled by merit or appearance to the appellation of a hunter, he is ordered off at day-break, under the care of the hunting-groom, to be ready at the place of meeting ; whilst the master, so soon as he is libe- rated from the hands of his valet, or hair-dresser, follows upon his seasoned hack. Arrived at the happy spot of expectant destination, it is no uncommon thing for him to assume (if he does not possess) a superlative degree of the most un- bounded effrontery, surveying the whole of the field with a leer of ineffable con- tempt. In exchanging his horse, no airs are wanting in adjusting his apparatus, and asking his servant a thousand frivolous questions, of no other import what- ever, than to render himself conspicuous, and of some imaginary consequence. When the hounds are thrown into covert, and every old and experienced sports- man is in silent, but eager expectation for the first challenge, it is generally his peculiar care to become the only subject of vociferation, by noisy and extra- neous remarks, or weak and puerile observations. It is no uncommon thing for these " poppinjay" kind of gentry, to gallop from one extremity of the co- vert S5 vert to the other, when the hounds are harking to each other, and every mo- ment expected to find ; by which indiscretion they not only prevent the game from breaking away, but frequently occasion its death without a view. Newly initiated sportsmen of this description, are never deficient in their strenuous endeavours to inculcate the idea, that riding hard, and riding bold, are the only things on earth to excite universal admiration ; and so pre-possessed are they with this favourite opinion, that not to be at the head of the hounds is a mortification too great to be described. When leduced to this distressing predicament, one alternative only presents itself, and proves of a most infatuating infection; for " Hold Iiard T '■''Hold liardr is instantly vociferated from many mouths with more than even a Stento- rian dictation. This they conceive a striking proof of their consequence, and, if it luckily intimidates the inexperienced, or pusillanimous, the political stroke succeeds, and they get before them; succeeding occasionally in which, they become, in their own opinions, leading sportsmen of the highest estimation. To support the brilliancy of which character, they, with an aftectation of the most earnest avidity, frequently take a number of severe and unnecessary leaps; not, more probably, to prove their courage, than their humanity also, by a dis- play of attentive tenderness to a favourite horse. When any of this fraternity are accidentally behind, they make a gratifying point of getting up in the midst of a dirty country, or at the entrance of a watery lane, where by passing at full speed, and almost smothering every more patient competitor with dirt, or water, they succeed in their most ambitious and predominant wish of becoming objects of general attraction, equally indifferent whether it is productive of admira- tion, approbation, or contempt. Wherever they may have been at the termi- nation of the chase, their own report, " trumpet-tongued," always proclaims their presence to have been at the death. After this cursory review of the different devotees, who can never summon resolution to withstand the temptation of the chase, such remarks as are appli- cable to personal perfection in the art, ease, and grace of riding, become in- dispensably necessary to a completion of the subject now before us. Horse- manship, as it is most frequently termed, may be considered in two distinct points of view ; first, whether it is self-acquired by natural attachment, and pa- tient perseverance, or by instruction at some one of the many schools of cele- brity; for there are not wanting those who aver (and with very great show of F % reason 36 reason and truth), that tlie sportsman ^ho lias imbibed the arl from nature, habit, and practice, is, in general observation, a more easy, graceful, expert, and courageous horseman under every difficulty of field, or road, than the ma- jor part of those who have been in the trammels, and under the tuition of the most able and eminent professors. As there are, however, but very few of these schools to be found in any part of the kingdom, except in the metropolis, and its environs, and excellent horsemen are to be seen even in the remotest parts of the world, it may be impartially presumed, there is much more of na- ture than of art in the acquisition. Notwithstanding which, it must be can- didly admitted, that however unnecessary the inculcations of a riding-master may be found in forming the graces and qualifications of a sportsman, they become palpably requisite to the completion of a military education, in which both personal dignity, and adequate authority, must be systematically main- tained. The character of a sportsman is universally known to be, in a great degree, self-formed, and there must be much more than a mediocratic proportion of general knowledge, and personal experience, before an appellation held so high in estimation can be attained. He is not only looked up to as an adept in the principles of horsemanship, but a perfect master of the most minute circum- stance in the regular routine of stable-discipline ; no stranger to the name and use of every utensil, any more than to the application of every distinct part of the apparatus with which his horse is customarily accoutered, he can never be- come the dupe of his groom. He not only knows the things most proper for his horse, but he appropriates them to the particular purpose for which they are de- signed ; understanding practically the property and power of each kind of bridle, he brings them judiciously into use with the different kinds of mouthed horses to insure the effect of each bit individually, as it was originally intended to pro- duce. These trifles, when considered conjunctively, are of such material im- port to safety, and are such solid and substantial proofs of mental stability, and persevering punctuality, that they may, in the aggregate, be unerringly deemed the very foundation, or ground-work, upon which the reputation of cither sportsman, or horseman, can possibly be formed. These terms may, in fact, be considered as synonymous, there being very seldom one of these, but what is in great part tlie other also; these (as before observed) without exception, preparatory to mounting for either chase or jour- ney .37 ney, prudently condescend to cast an eye of circumspection upon the horse as well as the necessary appendages, that it may be ascertained to a certainty how far they are adequate to the purpose in which they are going to be engaged. This being done, those who are practical proficients in horsemanship, come gently up to the horse, opposite the shoulder on the near (that is the left) side; where facing the wither, the reins of the bridle, with a tuft, or small part of the mane, is to be taken firmly in the left hand, and held at about the same distance and length as they generally are when mounted. Tlie horse at this moment standing perfectly still (which he should have been previously taught and ac- customed to do), then, and not before, the right-hand is immediately employed in supporting the stirrup for the reception of the left foot on that side; which, when safely inserted, the right-hand is instantly removed from the stirrup- iron to the hinder prominence of the saddle, which grasping firmly, it consti- tutes an assisting support in raising the right leg from the ground, and to pass it gradually and steadily over the body of the horse, where it falls readily into contact with the stirrup on that side. Thus seated, the state of the bridle- reins is the first means of consideration, due observation being made of the me- dium they are to be held in ; that is, not too tight, to make the horse uneasy and to run back, or slack enough to afford him opportunity to set off before his rider is firmly seated, and sufficiently prepared. The rider thus mounted, should in his body be gracefully and pliably erect, inclining rather backward than forward, the weight of the frame resting entirely upon the posteriors, proportionally relieved by the continued adhesion of the thighs, and an equal moderate pressure of the knees and legs upon the sides of the horse. To preserve which position pleasingly free from constraint and stiff- ness, the proper length of the stirrup-leathers is a matter most material to be attended to; for unless they are in length, minutely adapted to the stature of the rider, it is impossible for him to support a firm, safe, and graceful seat, more particularly with high-spirited, violent, vicious, or restive horses. The prevalent error with young and inexperienced horsemen, is their having their stirrups inconsistently and ridiculously short, by which they are erroneously in- duced to believe they insure their own safety ; though the opposite is the palpa- ble fact, and, with a horse of brisk action, they are always in great danger; for, by this awkward and ungentleman-like position, the knees are lifted above the skirts of the saddle, the adhesive pressure of the thighs are prevented, the legs 38 are deprived of the assistance they are naturally intended to aflord, and the rider is left without the means of sustaining his proper position, when swinging first on one side, and rocking on the other, he seems left entirely to the temper of his horse. That this state of uncertaintj' may be rendered clear to every comprehension, it becomes directly applicable to observe, that for ease and safety, the stirrups and leathers should be precisely in this state; that the rider, when sitting upon his horse, either still, or in action, should be enabled to disengage either foot from the stirrup at a single motion, and by keeping the foot, or feet so disen- gaged, in a direct horizontal position, have the power of recovering, or catch- in" the stirrup instantaneously with the slightest effort made for that purpose. These leading principles to the perfection of horsemanship being properly at- tended to, the body will be found easy, and the seat firm and commanding, di- vested entirely of all those rockings, jerkings, and twistings (at one time over the horse's head, and at another over his tail) so very common in the fashionable equestrian display of Hyde-Park, and the environs of the metropolis. In sport- ing language, the left is termed tiie bridle-hand, and when mounted, the left elbow should come nearly in contact with the body, which it has, of course, always ready for its support in any sudden jump, start, or stumble that may happen to occur; in want of which regular bearing to resort to, the hand could never be always equally steady, but would sometimes prove an unintentional check to the horse. No fixed and invariable rules can be laid down for the ex- act distance of the left-hand from the breast, or its height from the saddle ; as horses vary so much in their mouths, that the bridle-hand must be consequently used higher, or lower, and the reins be held longer, or shorter, in i)ropor- tion. The right-hand (in racing technically termed the whip-hand) should be brought into a corresponding uniformity with the left ; acting occasionally in an equal use of the reins, and the judicious management of the mouth, and this is so much a matter to be acquired by practice, that every perfect horseman can as dexterously manage the reins with one hand, as with the otlier. The hand cm- ployed should always be firm, but delicately pliable, and feelingly alive to every motion of the mouth; for by this tender action of the hand, and the nice dis- crimination of the rider, the horse has better opportunity to display his spirit, and 89 and demonstrate the pleasure he receives, in being permitted to champ upon the bit. Notwithstanding the introduction of these inculcations, for the instruc- tion and entertainment of juveniles in their earliest initiation, it must be held in remembrance, that tlie predominant traits and qualifications which constitute the excellence of horsemanship can never be derived alone from theory, but must acquire the polish of proficiency from a persevering practice; they are, therefore, only intended as a deposit in the memory of those, who not feeling themselves too confident in their own ability, may be content to avail them- selves of information resulting from a long and attentive experience of which they are not yet in possession. Those gentlemen, or sportsmen, who have, from an attachment to breeding as amateurs, encountered infinite trouble and great expence in breaking their horses, by the most expert professors in that way, yet many colts possess by nature, and retain by habit, various faults and vices, which are not only un- pleasant and inconvenient, but absolutely unsafe and dangerous to those who ride them. There are, it must be admitted, no small proportion of impetuous, petulant riders, who, from a want of knowledge, experience, or reflection, ex- pect their horses to do more than nature ever intended, and, by their own pas- sionate, and inhuman conduct in the use of them, soon render animals of this description as restive and refractory as they are themselves. There are but few instances to be found where irascible or passionate riders make good, or humane horsemen ; great patience, serenity, equanimity, and some natural philosophy, is requisite to encounter the numerous and variegated vicissitudes so frequently presenting themselves in either the field, or road ; a fiery, petulant rider, and a hot, high-spirited horse, are frequently observed to constitute an unlucky, and ill-formed connection of the most heterogeneous complexion ; for, as they support an obstinate and perpetual war, in which neither feels disposed to sub- mit, so they continue to oppose and irritate each other till both are more ex- cited to the spirit of opposition than they were before. Horses, from the sagacity with which they are providentially gifted, are not long in discovering the mildness and pliability, or opposite disposition of their riders, and proportioning their docility and obedience thereto ; of which no greater demonstration need be required, than the numerous instances of their voluntarily following those (either master or servant) by whom they are pro- tected 40 tected, and accustomed to kindness; as well as their waiting, unattended and unconfincd, at any particular door, even in the midst of the most populous streets thronged with carriages, from which spot they will never attempt to stir, till they receive a signal of hand, or voice, from those to whom they belong. Those possessed of tenderness and humane reflection are never deficient in kind and proper attention to an animal who contributes so much, and so essentially to the health, happiness, pleasures, and emoluments of mankind ; but, on the contrary, omit no one opportunity of promoting their requisite ease and bodily comfort in return. IVIany horses, particularly young ones, from natural shy- ness and constitutional timidity; or, probably, from harsh and severe treat- ment in the service of a former master, are alarmed and terrified at the slightest accidental motion of stick, or whip, in the hand of the rider; who, if he pos- sesses the traits of tenderness just described, instantly quiets his fears, and al- lays his irritability by letting the instrument of alarm gradually decline behind his right thigh to the flank of his horse, whilst those of a diflferent temper and description would exult in brandishing either whip or stick over the head and eyes of his horse in a confident and most unbecoming confirmation of his own ignorance, or insanity. Various and contradictory opinions are supported, upon the subject of horses addicted to starting at objects of sudden surprize, after the most minute atten- tion to, and investigation of which, it is truly natural to conclude the transition oriorinates much more in the sensation of fear, than in the least spirit of oppo- sition, or disobedience ; and the recollection of this probability should, conse- quently, excite an adequate degree of lenity in the rider, but it is seriously to be regretted, that (in the present state of human depravity amongst the lower orders) nine times out of ten, this alarm and subsequent start, the palpable effect of constitutional timidity, is destined to receive the most severe and un- merited punishment. To every rational and thinking observei', it is no un- common thing, in the casual occurrences of the day, to see a much greater brute than the animal he bestrides most inhumanly and unmercifully beating and bruis- ing, whijiping and spurring, a poor creature for possessing a sensation to which every individual of even the human species is equally subject. It may be na- turally concluded, by the least considerate observer, that if every individual of society was to be beat and bruised for being justly agitated and alarmed at the sudden appearance of danger, or the sight of unnatural objects of surprize, and 41 and apprehension, our receptacles for invalids could never prove of sufficient magnitude to contain half the unfortunate who would present themselves for admission. If then, caution, and the predominant sensation of fear, is instinctively and constitutionally interwoven with the frame of man ; is it not equally natural, that the horse, who inherits the same powers of seeing, hearing, and feeling, may be proportionally alarmed at, and terrified with the probability of impend- ing destruction. In fact, it must be candidly admitted, that none but the most incredulous, and self-sufficient cynic, will presume to argue, or doubt, that the horse has not the same susceptibility of pain, and the same dread of disso- lution (in respect to accident) as ourselves. Does he not afford ample proof of similar precaution and circumspection in avoiding every threatened danger, or dreaded calamity, when it is dependent upon his own exertions, untram- melled with the fetters of harness ? Has he not the same fear of being crushed to death by the weight of any massy substance, or stupendous body suspended above himself? Has he not the same fear of being drowned ? Is he not per- ceptibly conscious of danger if led to the brink of an awful precipice, and does he not retreat with the most violent demonstrations of apprehension and horror? Is he not terrified even to the deprivation of motion at the sight of fire ? How then can it create wonder, or surprize, (with even the most unthinking and il- literate) that he should be alarmed at, and afraid of a windmill, a whirligig, a mail-coach, or the ponderous summit of a broad-wheeled tilted-waggon, upon a narrow road, whose sudden jerks, and altei'nate motions, seem to threaten speedy annihilation. Admitting then, upon the ground of this reasoning, that the principal, or true cause of a horse s starting may be justly attributed to fear, what wonderful effisct can reasonably be produced from the sudden violence and passion of the rider ? Yet it is certain, nothing more frequently and palpably proves the foil}', ignorance, and inhumanity of the lower classes concerned in the management of horses, than the prevalence of this practice. That horses shy, and accus- tomed to starting, may be compelled, by persevering severity, to pass objects of dread and dislike cannot be denied; but it is to be presumed, that lenity, patience, and mild persuasion, are not only entitled to the preference, but are certainly the most gentleman-like of the two ; and, although it is sufficiently VOL. II. G known, 42 known, that it is the indispensable business, and principal point of honour with the rider, to subdue any refractory, or disobedient spirit in his horse ; yet it is to be fairly presumed, that no coercive measures, or exertions of cruelty need be resorted to, till the more lenient and persuasive endeavours fail in effect. Notwithstanding the reasoning here advanced to abolish the ridiculous idea and frequent practice of forcibly, suddenly, and violently pressing a horse in the midst of his terror, up to a carriage, waggon, windmill, or to whatever object by which he may have been alarmed, it is necessarily admitted he should be made to know he must pass it, which time and experience has, in a thousand instances, sufficiently proved he may be made to do, by a modulated tone of the voice, a moderate and judicious use of the rein, and a proper injunctive pressure of the legs, as well, or better, than by any forcible means of severity whatever. In all cases of starting, restiveness, or vice in horses, the use of the legs is a very important consideration ; when a horse in starting begins to fly on one side, for the purpose of turning from the object he wishes to avoid, the strong and instantaneous pressure of the leg on the side to which he leans, suddenly counteracts his spring, and with the joint exertion of the rein and wrist inmie- diately brings him straight ; at which critical moment, the same resolute and energetic firmness of both legs as has been previously used with one, he then faces the object of dislike, and generally with gentle usage, blended with mo- derate correction, will soon submit to the alternative, and proceed in the way he is required. Thus it evidently appears, that as the legs properly exerted in the act of horsemanship are of the greatest utility, so are they the very reverse if improperly brought into action. Nothing more clearly demonstrates the in- experience and inability of a horseman, than to sec the legs in a state of insta- bility, eternally swinging backwards and forwards, by no means unlike the pen- dulum of a clock, with the additional sensation of alternately beating against each side of the horse, as if the aggregate of motion was intended to act as a stimulus to the increase of action : for, by such unnatural gestures, if the horse so ridden is of high spirit and good discipline, he will readily conceive, all that bustle of his rider is intended to promote his own speed, and he proceeds ac- cordingly ; on the contrary, if such a mode of riding is practised upon the back of a slow-goer, it is admirably calculated for the indulgence of his habitual callosity. Attentive 43 Attentive observation aftbrds innumerable proofs, that the tempers of horses are as much diversified as the petulance and capricious humours of those who ride, or drive them ; and it cannot, by any means, be inapplicable for the youns; to be informed, or the aged to recollect, that an infinity of horses are most inhumanly made restive, or vicious, by a repetition of severe and unme- rited ill-usage, and are then as unmercifully whipped, spurred, beaten, and bruised, for being so ; of which no greater proof, or substantial evidence need be adduced, than the public and well-known fact, that there are constantly dis- posed of, at the different repositories, numbers of horses, as invincibly restive, who, by gentle use, and tender treatment, prove, in a very short time, to pos- sess the best tempers, and the most pliable dispositions. Those who are the best experienced, and the most perfect in practical knowledge, know that personal and unrelenting severity to horses addicted to restiveness, or starting, very frequently makes them worse, and more incorrigible, but seldom seen to make them better; it is therefore certainly more rational, humane, and evi- dently more gratifying, to effect subservience by mildness and manly persever- ance (necessarily divested of fear and pusillanimity), than by means of unna- tural severity, so often tending to promote and increase the evil il is intended to prevent. Having laid down the rules, and endeavoured to inculcate the principles by which the true art of horsemanship may be attained, it becomes equally appli- cable to the original purport of intentional instruction and entertainment, to conclude this divisional part of the subject with an experimental definition of the appellation of sportsman, or a correct delineation of those whose distin- guishing traits are the most devoted to the chase. The name of sportsman has, for time immemorial, been considered nationally characteristic of strict honour, true courage, unbounded hospitality, and unsullied integrity; but, in the pre- sent day, we are so over-run with the prevalence of fashion, and what may be termed an assumption of character, that those only who have analized human nature by its most unerring criterion, can distinguish between the genuine old English stock, and its spurious, or illegitimate offspring. In former times, the character of the sportsman, like the constitution (by which his person, his pro- perty, and his pleasures were protected), was equally unsullied, equally com- prehended, and equally respected ; but the capricious changes of fashionable frivolity, and the ravages of time, have been evidently as productive of mutila- tion to one, as of depredation upon the others. G 2 The 44 The constitution of this country (notwithstanding its still universally admit- ted superiority over every other), it cannot be denied, has, within half a cen- tury, undergone such variety of trimming from the different pruning-knives of successive administrations, as may best have suited the prospects, indulged the pique, gratified the pride, or supplied the wants of those personally concerned in the eventual termination of so hazardous a speculation. Great and unex- pected as those political changes have been, they have not, in the eye of the aged and experienced observer, contributed more to the face of novelty, or consti- tuted a greater contrast, than has been produced by whim, fashion, caprice, and luxury, between the sportsman of an earlier period and the present day. It is but a very few years since the idea of sportsman was truly idiomatic, and gene- rally understood to imply a man of the most open liberality ; what it is, in the present refined, and complicated idea of sporting, intended to convey a per- fect conception of, it is difficult to ascertain, the original stock having, by va- rious crosses, and gradational shades of contamination, become nearly obscured in the collateral ramifications of consanguinity. In fact, those of different pursuits, and different dispositions, whose ambition prompts them to assume the appearance, and obtain the reputation of sportsmen, are so numerous, and their motives so diversified, that it is found impracticable to delineate their characters but under the following distinct, and separate heads : — • THE RUSTIC SPORTSMAN. TO the devotee of this description, the name and character is the utmost summit of personal ambition in this life ; and to demonstrate himself every way entitled to it, is the sole object and employment of his existence ; having but this distinct prospect in view for the completion of every sublunary hap- piness, and looking up to it as the gratification of every wish, he is as truly energetic and eccentric in the pursuit of his favourite sport, as are the more enlightened and more embellished boti vivaiits in their enjoyment of the mid- night pleasures of the metropolis. Although, at the first view, appearances may not predominate in his favour, and he may seem much inferior to the po- lish of the times, by the unattracting mode of his address, and the mauvaise honte of his manner ; yet, upon a more frequent and intimate association, he is frequently found to possess a much higher sense of honour, a warmer and more liberal heart, with a greater disposition to hospitality than many of his sporting cotemporaries, 45 cotemporaries, the value of which is considerably enhanced by a blunt, but most unsullied integrity. As the chase and its exhilarating concomitants may be truly said to constitute " the God of his idolatry," so he is not only enthusiastic in every thing apper- taining to it, but all his thoughts, actions, conversation, and diurnal routine of conduct tend only to the great gratification of this predominant passion, which, in fact, evidently engrosses every attention of his existence. So incredibly en- thusiastic is his attachment to the sports of the field, that he is never seen at any season of the year without a horse in his hand, and a brace of pointers, spa- niels, or terriers at his heels, and the tenor of his behaviour is in the exact line of mediocrity between the gentleman and the clown, in justification of which pre- tended apathy, he is always prepared to advance this plea, " that where there is too profuse a display of politeness, or good manners, there can be but little, or no expectation of sincerity." Upon this principle of presumption, which is too innate, and too much practically confirmed to be shaken, or relinquished, he rather shuns, than solicits any association with his superiors in private life. Roughly hewn, and literally unpolished himself, he is a professed foe to even the appearance of extra civility in others, and rudely repulses any ofi^er to render him service, upon a presumption it is only an oblique prelude to the solicitation of a favour, or of borrowing money out of his pocket. Confirmed in his ori- ginal opinion, that to be a sportsman, he must in every degree be less than a gen- tleman, he sets at defiance all the tender offices of reciprocity, and indulges in a seeming wish of living for himself alone. Having almost from his boyhood imbibed the idea, that it is a most manly trait of the sportsman to hold the feminines in a contemptuous indiflference, he indulges himself with letting every virtuous woman believe so in all unavoidable conversations, but gives paradoxi- cal proof of the inconsistency of his suggestions, by forming a casual and tem- porary connection with every easy female who may happen to fall in his way. As it is his common remark, that none but those of hale constitutions can stand all weathers, so he encounters the worst at all times to prove the strength of his body, and the superiority of his mind ; and, as he never condescends to take a seat at the breakfast-table with the females himself, he honours with the name of " Milksops" those who do, and, in his own opinion, affects to consider them too weak in both body and mind to follow the hounds. His own custom is to derive 46 derive constitutional stamen from a breakfast of beef-steaks, and a jug of strong beer, taking the necessary precaution to prevent any chance of regurgitation by the friendly interposition of a bumper of brandy previous to mounting for the chase ; as well as to remember the necessary supply in the hunting-bottle (or pocket-pistol), that he may be the better enabled to encounter any unexpected lassitude or debility that may arise from the severities of the day. After which, on his return from the field,, it is his indispensible rule to take a little drop of comfort at every house where a sign is held out as a distinguishing external proof of its internal hospitality, and those of his sporting-associates who do not feel disposed to fall into such occasional propositions, are accused, in the language of the immortal bard, of having " no more good fellowship than a malt- horse." The sportsman of this description is by no means so much circumscribed in his pleasurable pursuits as many othersj having a variety of substitutes during the summer months, when the more polished and brilliant devotees are labour- ing under an undescribable ennui from the temporary and unavoidable suspen- sion of the chase. Like a dashing and successful adventurer at the game of hazard, who is constantly throwing a main of seven, and " nicks it for all in the ring ;" so the sporting subject of present delineation pursues the routine of racing, cocking, and cricket, with a long list of rural et ceteras : never hesi- tating, in a sterility of sport, to assist in forming a subscription for an ass-race, or even to lend a warm and ready hand in promoting a display of female charms and agility for the emulative possession of a Holland-smock. Upon a self- interested and persuasive principle, that " he lives only to enjoy life," he never condescends to practice the least degree of self-denial, nor does he ever sacrifice at the shrine of Friendship to his own inconvenience ; for, in the true style of Tony Lumpkin's creed, he cares not how many he disappoints, but cannot in- dulge for a moment the idea of disappointing himself. Though no professed friend to politeness, he is an inveterate enemy to the ofiices of civility and mu- tual attention, declaring it a superfluous ceremony, particularly at the table of hospitality, where he always takes care to give ample proof of the privilege of free-agency, by most expeditiously helping himself to no inconsiderable portion of the best dish, and thinks he affords sufficient demonstration of liberality and good manners in leaving the rest of the company at full and unrestrained li- berty to do the same. With him the bottle, the bowl, or the jug, is never per- mitted 47 initted to move tardily by rule, it being his invariable practice to prevent their ever standing long in one place. To conclude the whole of his character, he avoids taking his meals at any particular hour, because he considers it truly me- chanical, and dictatorially exclaims, " that no sensible man should eat till he's hungry, or go to bed till he's ready to fall asleep." By way of contrast to a character so truly original and so unexaggerate, THE EFFEMINATE SPORTSMAN stands equally entitled to a fair and candid representation. This subject, though apparently of the masculine gender, is rather (in the eye of the old and expe- rienced sportsman) a non-descript, than of any distinguished construction ; and may be not improperly considered, one of those flimsey and superficial shades in the picture of life, which seem calculated only to give force by contrast, to such brilliant lights, as tend to constitute striking objects of magnificence, splen- dor, and admiration. He seems, in person, one of those animated frivolities destined unfortunately to bear but little or no weight in the scale of society; his intellectual powers, and the attracting siiaviter in modo of his exterior, being evidently calculated to enhance the original deficiency in human estimation. Parot-like, " speaking an infinite deal of nothing," it is not without much dif- ficulty that hearers are to be obtained ; and when so, " one to another still suc- ceeds, and the last fool is as welcome as the former." Without the least know- ledge of a horse, or the least ear for a hound, he unluckily commences sports- man, not from the least discoverable taste, or the most distant attachment to the sport, or to the hospitality every hearty fellow of that description is known to possess ; but that the aggregate of qualifications constitute a something supe- rior to the narrowness of his own soul. There is, his predominant passion prompts him to believe, about the sportsman, an indescribable ease, an open- ness of heart, an attracting tout-eii-semble, to which all hearts are open, to which all minds are subdued, but which (surprizing only to himself) he can never attain. In this eternal and fruitless pursuit, aspiring to a character to which it is im- possible he can ever attain, he ranks in no dissimilar situation to poor Scrub in the Beaux Stratagem, when, in his description of Archer to the ladies, he tells them 4g them, with both concern and regret, (not knowing how to describe him more correctly for their comprehension) that " the gentleman's gentleman is quite another sort of a thing to what he is." So is it with the effeminate sportsman; no habiliments he can procure, no ornaments he can obtain, ever give him the look, the weight, the substance of the natural and unadorned sportsman, whom it is his utmost pride, his eternal desire to imitate. Outre and ridiculous in one attempt, the unnatural effort is so truly infectious, that it renders him equally so in the whole; impressed beyond every other idea with the sporting miasma, he is totally lost to the bewitching charms, and abortive influence of the femi- nine family branches by whom he is surrounded, his every moment being dedi- cated to the rhapsodical anticipation of external brilliancy by individual eccen- tricity : the curricle, the gig, the sulky, the tandem, the tridem, or the indefini- tiim during the summer, and the horse and the hounds in the winter, constitute the aggregate of his knowledge, and the utmost extent of his experience. These qualifications are, however, not the genuine and instinctive produce of the soil, but the fancied effusions, or deceptive traits of attraction, produced by the vitiated effect of fashion, and may not be inapplicably compared to the bark of the native hardy oak, engrafted upon its own polypus. Here then in every part of his conduct it appears, that his seeming attachment to the sports of the field is merely superficial, not a predominant ray of his heart, pointing to a particle of the pleasure it universally disseminates ; but that tlie cliaracter he so strenuously assumes, may become a political passport to the presence of the ladies, by the greater part of whom he feels himself considered a kind of lusus natu}'(e, too cold in constitution for the general warmth of their embraces, so condescendingly, so cheerfully, and so congenially bestowed upon the real and unsophisticated sportsman, who " unadorned is then adorned the most." Confidently considering this assumption of character necessary to the completion of his most predominant design, he talks of little else than his eter- nal preparation for the chase, where, in his opinion, external appearance, and a brilliaat display of imaginary superiority is to constitute a gratification of every expectant happiness in this life. At the commencement of the hunting-season, a renewal of the chase is the only purport of his incessant enquiries, during which, he is perpetually boring all his friends with the expectation of a day's sport for a week before it arrives, and sadly sickens them with a repetition of recitals for a fortnisht after it is over. As 49 As a field so numerous and respectable must naturally be conceived to include characters of the most variegated and diversified description, it becomes an in- dispensible duty to introduce, for the accommodation and information of our unpractised readers, an unexaggerate representation of such prominent indivi- duals as are the most earnest in their endeavours (by certain degrees of personal singularity) to render themselves objects of general attraction; and who will, beyond a doubt, be highly gratified at finding so true a representation placed before the public, of which THE SPORTSMAN OF FASHION seems destined, by the rule of consistency, to take the lead. This kind of amphibious character of assumption, is well known to be more frequently seen in the most public streets and busy bustle of the beau-monde in the metropolis, than in the rural recesses of the country, being infinitely greater adepts in the arts of the town than the sports of the field. Sportsmen of this description are principally the constant inhabitants of the almost innumerable hotels, taverns, coffee-houses, and brothels, very few, if any, being encumbered with a resi- dence of their own; and it is not unworthy of remark, that many of this class pique themselves upon the antiquity of their families, and, indeed, M'ith no inferior shew of reason, for their pedigrees are so truly abstruse, that it is not without the greatest difficulty they are enabled to unravel the clue of their own origin. Sportsmen of fashion, are generally gentlemen of the most undaunted spirit and incredible enterprize ; they dare danger in almost every form, and dread no object in existence so much as a sheriff's substitute, or a Bow-street officer. So true is the ancient axiom, " birds of a feather flock together,'' that they are constantly to be seen " in herds'' at the western extremity of the town, that emporium of fashion, where arm-in-arm, three or four a-breast, with the most unblushing effrontery, they insult every modest woman they meet, and elbow every diffident man into the kennel. These subjects of general observation are tenaciously exact in the uniformity of their external sporting appearance, invariably bearing about them every mi- nute part of the apparatus necessary to constitute the exterior of the sports- man— horses and hounds excepted. Immersed nearly up to the chin in the immense and unprecedented magnitude of their leathern conveniencies, their VOL. II. H ^ new-topped 50 new-topped boots, and crane-necked spurs, they feel exultingly armed " for either field," and of course qualified to attack the frail fcminines of every de- scription witli the most unbounded confidence. Engendered in the lap of li- centiousness, and nurtured in the school of dissipation, they hold in perfect contempt every rigid rule of respect and propriety; setting at defiance the advan- tage of a good name, they prefer the fashionable appellation of " Captain," (with the collateral alternative of an alias) to any they could derive from fa- mily right, or public privilege. Having a profusion of time hanging heavy upon hand, these gentlemen are a perpetual bore at various public exhibitions, not only at Tattersal's on Saturdays and Sundays (where they may be seen in swarms), but prove perpetual pests to other eminent dealers every day in the week; to whom, however, they are almost all universally known and estimated accordingly. They adopt a pretence of being eternally " in want of horses," but, unfortunately, never discover any precisely applicable to their purpose. Grooms too, they are perpetually in pursuit of, " not that they have any immediate occasion for them, but that they may be ready when the horses are taken up from grass." To the most fashionable confectioners, and fruiterers, the fraternity are become a perfect nuisance, where, under the plausible plea of a custard, an ice, or a jelly, they engross both the room and conversation (to the exclusion of others of a different description) the greater part of the day. In the boxes and lobbies of the theatres they are the least welcome, and most dreaded of all visitors; these being the spots peculiarly adapted to a gratifica- tion of their utmost ambition, as it is here they can practice the most consum- mate impudence with impunity, and in various ways offer oblique insult to the polite and unprotected, without the fear of punishment. Certain individuals of this class are intimately connected with, and related to, a certain family, and are exceedingly expert at games of chance ; the casual entertainment of an evening can, therefore, never be prevented by any want of knowledge or expe- rience on their parts, for possessing a kind of intuitive universality, no propo- sition can come amiss : a rubber at whist, the odd game in eleven at cribhage, a lounge at billiards, or even a box-hand at hazard, are all matters of business, and, of course, readily acceeded to, Dependent largely upon the favours of Fortune, they " watch her with a wary eye," aud let no mon)ent escape in which they can attract her smiles to a promotion of their own interest ; but sub- ject, as they must become, to her occasional caprice, it can create no surprize tliat 51 that they experience her vicissitudes, for her favours fluctuating mostly in the night, many there are who have basked in her golden showers on one day, who knew not where to procure a dinner the next. In nearly a direct contrast to the description of a Sportsman of Fashion, may be applicably introduced a chaste and accurate delineation of THE FASHIONABLE SPORTSMAN, where it will be seen, that although the likeness be found correct, the writer will " nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice." Adverting to the idiom of this, and the preceding appellation, it may, pro- bably, to some readers, seem to convey an idea of synonymous celebrity ; yet, upon deliberate inspection, they will appear as characters not bearing the least similitude to each other in either family, fame, or fortune; and yet they are equally prominent to the public eye, and equally emulous of becoming conspi- cuous objects of critical notoriety. Previous perusal will have demonstrated, that the " Sportsman of Fashion" is merely so in habit and external appearance, being, in fact, neither more or less, than a booted-pedestrian, or sporting " king of shreds and patches," having no such thing as horse or hound in his retinue, unless in the fertile rays of his imagination. The Fashionable Sports- man is a being of far superior order, having horses, hounds, and females of every description, sufficiently distinguishing himself as the very hie ubique of the field and turf. Of an ancient family, and ennobled blood, he has been fa- shioned in the frame of luxury, and encouraged to imbibe the essence of aristo- cratic hauteur from the downy pillow of his cradle. A favourite of his mother from the earliest rays of reason, he may naturally be supposed to possess no trifling share of feminine frivolity, and can be but Httle suspected of contribut- ing much sagacity towards the support of either church, state, king, or con- stitution. Having been early initiated in, and passed through the scholastic trammels of a college-education, and acquired the effrontery necessary for a mere pubhc H 2 appearance, 52 appearance, he was entered at one of the universities, where he soon attained a degree of pre-eminence in every perfection, that could animate the mind and expand the soul ; not in the dull and dreary pages of literary refinement (the common bore of book-worms and plodding philosophers), but in all the blaze of nocturnal brilliancy; the sparkling wine, the enlivening glass, the sprightly catch, the mirthful glee, m ith every corresponding attribute of the jolly god ; and though " last, not least," the life-inspiring confidence of those illumined feminines, who condescendingly contribute their utmost personal exertions for the more perfect completion of a polished education. In addition to these im- portant acquisitions, it is natural to conclude, some proficiency in the art of logical disquisition is indispensibly necessary to his future destination ; the bet- ter enabling him to reconcile those points of honour and paradoxical pursuits in which he is about to engage. Considered, by his infatuated relations, ripe in reason, and rich in mental endowments, he is permitted to emerge from the confines of a college, to appear, in the hemisphere of fashion, a constellation of the utmost magnitude. The Fashionable Sportsman, at this, his first entri upon the town, is a di- rect contrast, in many respects, to the character whose delineation has just preceded him; and whose very existence, it is observed, depended mostly upon the diurnal (or rather nocturnal) caprice of that fickle goddess. Fortune. Not so with the subject before us, whose property, in real estates, is large and he- reditary, but, with a certain degree of fatality, so unfortunately perverted to the worst of purposes, that he is seldom the possessor of twenty pounds for ten days together. An assertion so truly paradoxical, can only be reconciled to the comprehension of the inquisitive or impartial reader, by a concise and candid explanation ; which consists in neither more or less, than his very far exceeding, by his indiscreet and inconsistent expenditure, the annual receipt of his income. This is, at present, the fashionable furor, or infectious influenza, which bears down all before it, and so constantly reduces its victims to a state of the most degraded and repentant mortification; and thus accustomed to an unrestrained gratification of every wish, an indulgence in every passion that the mind can suggest, or the heart approve, and equally a stranger to prudence and oeconomy as to the consolatory rays of reflection, it is no matter of surprize to the rumi- native observer, that the character of this description is constantly contributing to the causes of his accumulating troubles and progressive vexation. For 53 For the more consistent support of the sporting eminence he has assumed, he finds it necessary (without meanly adverting to number or the expence) to have both hounds and hunters in different counties, and horses upon the turf in various parts of the kingdom at the same time ; and this is occasionally car- ried to such an almost incredible extent, that there are, by no means, instances wanting, where the memory has proved so tenacious (or more properly decep- tive), that sportsmen of this class have been at a loss to recollect, whether horses then running were botiajlde tlieir own, or the property of other people ; as has been recently demonstrated by the oath of a groom against the honor of a peer in one of the courts of law, after those busy, officious, hypocritical scoundrels, John Doe and Richard Roe, had seized upon running-horses, and their splendid paraphernalia, as the property of one man, when a most palpa- ble attempt was made to evade the effect of the law by a nominal and temporary ti'ansfer to another. Occurrences of this complexion furnish ample proof, that nothing can be more derogatory to the reputation of a Sportsman of Fashion, than descending to the clerk-like drudgery of arithmetical calculations; he, therefore, never encounters the mortification of entering into any minute inves- tigation of his pecuniary concerns, and is frequently, without the misery of knowing it, many thousands worse than nothing. Having been, from the ear- liest stages of his existence, a total stranger to the virtue of self-denial, and never compelled to labour under even momentary restraint, he never finds it necessary to bestow a condescending reflexion upon the true state of his affairs till a melancholy memento from his steward, banker, or a lawyer, denotes the game to be up, and publicly pronounces the pecuniary annihilation so long expected, and so fully confirmed. In addition to these unembellished qualifications, it must not be omitted to observe, that it is his rule, almost invariably, never to let his rents revert to the just and proper channel of strict honour and unsullied integrity. Money must never be wanting for the regular routine of the turf, the dulcinea, and the gaming-table, though the unhappy dependent, imploring tradesman, is upon the very verge of bankruptcy, and his hitherto unsullied credit, most probably, irretrievably ruined, after years of industry, for want of a few pounds, so justly his due, out of the many thousands so shamefully dissipated amongst the most unprincipled and abandoned classes of society. These, it is pubhcly known, are the practices of those high-born, well-bred men of honour, to whom we are encouraged to look to as objects of perfection worthy imitation. These are the 54 the immaculate tj-pes of our old English ancestry, who have so laudably and attentively studied the manners, the frugality, the honour, and the patriotic ])rinciples of the ancients, the better to render themselves laudable and praise- worthy examples to the moderns. In fact, the more their principles and their practices arc analyzed, the more they demonstrate themselves the fashionable offspring of degenerate luxury, who look upon the pride, the glory, and true strength of Britain (the middle orders of the people) with the most contemptu- ous indifference ; without the sinews of whose arms, without the invincible loyalty of whose hearts, the landed interest, so largely boasted of, would bear no inapplicable affinity to the organist and the bellows-blower, or the body without a head. Having introduced these sketches of various individuals of which the sport- ing world is composed, as a specimen of novelty and variety, for the entertain- ment of the juvenile and inexperienced reader ; it becomes directly in point to conclude the scene with a concise and superficial survey of THE GENTLEMAN SPORTSMAN, whose consistency of conduct renders him an object of veneration to his friends, an ornament to society, and an honour to his country. He is the very man upon whom " Nature seems to have lavished her choicest gifts"' without the need of embellishment from the interposition of art. Heir to the possession of bis paternal property, he not only properly appreciates its intrinsic value, but holds it too high in estimation to let it become the instrument of either bodily debility, or mental prostitution. Generated in the prime and health of his predecessors, his manly form and open countenance display no trait of a fa- shionable and distorted imbecility, but presents the aspect of a constitutional stamen unsullied by any mercurial particles of a more refined communication. Content with the advantages of a plain classical education, it was not thought necessary by his prudent, but unfashionable parents, that he should pass the fiery ordeal of either university, where it was feared (from the examples which would have been constantly before him) he might have imbibed notions of dishonour, much more than a counter-balance to any degree of personal dignity, that could be acquired at even seminaries of so much celebrity. Without farther intro- ductory matter, the character now under delineaiioii is the true old English country 55 country esquire, who, uncontaminated by the curse of insatiate ambition, and totally invincible to every effort of fashion, is only happy himself in the happi- ness of his domestic dependants, the corresponding smiles of his tenants, and an hospitable association Mith his neighbouring friends. His hounds are kept from an instinctive attachment to the sport itself, as well as to continue the respectable and enlivening establishment of his ancestors, and not from the paltry, but very common idea and desire of having his name blazoned forth in every part of the county, for keeping what he has neither property to support, or spirit to enjoy. Personally fr.ugal, though in the prac- tice of a most liberal hospitality, his mind is never disquieted by the pecuniary solicitations of his tradespeople, who are invariably prevented by his own punctuality and integrity from being a single quarterly-payment in arrear. The entire guardian of his own honour, he never permits it to become degraded by the unprincipled pride of a subordinate under the appellation of steward, or to be prostituted by the unqualified denial of a menial servant bedaubed with lace under the denomination of a footman. Innately philanthiopic, he is easy of access to every decent enquirer, and never, amongst his servants, countenances false consequence in one department, or extravagance in another ; by a perse- verance in which system his rustic mansion is a scene of the most perfect tran- quillity, not a tradesman but esteems him as a benefactor, not a servant but looks up to him as his best friend. The rational pleasures of the field he moderately and judiciously engages in with all the fervency of a well-informed and experienced sportsman, but not with all the ecstatic enthusiasm and prevalent indiscretion of a determined de- votee ; capable of distinguishing between the use, and abuse, of what is so evi- dently and benignly placed before him as an excitement to exhilirating action, and so indispensibly necessary to the promotion and enjoyment of health, he enters into all its spirit, avails himself of all its import, not more as a personal gratification (in respect to sport) than a mental perusal of one of Nature's many volumes, calculated to display, to the ruminative mind and expansive comprehension, the applicable and coinciding speed of the horse; the instinc- tive impulse, invincible ardour, and corresponding perseverance of the hound; the various inventions, shifts, and evasions of the game; and, lastly, the firm and manly fortitude of those who cheerfully join and happily surround him in the chase. For it cannot but be known, and will be, by every class of the sporting 56 sporting-world, universally admitted, that so congenial are the feelings, and so sympathetic the liberality and pursuits of sportsmen in general, that few friend- ships are better founded, none more disinterested, few, if any, more perma- nent, none more sincere. Having gone through such characteristic and distinguishing traits as princi- pally appertain to this particular kind of chase, as well as taken such cursory survey of its component parts as may have been expected by the greater part of our readers ; it now becomes no less necessary to introduce the natural history of animals from whom sport of so much celebrity and magnificence is derived. THE 51 THE STAG, or RED DEER. THE male and female of this species pass under the denomination of stag and hind ; as the buck and doe are known to constitute the difference of genders in the fallow-deer. The latter are principally the natives of parks, and bred for the domestic purposes of furnishing venison for the table, as well as for the supply of the markets in the metropolis. The former are the stately inhabitants of those extensive and sequestered tracts called chases and forests, where they are preserved under laws and regulations (hereafter to be explained), as more peculiarly appropriated to the pleasures in which his Majesty, as already de- scribed, so constantly condescends to engage. The stag, individually surveyed, is one of the most commanding and majes- tic figures in the animal creation, his lofty and elegant aspect instantly exciting attention and admiration. Naturally disposed to solitude, he never obtrudes upon the haunt of man, but delights to revel in the remote and unfrequented shades of obscurity. When caught sight of by any of the human 'species, amidst the umbrageous, stillness of his sequestered situation, the grandeur of his deportment, the exulting erection of his crest, and his complicated suspense of doubt and fear, cannot be encountered without the most awful and impres- sive sensations ; the only struggle of each seeming to be, which shall first begin to run, the surveyor, or the surveyed. With ample power to alarm, oppose and subdue, he has, in most instances, pliability to submit, and after a few minutes of reciprocal surprize at the interview, he generally withdraws deliberately to the inner recesses of his protecting covert; seeming more disconcerted than alarmed at the approach of human intruders. In the extreme dignity of his de- portment he stands in every respect unrivalled, and may, with true allegorical propriety, be termed the hereditary monarch of the woods; more particularly as every other animal is observed to retire at his approach. This, however, does not appear to proceed from a dread of hostility, as, in his peaceable and vox, II. I undisturbed 58 undisturbed retirement, he is perfectly tranquil and inoffensive, displaying no antipathy or opposition even to those who come with intentional hostility to him. His form, when surprized by any unexpected object coming suddenly upon him, is the most striking and beautiful that can possibly be conceived ; the elegance of his figure, the truly commanding effect of his stature, the flexi- bility of his frame, the muscular elasticity of his limbs, the velocity of his mo- tion, and the proportional immensity of his strength, in addition to the impres- sion made upon the mind by the magnific grandeur of the antlers branching from his brow, all combine to render him an object of the most pleasing und serious attraction. These animals, formerly so plentifully to be found in different remote parts of the kingdom, as well as in the highlands of Scotland, and near the lake of Killar- ney, in Ireland, are so greatly reduced, that they are but rarely to be seen in a wild and unpreserved state in either; this, perhaps, in the gradational vicissitudes of time, may be more properly attributed to the advantageous distribution and judicious improvement of land, than to any other cause whatever. Stags, or hinds, were then found singly, and hunted, or pursued indiscriminately, by those sportsmen who having hounds, considered themselves lucky in finding them; but now, where they are bred for the use of the royal chase (as in Windsor- Forest, and the New Forest of Hampshire), they assemble together; and upon Ascot-Heath, in the middle of the former, near Swinley-Lodge, the offi- cial residence of the master of the stag-hounds, may be constantly seen the largest and most formidable herd in the imperial dominions. The colour of both stag and hind is a dingy, or dark sandy red, with tints of a darker hue about the eyes and mouth; down the upper part of the neck, and over the points of the shoulders, is a shade of dark brown, bordering upon black ; the countenance is superlatively expressive, the eye beautifully brilliant even to poetic celebrity, and his distinct senses of smelling and hearing are equal to any ani- mal of this country. When unexpectedly disturbed, his position is the most powerful and majestic, his head being raised to its highest pitch, he erects his ears, swells his neck, extends his nostrils, and snufi's the air, as if in curious and impatient investiga- tion of the cause, or circumstance, by which it was occasioned ; and let this be what it may, he seldom or ever takes to sudden flight without first measuring, by the extent of his eye, and the accuracy of his ear, the magnitude of the danger 59 danger with which he may happen to be tlireatened, and proceeds accordinofly. If, in his minute survey, he can perceive no dogs of the party, he seems per- fectly secure, men, cattle, or carriages giving him but little, or no concern; for after turning twice or thrice, and taking a repeated survey with a kind of confused admiration, he deliberately moves off without the least alarming sen- sation The rutting -time (as it is called), or season for copulation, begins at the latter end of August, or beginning of September, and terminates about the second or third week in October, depending a little, in that respect, upon the state of the season, and the ages of the different deer ; those of two, or three years old, being backwarder than those of five or six, of course extends the season somewhat beyond those who are older ; during all which the stag as- sumes a degree of courageous confidence and invincible boldness in approacli- ing the human species, than they have ever been known to display at any other season of the year. During this period their necks swell, they look wild, and appear in search of something to pursue, are eternally ranging from place to place, as if impatient for some object to attack ; in the progress of which per- ambulation, his voice is frequently exerted in a way both loud and alarming to those who have not been accustomed to hear it. When opposed, or attempted to be counteracted during this season of con- stitutional violence, they are so exceedingly powerful, ferocious, and deter- mined, that no common force can stand against them ; well knowing this, they attack every individual who comes in their way, with an utmost certainty of suc- cess, of which the two following instances have occurred within the perfect knowledge, and memory of the writer. At the time when the late Duke of Cumberland, uncle of his present Majesty, resided at the Lodcre in Windsor Great Park, the locksmith (one Thomas Bull) who inspected the locks of all the park-gates weekly, was, in his crossing the park from one gate to another, pursued by a stag, who was got within a very few yards of him, when in the extremity of fear, and with compulsive agility, he luckily escaped his fury, by climbing a hawthorn-tree, where he remained in jeopardy till the fol- lowing morning, when the stag made a retreat upon the accidental approach of the keepers. A similar, but much more serious circumstance occurred not many years since in Hackwood-Park, the seat of the then Duke of Bolton, near Basingstoke, in Hampshire, where a girl, about fourteen years of age, hav- ing on a red cloak, was attacked by the oldest stag of the district with so much fury, that he not only perforated her body, in different parts, with his antlers, 2 but 60 but extended his malicious inveteracy to her apparel, so that the melancholy spot was literally covered with rags, and the corps so dreadfully maimed and disfigured, that it retained but litile of the appearance of a human frame. "With respect to procreation, the time of gestation with the hind is, from the moment of conception, to the hour of parturition, nine lunar months, as nearly as it can be ascei taincd ; they invariably producing their young in the latter end of^Iay, or two first weeks in June. Immediately after impregnation, the stag and hind spontaneously separate from each other; no intercourse whatever takes place ; even common association ceases, and nothing, during the period of gestation, ensues, but mutual and marked indifference. The hind is known very seldom, if ever, to produce more than one, and this (which is during the year called a calf) she deposits in the most remote, sequestered, dreary, and best sheltered spot to be obtained, for the purpose of being secreted from its nume- rous enemies, amongst whom there are none more determined, or malicious, than its sire, the very author of its existence. IMysterious as this may appear to the inexperienced naturalist, it is an absolute fact, and the dam is so per- fectly conscious of the stag's unnatural propensity to a destruction of his own offspring, that she is more anxiously industrious to conceal the retreat of the unoflfending animal from him, than from the aggregate of all its otlier ene- mies. The calf, when once of strength sufficient to accompany its dam, never leaves her side during the first summer; and the ensuing winter, none but the hinds, and the males under a year old, remain together ; the annual separation of the stags and hinds invariably taking place as already described. During the infancy of the young, the courage of the dam, in defence of her offspring, is equal to any maternal affection of even our own species; for she encounters every enemy, opposes every force, exposes herself to every danger, and boldly hazards her own life for the preservation of theirs. All this, however, is the effect of instinctive and hereditary fortitude, having no reliance whatever but upon bodily strength and exertion ; nature having left her without horns, those useful and ornamental vveapons with w hich her consort is so powerfully armed. The first year, the male has no horns; the second, they are straight and single; the third, they shew two branches ; the fourth, three; the fifth, four; and the sixth, five, when the stag is reckoned at his full growth, and complete : not- w itlistanding m hich, the branches continue to increase till there are six or seven on 61 on each side ; and, though the age of the deer is mosdy ascertained by the num- ber, yet it is not always certain, but is more nicely to be depended upon by the size and thickness of the principal trunk by which they are sustained. These horns, wonderfully ponderous as they are, and enormous as they appear, are shed annually, and this astonishing process of nature is perfected about the lat- ter end of the month of February, or during the first weeks in March ; between which, and the commencement of the rutting-time, there is a complete regene- ration, when they fight for the possession of the hind with the most determined and incredible ferocity. After the season for copulation is over, the males have been found so much debilitated as not to be able to afford much permanent sport before the hounds; to obviate which difficulty, or inconvenience, the operation of castration is sometimes adopted, and the deer, thus deprived the means of propagation by the loss of the testes, and feeling no stimulative pro- pensity to copulate, is never reduced in figure or strength, but ready, at every part of the season, for the field, and often afford chases of great duration. So soon as this operation is performed, he no longer ranks a stag, but is sportingly denominated a heavier ; and, what is well worthy the attention of the curious in natural investigation, are the following authenticated and incontrovertible facts: that, if a stag undergoes this operation at the season of the year when his horns are shed, they will never regenerate, or grow again; and, on the contrary, if it is performed when the head is full, and the antlers in perfection, they will never again shed, or exfoliate during his existence: but what is still more ex- traordinary, and will by many be thought incredible, is, that being deprived of only one testicle, the horn will never regenerate on that side, but continue to grow, and annually shed on the other where the remaining testicle has not been taken away. Heaviers are experimentally proved to be of great strength, and to stand a long time before hounds ; for which reason the hunting establish- ment of his Majesty is never without a regular succession. When the old horns are shed, the new ones do not immediately begin to ap- pear ; but the bones of the skull are then invested only with a transparent pe- riostium, which, in fact, is a kind of membraneous covering to the bones of every animal without exception. This skin, however, soon becomes tumid, and forms an excrescence containing a considerable quantity of blood, and which gradually becomes a downy substance, and nearly resembling velvet, and 62 and of the same colour with the rest of the hair. This tumour daily protrudes like the point of a tree, and rising by degrees from the head, throws out the antlers on each side; so that, in a few days, (depending in some degree upon the condition of the animal) the whole head is comjjlete. Stags no sooner shed their horns, than they separate from each other, and seek the most retired and remote parts of their district, distinct from the frequented lair of animals, whose attacks their defenceless situation, at such time, would render them un- able to oppose. In this state of imbecility they continue nearly, or full three months before their horns attain full growth and maturity ; at which time, by rubbing them against the pliable branches of the underwood, and the trunks of the smallest trees, they, at length, totally clear them of that skin (or cover- ing) which had previously contributed to their growth and nourishment. In a few weeks after they are furnished with their new horns, they begin to find the approach of the rutting-season, and the naturally impressive desire of propa- gatmg their kind. At this time their necks become remarkably turgid, and they appear additionally bold, furious, and discontented, perpetually rambling from one place to another, striking with their horns against trees, and any other op- posing object ; continuing equally fierce and restless "till they have found the females, who, at first, endeavour to avoid them, but, by perseverance, are compelled to comply. In this state the stag continues to range, from mate to mate, for about three weeks, which is nearly the extent of this season ; during all which, he neither eats, sleeps, or rests but little ; so, that ultimately finding himself emaciated, feeble, and debilitated, he withdraws himself from his associates, and retires to the most sequestered and nutritive pasture, in search of repose and renova- tion. The voice of this animal is more loud and tremulous in proportion as he advances in age, but more tremendous and alarming during rutting-time than at any other season of the year. The cry of the hind, or female, is not so loud as that of the male, nor is it ever excited clamorously, but through apprehen- sions of immediate danger to herself, or her young; a circumstance arising, pro- bably, from a remark already made, that, being destitute of horns, she is not in possession of any other means to repel an attack if made, or to use in her own defence. Dependent, therefore, in a great degree, upon speed, if acci- dentally hunted, or pursued, during the time she has her offspring to protect, she instantly flies in a direct line from the spot where it is deposited, exposing herself 63 herself to the imminent danger of being individually destroyed, for the more effectual preservation of the object of her most tender affection ; and, if so for- tunate as to elude the vigilance of her pursuers, and escape with her life, she returns to her young, whatever may have been the distance, or the difficulties she may have encountered. The rapid reduction of the species of red deer in this country, is clearly ac- counted for, by Mr. White, in his history of Selbourne ; where he says, " that at the beginning of the last century, the forest of Wolmer contained five hun- dred head, which made, when together, a most stately appearance ; and, that no longer since than 1789, an old keeper was living of the name of Adams (whose ancestors and himself had enjoyed the head-keepership of Wolmer- Forest for more than a hundred years), who assured him, that his father had often mentioned, that Queen Anne, as she was journeying to Portsmouth, came out of the great road at Lippock, and reposing herself on a bank prepared for the purpose (which still retains the name of Queen"s-Bank, and is about half a mile from Wolmer-Pond), there saw, with great complacency and satisfaction, the whole herd of red deer, brought by the keepers along the vale before her, consisting then of about five hundred head ; a sight not unworthy the attention of the greatest sovereign. The keeper added, that by means of the Waltham- Blacks, or (to use his own expression) so soon as they began blacking, they were reduced to fifty head, and continued decreasing until the time of the old Duke of Cumberland, who sent down the stag-hounds and their attendants, who, in one summer, took every stag, and conveyed them in carts to the Park and Fo- rest of Windsor ; the hinds being, in the following winter (after affording chases which are still talked of as most extraordinary), eveiy one caught and carried off in the same manner. Mr. White proceeds to observe, that although large herds of deer do much harm to a neighbourhood, yet the injury to the morals of the people is of more moment than the loss of their crops. The temptation is irresistible ; for there is such an inherent spirit for hunting in human nature, as scarcely any inhibition can restrain. Hence, he observes, towards the beginning of the last century, all the lower classes of rustics were infected with the idea of deer-stealing ; for, un- less they were " hunters," as they affected to call themselves, not one was allowed to be possessed of either manhood or gallantry. The old race of deer-stealers, says 64 says he, are yet hardly extinct, for they recount over their ale the exploits of their youth ; such as watching the pregnant hind to her lair, and, when the calf was dropped, paring its feet with a penknife to the quick, to prevent its escape, until it was large and fat enough to be killed ; the shooting at one of their neighbours with a bullet, in a turnip-field, by moonshine, mistaking him for a deer; and the losing of a dog in the following extraordinary manner : — Some fellows, sus- pecting that a calf new-fallen was deposited in a certain spot of thick fern, went with a lurcher to surprize it, when the parent hind instantly rushed out of the brake, and taking a spring, with her feet all close together, she pitched upon the neck of the dog, and broke it, causing instant death. The red deer, though precisely the same in form and colour, differ somewhat in size in different countries; one killed in the county of Aberdeen, in North- Britain, weighed three hundred and eighteen pounds, exclusive of the skin, head, and entrails. In Bavaria they are said to exceed this bulk very conside- rably; Hondius, a German geographer, relates, that on the 22d of Aug. 1560, a hart was hunted, and taken, which weighed six hundred and twenty-five pounds. Dr. Johnson (who, by the bye, it must be acknowledged, was no great sportsman,) describes them a httle erroneously, as not exceeding the com- mon (or fallow) deer in size, and that their flesh is of equal flavour, and this he advanced upon the following circumstance : that a stag, who had been com- mitting depredations upon the farmers' corn during the whole summer, which was afterwards accidentally hunted and killed, a haunch of it weighing forty-six pounds, was allowed, by very competent judges, to be the highest-flavoured, and fattest venison they had ever tasted. Of the bodily strength, and instinctive courage of this animal, a few well- authenticated proofs may be adduced well worthy the attention of those ear- nestly zealous in the researches of natural investigation. In September, 1686, (during the rutting-season) as Frederic-William, Elector of Brandenburgh, and his Electress, Dorothea, were hunting after dinner, in an open chair, at Gotze, about half a mile from Custrin, on the Oder, they saw, about a hundred paces off, a very stately stag, standing with his head pointing from them, but his left side presented toward the left-side of the chair. Her most serene highness tak- ing aim, shot him with a leaden-bullet, whereupon he moved off slowly, to the distance of three or four hundred paces, losing a great quantity of blood in his way, 65 way, and tottering with weakness, took refuge in a ditcii; where M. Consart (the elector's gunsmith), by the help of his spaniel, found him in a standing position, and at thirty paces distant, by the elector's order, lodged another ball in the back part of his head, and finding him still to keep his legs, advanced six paces nearer, and lodged a third under his left ear, when the deer instantly dropt, laying without motion. In this condition, Conrad, a forester, and Tro- benius, the electors master of the horse, hauled him out of the ditch, and brought him near the chair, which was now come up. The elector commanded Frobenius and Conrad to look for the wound the electress had first given him, which they found had entered close by the upper end of the bone of the left fore-leg, just under the shoulder-blade, and traced it with their fingers into the cavity of the breast, on towards the right-side. The forester, at this time, was sent to obtain a cart of some rustics in the neighbourhood, but it did not arrive in less than three quarters of an hour, dur- ing all which the stag continued lying on the ground, and, to every appearance, lifeless. The country-fellows who came with the cart, turned him from one side upon his belly, and laying hold of his horns, lifted his head into the cart, when, just as they were upon the point of raising the body, the stag jumped upon his feet, sprang away from them, and, to the amazement and consterna- tion of every one present, traversed the country with incredible swiftnes?. They then pursued him near two miles towards the Oder with hounds, which then surrounded him, and stopped his progress, when the forester coming up, shot him in the hinder part of the back ; notwithstanding which, he made an effort towards a further escape, but was at last pulled down and killed by the dogs, and brought to the Elector's lodge, at Gobze, where the hunters opened the carcase, and, to their great astonishment, found the heart entirely perfo- rated (the ball having passed quite through), which, as a most surprizing cir- cumstance, they represented to their most serene electoral highnesses, who gave directions that it should be carefully examined by their physicians. Doctor Wil- lick, and Doctor March. These gentlemen reported, that the ball had pene- trated the posterior part of the heart, and passed through the middle of the right, a portion of the left ventricle, and made its exit through the anterior part of the heart, under the right auricle ; the wound being large enough to admit a finger, and that the fleshy fibres of the surrounding parts were considerably lacerated and contused. The 66 The old Duke of Cumberland (of CuUoden memory) was much attached to the chase ; and, for the fuller gratification of that pleasure, made the lodge in Windsor Great-Park, his principal residence, to the happiness of many hun- dreds of labourers, who, by having incessant employment, partook of his mu- nificence, which was so universal, that it almost exceeded belief. Amidst the alternate changes between the kings stag-hounds, and the buck-hounds kept by his Royal Highness at Ramslade, near Swinley-Lodge, there was hardly a day, during the winter season (when the weather permitted), that hunting might not be enjoyed. It is now not more than fifty years since, in the midst of this pe- riod, and perfectly within the memory of the writer who is a native of Wind- sor, and was then upon the spot), that the following experiment was made. by order, and under the immediate superintendance of his Royal Highness, to as- certain the true and natural instinctive courage of the stag when opposed to an enemy of the most formidable and terrific description :• — To effect this, one of the oldest stags in the forest was enclosed in an area formed upon a selected spot of the park, near the Lodge, and surrounded with a remarkably strong net-toiling, prepared for the purpose, full fifteen feet high; and this ceremony took place in sight of the principal road through the park, and at the time of Ascot-Heath races, so that thousands were present upon the occasion. When every thing was prepared, and the stag parading in majestic consternation at the astonishing assemblage of people around the net-work; at the awful moment, when it may be naturally conceived every heart beat high with wonder, fear, and expectation, the hunting-tiger was led in, hood-winked, by the two blacks that had the care of him, and who, upon signal, set him and his eyes at liberty. Perhaps so general a silence never prevailed amongst so many thousands of spectators as at that moment, when the slightest aspiration of a breeze might have been distinctly heard. Taking one general survey, he instantly caught sight of the deer, and crouching down on his belly, continued to creep exactly in the manner of a cat drawing up to a mouse, watching the opportunity to dart upon his prey with safety. The stag, however, most warily, steadily, and sagaciously turned as he turned, and this strange and desperate antagonist found himself dangerously opposed 67 opposed by the tremendous threatenings of his formidable brow-antlers. In vain did the tiger attempt every manoeuvre to turn his flanks, the stag possessed too much generalship to be foiled upon the terra firma of his native country by a foreign invader ; and this cautious warfare continuing so long as to render it tedious, and, probably, to protract the time of starting the horses upon the race-ground; his Royal Highness enquired, if, by irritating the tiger, the ca- tastrophe of the combat might not be hastened ? He was answered it might, probably, prove dangerous, or be attended with disagreeable consequences, but it was ordered to be done; upon which the keepers (but not without palpable reluctance) proceeded very near the tiger, and did as they were directed, when immediately, without attacking the deer, with a most furious and elastic bound, he sprang at, and cleared the toiling that enclosed them, landing amidst the clamours, shouts, and affrighted screams of the multitude, who fled in every direction, each male and female individually thinking themselves the destined victim of the monster's rage, who, nevertheless, regardless of their fears, or their persons, crossed the road, and rushed into the opposite wood, where a herd of fallow deer were feeding not for from the scene of action, upon the haunch of one of which he instantly fastened, and brought him to the ground. His keepers, to whom he was perfectly familiarized, hesitated for some time to go near him; but, at length, they summoned resolution to approach, and cut^ ting the deer's throat, separated the haunch he had seized (which he had ne- ver let go for a moment), hood-winked, and led him away with it in his mouth. Of bodily strength, and instinctive perseverance, one more instance may be applicably introduced, particularly as it stands upon respectable record. Some years since, a stag was turned out of Whinfield-Park, in the county of West- moreland, and hunted by the hounds of the Earl of Thanet, till, by fatigue arising from the severities of the chase, or difiiculties occurring in the way, the whole pack were thrown out, except two stanch and favourite hounds, who continued the chase through the greatest part of the day. The stag returned to the park from whence he set out, and, as his last effort, leaped the wall, and instantly expired so soon as he had accomplished it ; one of the hounds brought the scent up to the wall, but so exhausted, that he died upon the spot, and the persevering companion of his pursuit was found dead at no great distance. The length of the chase was uncertain, but as they were seen at Red-Kirks, near Annan, in Scotland, distant by the post-road about forty-six miles, it is con- K 2 jectured 68 jectured, that the circuitous and uneven course they might be supposed to take could be little less, if any, than from seventy to eighty miles. In commemora- tion of this fact, the horns of the stag, which were the largest ever seen in that part of the country, were placed on a tree of a most enormous size in the park, and afterwards called the Hart-horn Tree. The horns have since been removed from thence, and are now at Julians-Bower, in the same county. The chimerical suggestions, and fabulous recitals of longevity in the stag, are now pretty well buried in a permanent oblivion ; for having originated in a po- pular prejudice that prevailed during the days of Aristotle, he philosophically demonstrated the improbability, because neither the time of the dam's gesta- tion, or the gradational growth of the offspring indicated long life. This rea- soning, and from such powerful authority, would, probably, have abolished the former presumptive opinion, but for the ignorance of the fictious fabrica- tion of a stag's having been taken by Charles the Sixth, in the Forest of Senlis, with a collar having this inscription, " C^sar hoc me donavit." The great and predominant love of novelty inclined men to believe (or affect so to do), that this animal had lived a thousand years, and had his collar from a Roman emperor ; rather than rationally to suppose he might have come from Germany, where all the emperors were wont to take the name of Caesar. The truest cri- terion, however, that can be adopted, is, probably, upon the generally received maxim, that animals live about seven times the number of years that bring them to perfection ; and, this requiring six to arrive at maturity, it is fair to infer, that the life of a stag most likely terminates at about forty years. FALLOJV 69 FALLOW - DEER Are also occasionally objects of the chase, and the hounds used in this sport are denominated buck-hounds, and correspond in size and uniformity with those passing under the appellation of dwarf-fox. Fallow-deer are the particular species of deer bred in parks (and in the chases of his Majesty) for the produc- tion of venison, as well for the private use of the great and opulent, as for pub- lic sale. The male of fallow-deer is called a buck; the female a doe; the offspring a fawn, and they vary some degrees in colour, but consist chiefly of a dark dingy brown, inclining to black, or a mottled sandy dun. The fallow- deer and the stag strongly resemble each other ; they are similar in form, alike in disposition, the same in the superb and majestic furniture of their heads, as well as their speed and deportment, but one is not more than half the size, or weight of the other; yet, notwithstanding this simihtude, and that they are likewise na- tives of the same forest, park, or chase, they never associate, or herd together, but constitute distinct families, which, though apparently near, are greatly re- mote from each other. The fallow-deer is easily rendered tame and familiar if taken to when young, and feeds upon various articles refused by the stag : this, it is presumed, gives fallow venison the higher flavour. The fallow-deer browses much closer than the red deer, and are, therefore, injurious amongst young trees, which they often strip too close for recovery. The buck seeks the female in its second year, and, like the stag, indulges in variety; the doe goes about eight months with young, and, like the hind, produces but one at a birth. The buck and the stag diflTer materially in some particulars ; the former arrives at maturity in the third and fourth years, and lives about sixteen; the latter does not arrive at perfection in less than seven years, and, as before mentioned, is not supposed to live more than forty. The strength, cunning, and courage of the buck are greatly inferior to those of the stag, which renders them less appropriate to the purpose of the chase ; more particularly as their less powerful scent and lighter foot occasion more dif- ficulty to the hounds. In opposition to the fallow-deer, whose colours have been before described, there are in many parks, and other receptacles, a beau- tiful mottled and variegated kind, said to be of foreign origin, and to have been brouo;ht 70 brought from Bengal ; the deep brown, inclining to black, already mentioned, which are now so common in every part of the kingdom, were introduced by King James the First fiom Norway, where he passed some time when he visited his intended bride, ISIary of Denmark ; during his residence there, he observed their hardiness, and that they could endure the winter without fodder, even in that severe climate. He first brought them into Scotland, and from thence transported them into his chases of Enfield and Epping, to be near his palace of Theobald's, it being upon record that monarch was fond of hunting to ex- cess. Since that time they have so amazingly multiplied in many parts of the island, and are so well preserved, that England is now become more famous for the excellence of its venison than any otlier country in the world. The buck sheds his horns annually, and this exfoliation takes place from the middle of April, through the first weeks in May, and these are, in great part, ret^enerated by the end of September, or the middle of October. The doe ge- nerally produces her young in the last week of May, or during one of the two first in June, depositing them in the most dreary and sequestered places it is possible to discover. The flesh of both buck and doe are held in high and pro- portional estimation, according to the particular times of the year at which they are said to be in perfection. The season for prime buck-venison com- mences in July, and terminates with the summer; soon after which doe-venison is brought to table, and is considered in season till towards the approach of spring. The time of rutting is nearly the same as with the red deer; and the remains of both kinds, after death, are mostly converted to similar uses. The skins of both buck and doe are manufactured into the article of leather for breeches (newly y'cleped small-cloaths), so superior to every other kind for the purpose of riding, that the produce of the whole kingdom is not equal to the demand of the sportsmen only, many thousand skins being annually imported from different parts of the world. The horns of both are of great, and well known utility in mechanics, being compact, hard, and weighty; they make ex- cellent handles for couteaus, knives, and various other implements, and abound in the salt, w hich is the basis of a chemical preparation ; when the stimulative property is extracted, the remains undergoing calcination become a restringent article of the materia medica, and is used in decoctions for djarhasas and fluxes, under the denomination of calcined hartshorn. FOREST, 71 FOREST, AND FOREST-LATVS, FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEER. A FOREST is a certain circuitous scope of country, consisting of wood-land, ground, and pasture, privileged by royal authority (differing from park, war- ren, or chase), " for the peaceable being and abiding of wild-beasts and fowls of forest to be under the king's protection for his princely delight." For the more correct and accurate preservation of which, there are certain laws, officers, and orders, the most material of these appear in the great charter of the forest, and are as follow : — First. A forest, strictly and truly taken, cannot be in the hands of any but the king, because none else has power to grant a commission to be a Justice in Eyre. Secondly. The next property is the courts, as for instance, the Justice-Seat, the Swainmote, and the Court of Attachment. Lastly. The property of it is fully vested in the officers belonging to it, ap- pointed for the preservation of the vert and venison. These consist of the jus- tices in eyre, chief wardens, verderers, regarders, foresters, woodwards, agis- tors, rangers, beadles, and keepers. A forest can only have its foundation under a commission bearing the .great seal of England, and when proclaimed through the county in which the land so appropriated lies, " that it is a forest, and to be governed by the laws of a fo- rest," it then becomes a forest on record, and the officers above mentioned are appointed. A forest has its boundaries, its purlieus, its properties, its courts, with with a variety of regulations equally uninteresting and unentcrtaining, except to those who are resident within its precincts, and subject to its laws and prohi- bitions. What are called forest-courts, are such as are occasionally held for tarrying into execution the forest-laws. The principal of these is the court of the chief-justice in eyre; this is a court of record, and held but once in three years. The court of Swainmote consists of the verderers, who, in a certain degree, are the judges, as they receive presentments, and hear evidence, as well as enquire of offences to convict ; but they cannot pass judgment, that power being reserved to the court of the chief-justice (called "justice-seat") alone. This court can only be held thrice a year. The court of attachment is a meeting of the verderers, commonly distinguished by the name of the " forty days court," and is held (in some appointed part of the forest) every six weeks. Forests are of such antiquity in this kingdom, that, except the New-Forest, in Hampshire (erected by William the Conqueror), and Hampton-Court (erec- ted by Henry the Eighth), it is affirmed, there is no history, or record, which makes any positive mention of their erection, though they are alluded to by different writers, and in many of our laws and statutes. Notwithstanding this uncertainty in respect to their original institution, it is upon record, that there have been sixty-nine forests in England (of which the New-Forest, Windsor-Forest, Sherwood-Forest, and the Forest of Dean, have always been considered the principal), thirteen chases, and eight hundred parks. The beasts of forest, in all ancient records, were denominated " beasts of venery," and consisted of the hart, hind, hare, boar, and wolf; the complete annihila- tion of the two latter in this country has, however, long since rendered a con- tinuance of those terms unnecessary, if not entirely obsolete, and the whole are now generally comprehended in the more concise acceptation of deer and game; for the preservation of which, the la\vs have been since formed indivi- dually appropriate. The New-Forest was so called from its being newly added to the several fo- rests previously possessed by the crown, and was afforested by ^Villiam the Conqueror; of which transaction Mapes, an historian of the very next age, makes the following mention : — " The Conqueror took away much land from God and men, converted its use to wild-beasts, and the sport of dogs, demo- lishing 73 lishing tliirty-six mother-churches, and driving away the inhabitants of many villages and towns, measuring together fifty miles in circumference." In obser- vation upon this, Mr. Daniel in his " Rural Sports" has not inaptly remarked, that " this act of tyranny and depopulation must have been sufficiently displeas- ing when it took place ; but (says he) we may, perhaps, be allowed to indulfe our scepticism as to the correctness of this information. It may, however, be true to a sufficient extent to convince us of the imperious administration of power which oppressed and disturbed the community at this period of our go- vernment, and to strengthen our regard for that constitution, which, by its pru- dent and well applied arrangements, has so wisely conti'oUed the mandates of regal authority in our own times." The government of one forest varies little or none from the laws or rules of another, particularly since the abolition of former forest-laws has restricted within proper limits the power of its officers. The chief officer of the New Forest is the Lord Warden, and that distinguished appointment now rests with his Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester ; under him are two distinct ap- pointments of officers, the one to preserve the venison of the Forest, and the other to protect its vert; the former term, in the language of the forest-law, comprehends every species of game ; the latter signifies every thing that bears a green leaf within a forest that may cover a deer, but more particularly large and lofty coverts. The principal officers superintending are called rangers, but this appointment being merely nominal and honorary, the executive part of the trust devolves upon the keepers, whose duty it is to feed the deer in winter, browse them in summer, execute the king's warrant for venison, present of- fences in the forest-court, and by every possible means to prevent poaching and the destruction of game. There are also under-keepers, M'hose province it is annually to drive the Forest, and impound all the cattle, not more for the pur- pose of discovering marauders and estrays, than to examine, and properly mark all such cattle as are privileged to pasture within the boundaries of the Forest. With respect to the various officers already enumerated, the first under the Lord Warden is the TVoodzvard, under whom are twelve Regarders, and to these chiefly is deputed the executive part of his office ; besides these officers, who are, in effect, the officers of the crown (as they are appointed by the Lord Warden), there are four others, called Verderers, who are commonly gentle- 74 men of landed property and interest in the neighbourhood, and are elected in the same manner as knights of the shire, by the freeholders of the county. These officers, since the Justiciary in Eyre has been a sinecure, are the only judges of the Forest-courts ; after being elected, they are sworn before the sheriff of the county in which the Forest lies, to maintain and keep the assizes and laws of the Forest, and also to review, receive, and enrol all the attach- ments, and presentments of all manner of trespasses of the forest relative to vert and venison. The office of verderer bears no ill affinity to that of a coro- ner, particularly in this respect; that as a coroner upon notice of a person slain, is to go and view the dead body, and to make enquiry, by the oath of twelve men, how, and by what means the person came by his death, and who, and what was the occasion thereof; so it is the duty of the verderer, by his office, to look after, and view the wild-beasts of the forest; for if any of them be found slain, w ounded, or hurt, upon notice being given to the verderer, he is to go and view the same, and to cause an inquisition to be made by a jury of twelve men out of four of the next towns, to know how, and by whom, the said beast was killed, wounded, or hurt. Also, if an oak, being an overt-vert within the Forest, be felled or cut down out of the king's demesne woods, the same is to be appraised by view of the verderer. The regarders, whose responsibility is ministerial, are sworn to make regard there as usual ; to view and enquire of all die officers within the Forest of the safety and preservation of vert, or venison, and of concealments, or defaults of the foresters, or other subordinate officers of the Forest. The foresters are sworn to preserve the vert and venison in the different walks and districts to w hich they are appointed, and personally to guard and protect all the vert and venison therein ; not to conceal, but to attack all offenders, and to present the offences and attachments in the next court of attachments, or the court of Swain- mote next ensuing. The agistor's office is to attend upon the king's woods and lands in a Forest, receive and register catde, &c. by agistment, that is to depas- ture within the Forest, or to feed upon the pannage. Sec. and this officer is con- stituted by letters-patent. The ranger is one whose business is to re-chase the wild beasts fiom the purlieus of the Forest, and to present offences within the Forest; and, though he is not properly an officer in the Forest, yet he is a con- siderable officer of, and belonging to it. The beadle is a forest-officer, who warns all the courts of the Forest, and executes process, makes all proclama- tions, Sec. And the keepers, or bailiffs of walks, are those who are subordi- nate 75 nate to the verderers, and are exonerated from any attendance upon juries, or inquests out of the Forest. Having gone through such predominant traits as became unavoidably neces- sary to the clear comprehension of a Forest, its privileges, and the properties appertaining thereto ; it is equally applicable to concisely explain the precise distinction between a Forest, a Park, and a Chase. Of whatever dimensions, or extent it may be, has a privilege for beasts of chase by prescription, or by a grant from the crown. By the first writers upon these subjects, a Park is defined to be a privileged place for beasts of venery, as hart, hind, hare, boar, Avolf, and other wild-beasts of the forest and chase, and differing from a chase or warren in this particular, that a Park must be in- closed ; for if it lies open, it is a good cause of seizure into the king's hands as a forfeiture ; exclusive of which, the owner cannot have an action against such as offend by trespassing on, or hunting in his Park if it lie open. Three distinct things are indispensibly required to constitute a Park. First, a grant thereof. Secondly, an inclosure by a wall, paling, or hedge. And, lastly, a stock of beasts of Park, as buck, doe, &c. for these being destroyed, or containing no such stock, it is no longer accounted a Park ; for a Park, in its original forma- tion, is to consist of vert, venison, and inclosure ; but, being deficient in either, it is considered a total dis-parking. The first Park in England, to be so proved upon record, was that of Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, made by Henry the First, which was walled completely round -with stone, and seven miles in circumfe- rence. This royal example was soon followed by Henry, Earl of Warwick, for the preservation of his deer and game, being passionately fond of field-sports, more particularly of the chase ; and from this time the practice of park-making became gradually general amongst those whose opulence and landed property were equal to such establishment. A CHASE Is a sporting district, perfectly distinct in its properties from either forest or park ; for though it is equally appropriate to the beasts of venery before men- tioned, yet it has this difference, that a chase may be in the possession of a L 2 subject. subject, which a forest in its institution and true construction cannot; neither is it so large, or endowed w ith so many liberties, laws, courts, or offices ; on the contrary, it stands in estimation superior to a park, not only because it is invariably of much larger compass, but richer in its variety of game, extent of country, and number of keepers. A Chase having no courts as a forest has, offenders therein are not punishable by what are termed the laws of the forest, but by the statutes, or common law. The beasts of Chase are sportingly termed, in early records, the buck, doe, fox, martern, and roe. The male fallow-deer does not attain the appellation of buck till his sixth year, being progressively from his first a fawn, a pricket, a sorel, a sore, buck of the first head, and lastly a buck. The female is the first year a fawn, next a teg, and the third year a doe. The first year a fox is called a cub, the second a fox, and after that an old fox. The martern acquires that name in his second year, during the first he is called a martern-cub. Without adverting to a tedious and uninteresting detail, or recital of laws and restrictions continually varied, altered, and increased, through many centuries, from the origin of their formation ; it only becomes necessary to introduce, and to elucidate such modern acts of the legislature as are now principally acted upon, and which solely constitute the present existing LAWS RELATING TO DEER, as an accommodation to such as live within the purlieus of forests, chases, and parks, to whom such communication must be found useful, and cannot but prove truly acceptable. It stands universally admitted under every branch of both the former and the present law, that no person whatever can hunt within a forest without possessing the kings warrant, or his personal authority; and, what alone renders this circumstance extraordinary is, that he cannot so do, without the permission here stated, though it be upon his own land, or manor, situate within the forest. It appears, upon a perusal of the records of earlier and more superstitious times, that peculiar privileges were granted (or per- sonally enjoyed) by the superior and more dignified part of the clergy, which, it may be presumed, has from shame, during the gradational refinement of so many ages, fallen into disrepute, and, by the efi'ect of time, become entirely obsolete. A recent 77 A recent writer of some celebrity has, in the course of his production, intro- duced some truly entertaining remarks, amongst which he observes : The pro- pensity of the clergy to indulge in the secular pastimes, and especially those of hunting and hawking, is frequently reprobated by the poets and moralists of former times. Chaucer, in his Canterbury Tales, makes the monk much bet- ter skilled in riding and hunting than in divinity. The same poet, in the Ploughman's Tale, accuses the monks of pride, because they rode on coursers like knights, having their hawks and hounds in company ; he severely arraigns and reproaches the priests, alledging, that many of them thought much more upon hunting with their dogs, and blowing the horn, than of the service they owed to their God. The prevalence of these excesses, he affirms, occasioned the edict established in the thirteenth year of Richard the Second, which prohi- bits any priest, or other clerk, not possessed of a benefice to the yearly amount of ten pounds, from keeping a greyhound, or any other dog, for the purpose of hunting; neither might they use ferrets, hayes, nets, hare-pipes, cords, or other engines, to take or destroy the deer, hares, or rabbits, under the penalty of one year's imprisonment. The dignified clergy were not affected by this statute, but were at that time accustomed to retain their ancient privileges be- fore alluded to. By the laws of Canute, the Dane, they were permitted to hunt in the forests belonging to the crown, and these prerogatives were not ab- rogated during the successive reigns of the Normans; but Henry the Second, displeased at the power and ambition of the ecclesiastics, endeavoured to ren- der these grants of no effect: not by publicly annulling them, but by putting in force the cannon-law, which strictly prohibited the clergy from spending and prostituting their time in hunting, hawking, and the sports of the field. The bishops, abbots, and dignified clergy of the middle ages, hunted in great state, having a numerous retinue of servants and retainers ; and many of them are recorded for their great skill and personal energy in the enjoyment of this fashionable pursuit, Walter, Bishop of Rochester, who lived in the thirteenth century, was deemed an excellent sportsman of that day, and so extravagantly fond of the sport, that at the age of four-score he made hunting almost his sole employment, to the shameful neglect of his clerical functions, and all the duties of his office. In the next century an abbot of Leicester surpassed all his cotem- poraries in the feats of the field ; and even when these dignitaries were travel- ling from place to place, in the execution of their official concerns, they had usually 78 usually both hawks and hounds in their train, with the usual necessary atten- dants. Whitlock has assured us, that " Juxon, the Bishop of London, in 1635, was much delighted with hunting; that he also kept a pack of most ex- cellent hounds, and had them so well ordered and hunted (chiefly by his own skill and direction), that they were supposed superior to all other hounds in the kingdom." From Fitzstcphen we learn, that " Thomas Becket, being sent as ambassador from Henry the Second to the court of France, assumed the state of a secular potentate, and took with him hawks and dogs of various sorts, such as were then used by kings and princes." The clergy of superior rank in early times possessed the privilege of hunting in their own parks and inclosures ; and, therefore, that they might not be prevented from following this favourite pastime, they took care to have extensive receptacles for game belonging to their priories. At the time of the reformation, the see of Nor- wich, only, was in the possession of no less than thirteen Parks well stocked with deer and other animals for the chase. Thus it appears, by every trait to be found upon record, that this spirit of sporting had not only pervaded every description of the higher, but had dis- seminated its infectious and fascinating furor through the very lowest classes of society. To stem the torrent of which constantly increasing infatuation, and to prevent a perpetual perseverance in scenes of the most unprincipled and abandoned depredations, such plans were devised, and such laws enacted, by the different sovereigns in succession, as were most likely to stamp the privilege of private property, either in the crown, or an individual, upon such animals as being ferce naturce, had been previously considered joint-stock by the mass of mankind. Upon this subject the learned Sir W. Blackstone admitted, " that by the law of nature every man, from the prince to the peasant, has an equal right of pursuing, and taking to his own use, all such creatures as are ferci' 71a- turcef but he adds, " it follows from the end and constitution of society, that this natural right, as well as many others belonging to man as an individual, may be restrained by positive laws, enacted for reasons of state, or for the supposed benefit of the community." Upon this plea, the laws respecting both deer and game were introduced amongst us, and, most probably, at a time when property was not governed by those rules of equity, and enlightened maxims of justice which are now so well known to secure it. Every 79 Every department of history is replete with incontrovertible proofs, that the higher orders of earlier ages consulted their interests, and pursued their pleasures, without any very predominant, or provident care for the comforts of the less opulent, but not the least useful branches of the community, And it is natural to conclude, as they were conscious of their own strength, they were not wil- ling to diminish the foundation of their power by any spontaneous relaxation of their own privileges. The aristocratic pride of those times rendered them averse to sharing with their inferiors an amusement which, by a small stretch of power, they could so easily appropriate to themselves. The noble and exhilaratin'f exercise of hunting, and the anxious pursuit of the different kinds of game (partaking, in some degree, of that spirit of enterprise with which they were inspired), were recreations most congenially adapted to their taste ; it can, therefore, upon reflection, never create the least surprize that they should frame, and adopt statutes, to debar the lower orders from a participation of what they considered it most salutary and convenient to secure to them- selves. The consequence of these restrictions was such a decided and inveterate op- position on the part of the lower classes of society, that the destroying of deer, and deer-stealing, became a most prevalent devastation from one extremity of the kingdom to the other ; in proportion as which iniquity increased, the following laws were successively enacted, as the only possible means of suppressing an evil which had attained an almost incredible extent. For the more general preservation of deer in forests, parks, and chases, it is enacted, by an act in the reign of Geo. II. that if any person shall unlawfully set fire to, burn, or de- stroy, or assist in so doing, any goss, furze, or fern, upon any forest or chase within England, he shall, on confession, or conviction, by the oath of one witness before a justice, forfeit a sum not exceeding five pounds, nor less than forty shillings ; one moiety thereof to go to the informer, and the other to the poor of the parish, the same to be levied by distress; and if no distress, the offender shall be committed to the county-goal for a time not greater than three months, nor less than one. And, by a previous act of Geo. I. (commonly called the Black Act, from its having been made in consequence of depredations committed in Epping-Forest by persons with iheh' faces blacked), if any person being armed and disguised shall 80 shall appear in any forest, chase, park, paddock, or in enclosed grounds, where deer are, or have been usually kept, or shall wilfully hunt, kill, or steal any red, or fallow-deer, he shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. And, by the 16 of Geo. III. if any person shall course, or hunt, or take in any slip, noose, toil, or snare, or shall kill, wound, or destroy, or attempt so to do, or shall carry away any red, or fallow-deer, in any forest, park, or chase, whe- ther inclosed or not, or assist in such offence, he shall for the first offence for- feit twenty pounds; and shall, moreover, forfeit thirty pounds for every deer so wounded, killed, taken, or carried away ; and if the said offender has been entrusted with the custody of such deer, he shall forfeit double the above pe- nalties ; and, for the second offence, be guilty of felony, and transported for seven years. And, by the same act, a justice is empowered to grant a warrant to search for deer stolen, and engines concealed ; and the person discovered to be unlaw fully possessing the same, shall forfeit a sum not greater than thirt)', nor less than ten pounds. And if any person shall set, lay, or use any net, wire, slip, noose, toli, or other engine, for taking or killing deer within any forest, chase, purlieu, or an- cient walk, or within the ring, or outer-fence, dividing the same from the ad- joining lands, or in any enclosed park, wood, or ground, where deer are ac- customed to be, he shall forfeit, for the first ofltence, a sum not exceeding ten, nor less than five pounds, and for every subsequent offence a sum not exceed- ing twenty, nor less than ten pounds. And further, in respect to fences where deer are kept, if any person shall wilfully pull down, or destroy, or cause to be pulled down, or destroyed, the paling or wall of any forest or ground where any red, or fallow-deer shall be kept, he shall be subject to the like penalty as for the first offence of killing deer. As an additional preservative against the destruction of deer, the ranger, or keeper of forests, and other places where deer are kept, is empowered to take from persons trespassing thereupon all guns, fire-arms, slips, nooses, toils, snares, engines, and dogs, in like manner, as we have before seen, that game- keepers are empowered to take dogs, nets, and other engines, from persons not duly qualified to carry or use the same, and also to detain, and take before a justice, tlie person having the same ; and if any person shall hurt, or wound the ranger, or keeper, or his assistants, in the exercise of such authority, or attempt 81 attempt to rescue any offender in his custody, he shall be guilty of felony, and transported for seven years. And, if a person having a licence to hunt deer, or other animals in a forest, chase^ or inclosed park, he must be careful not to exceed the liberty expressly granted him ; for if he does, he will be considered as a trespasser ab initio, as if no licence had been granted him, and be pu- nishable accordingly. The better to strengthen and confirm all preceding prohibitions, it was en- acted, by the 42 of Geo. III. that if any person or persons shall wilfully course, or hunt, or take in any slip, noose, toil, or snare, or kill, wound, or destroy, or shoot at, or otherwise attempt to kill, wound, or destroy ; or shall carry away any red, or fallow-deer, kept, or being in the inclosed part of any forest, chase, purlieu, or ancient walk, or any inclosed park, paddock, wood, or other inclosed ground, wherein deer are, have been, or shall be usually kept, without the consent of the owner of such deer, or without being otherwise duly authorized, or shall knowingly be aiding, abetting, or assisting therein, or thereunto, every person so wilfully offending in any of the cases before men- tioned, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof upon indictment, shall be transported for seven years. In continuation, it is also enacted, that if any person shall so offend as aforesaid, he shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of fifty pounds ; and if the offender, in any of the cases aforesaid, shall be a keeper, or a person entrusted with the care of deer in a forest, &c. wherein the offence shall be committed, he shall, for every such offence, forfeit, and pay double such penalty. That all powers and provisions contained in the \6 Geo. III. (already re- cited) concerning the apprehending and conviction of persons offending against the said act, and the recovery, and disposal of the penalties therein mentioned, and the manner of appealing from convictions, and of bringing actions, or prose- cutions for any thing done under the said act, and proceedings and costs in such actions, shall, so far as the same respectively are applicable, be applied for all other purposes to which such powers and provisions are applicable under this act ; provided, that in case of non-payment of any such penalty, with the charges of conviction, and for want of sufficient distress, the offender shall be sent to the common goal for six months, unless the penalty and charges be sooner paid. To which it is also annexed, that persons convicted VOL. II. M on 82 on a second oflfence, for which a pecuniary penalty is imposed, shall be ad- judged to transportation for seven years. In conclusion, it is enacted, that to the intent that the prosecution of per- sons who shall offend a second time, may be carried on with as little trouble and expense as may be ; that the justice before whom any person shall be con- victed, for the first time, in a pecuniary penaltj', or forfeiture, shall transmit such conviction under his hand and seal to the next quarter-session, there to be filed ; a true copy whereof shall be sufficient evidence to prove the conviction for such first offence. And it is to be observed, that by this act, so much of the 16 Geo. III. is repealed as inflicts penalties for committing any of the preced- ing offences, and that nothing contained in either shall extend to Scotland or Ireland. DALMATIAN. < 83 DALMATIAN. THIS particular race, of which so exact and beautiful a representation has been produced by the conjunctive efforts of the artists concerned, are by the earliest, and most respected writers, said to have been originally natives of Dalmatia, a district in European Turkey, bounded on the west by the gulf of Venice ; and from whence, it is presumed, the breed was formerly transported to those countries, where, by their prolific increase, they are now more univer- sally known. Numerous as they are become, and truly ornamental as they prove in the department to which they are so fashionably appropriate, less has been said upon their origin and introduction than upon any other distinct breed of the canine-race. By some remote naturalists of but little celebrity, this parti- cular species has been distinguished by the appellation of the Dalmatian, or Har- rier of Bengal ; with what justice that name may have been affixed upon the breed, it may prove no easy matter to ascertain ; but Buffon has given it as his opinion, that this very dog was not originally a native of Bengal, or of any other part of India, and that it is not, as has been pretended, the Indian-dog mentioned by the ancients, and said to have been produced between a dog and a tiger ; for it has been known familiarized and domesticated in Italy for two cen- turies past, and never considered as a dog originally brought from India, but as a common harrier, native of that country. Whatever may have been their origin, or whatever their most instinctive, or predominant propensity, they seem but little calculated for any useful, enter- taining, or profitable purpose in this country, unless in contributing to the splendour of a stable-establishment ; the magnitude and magnificence of which has never before reached its present state of unprecedented elegance, and emu- lative opposition for a display of fashionable superiority. The whole and sole destination of the Dalmatian is the individual attendance upon, and the pro- M 2 tection 84 tection of the horses and carriage to which he belongs; lo these it is his business to be invariably annexed, and to both he is so fervently attached, that they are never brought into use, either by night or by day, without his appearing in an official capacity as an indispensible part of the retinue. His attendance upon the horses when in a state of inactivity, and his exulting consciousness of dig- nity in preceding the carriage (as if to announce its approach, with an autho- rity to clear the way), seem to constitute the most superlative gratification of his existence. In temper, disposition, and habitual practice, they seem to pos- sess a greater degree of equanimity than any other part of the species; are but little inclined to bark, and less to be offended ; in fact, from a kind of consti- tutional apathy, and want of animated irritability, they feel less attentive to the caresses of friends, and the approach of strangers, than any of those known to be the natives of Britain ; forming, probably, no ill epitome of their em- ployers, who live in a state of bodily ease and mental indifference. DotTs thus supported for no other purpose than external parade, to run be- fore or after the equipages of their lords or ladies, and in imitation often of their betters, not disposed to be of any other use, constitute a serious contrast when brought into comparison with the canine productions of Holland, where the very dogs of every description are constrained to promote the trade of the republic with so much rigidity, that it is averred by Mr. Pratt, in his Gleanings, there is not an idle dog of any size to be seen in the whole of the seven pro-» vinces. You see them in harness at all parts of the Hague, as well as in other towns, tuffcrincf at barrows and little carts, with their tongues nearly sweeping the ground, and their poor palpitating hearts almost beating through their sides ; frequently three, four, five, and sometimes six abreast, drawing men and merchandize with the speed of little horses. In passing from the Hague-gate to Scheveling, you perceive, at any hour of the day, an incredible number loaded with fish and men, under the burden of which they run off at a long trot, and sometimes (when driven by young men or boys) at full gallop, the whole mile and a half, which is the precise distance from gate to gate ; nor, on their re- turn, are they suffered to come empty, being filled not only with the men and boys before-mentioned (for almost every Dutchman has a fixed aversion to walking when he can ride, although only half a mile), but with such commo- dities as are marketable at the village. It is no uncommon thing, in the middle of summer, to see these poor, patient, persevering animals, urged and driven beyond their utmost ability, "till they have dropped upon the road, and so re- mained 85 mained "till their strength was renewed. This, however, is very seldom the case, unless they unfortunately fall under the management of cruel and inconsiderate boys; for the Dutch are the farthest from being cruel to their domestic dumb animals of any people in the world ; on the contrary, a Hollander, of what- ever rank, is so humane and merciful to his beast, whether horse, dog, or cow, that they are equally objects of his most marked attention, as sleek skins, happy countenances, and plump sides, sufficiently demonstrate. The cows and oxen for draught they rub down, curry, and clean, till they are as glossy as the most pampered steed in England. Nay, they are frequently seen in a light fancy- dress to protect them from the flies, and other annoying insects in the meadows (which are the finest in the M'orld,) and with a warmer suit of clothes in the win- ter ; even these canine slaves look hale and well as to condition, and being ha- bituated to labour, seem to feel but little hardship in it. Happy, however, thrice happy is the dog who has the luck to be born of humble parents, and more diminutive dimensions, for he is sacred, by his in- significance, from labour ; like many a man, who having neither size, or ta- lents for a hero, derives many a snug enjoyment from his unfitness to take an active part in the toils of ambition. But dogs of this description have yet greater privileges in Holland than will be readily conceived ; like many other little things they hold precious, and in high estimation, and so fondled, patted, and caressed, that either a lap-dog, or a lover in England, where those animals are sometimes neglected (as favourites of every description sometimes are), would naturally envy them ; for those who think a Dutch woman and a beau- tiful face are incompatible, will be mistaken, which, Mr. Pratt says, he will take occasion to shew. In his first visit (a winter one) to the Hague, he en- tered into the interests of these poor labouring dogs so minutely, that he was much surprised they did not go mad, or that he did not hear of the canine de- struction being more prevalent in that country than his own; and, on being told there were certain times (the dog-days) when a heavy fine was to be paid upon any dog's being seen in the street, he concluded that to be the case, 'till being, the summer following, at 'the delightful sea-side village of Scheveling, he ob- served, several times in the day, these draught-dogs brought down to the beach, and bathed, a practice which, no doubt, equally prevented them from the de- structive disorder already mentioned, but added to their strength, and enabled them the better to do their work. 86 It is truly fortunate also for these labouring canine dependents, that Holland is a country properly prone to strictness in the ceremonies of religion, by a ri- gid observance of which the poor dog, like his master, finds the seventh day u day of unbroken rest, for Sunday shines a Sabbath-day to one, as well as upon the other. He farther observes, the first impression having been much in fa- vour of those industrious animals, he had his eye upon them as well in the hours of their repose, as in their toil ; and felt his heart warm to see several, w horn he had observed very heavily laden on the Saturday, taking a sound nap, outstretched and happy, at the doors of their masters, on the day which their leisure, ease, and rest, awfully seemed the allotment and bounty of heaven. During the morning and afternoon of these days, they have remained basking, and extending their weary limbs, while a number of unthinking whelps, and lazy puppies, who had been passing their time in idleness all the week, were play- ing their gambols in the street, not without a hope and vain attempt to rouze the refreshing seniors, and excite them to join in their frisky amusements ; nor has he, in his sun-setting rounds, omitted to observe the honest creatures sit- ting at their respectful thresholds, looking quite refreshed, giving occasionally into a momentary frolic, and the next morning returning to their labours with a renewal of both strength and inclination. BLOOD- 87 BLOOD-HOUND. THIS particular, and as it is supposed, by the best authorities, original breed of hound, is now so materially changed by modern refinement, collateral crosses, and experimental commixture, with the different kinds adapted to the chase, that it is considered a difficult task to discover one of the pure and un- contaminated stock from one extremity of the kingdom to the other. Of this opinion is a recent writer, who asserts this peculiar race to be nearly extinct, except in one instance, that a few only of the pure blood are in the possession of Thomas Astle, Esq. and his family; but in what county, or what country they reside does not appear. The blood-hound, in every literary transmission to be found upon record, is unanimously admitted to have been about seven or eight and twenty inches high, of substantial, firm, strong, compact, and muscular form ; the face wide upon the forehead, gradually narrowing to the nose ; the countenance attractingly serene, and solicitous of attention ; nostrils wide and expansive ; ears large, soft, and pendulous, broad at the base, and narrowing to the tip ; tail long, with an erective curve, particularly when in pursuit, with a voice awfully loud, deep, and sonorous. One distinguishing trait of purity in the breed is said to have consisted in the colour, which was uniformly, and almost invariably a reddish tan, gradually darkening to the upper part, with a mixture of black upon the back, becoming some shades lighter in reaching the lower parts and extremities ; some few, it is said, had a little white in the form of a snip, or star, in the face, but this was by no means common with a majority of the breed. Pennant, in his deli- neation of quadrupeds, mentions them as having a black spot over each eye, though this was by no means the case with those in the possession of Mr. Astle; yet it is universally known, by the experienced of the sporting world, that they are strong and distinguishing features in the true well-bred, heavy, deep-tongued English 88 English southern hound. The singularly commanding appearance, and attract- ing aspect of this dog when seriously surveyed, seems to convey, impressively, a conscious confidence of his own superiority, the fixed and scrutinizing eye, the massive and capacious nose, long and pendulous ears, his large, yet uni- form figure so critically formed for strength and action, with a voice little infe- rior to the lion's roar, all seem to denote his priority in the majestic dignity of the early, rude, and uncultivated chase. Every considerate reflection, as well as the result of every corresponding research, seem to justify the most probably well-founded opinion, that this was the very description of hound originally brought into use for running the game by scent in this country ; from whom the difl^erent degrees have been gradationally and progressively improved, to render them more fleet and applicable to the refined sports of the present day. To the retrospective rumination of every sporting inquisitant it must evi- dently occur, that the mode and manner of hunting in former times was exceed- ingly different to what is now the exhilarating and universally approved prac- tice. In earlier ages, the game of every kind was found and surrounded in its haunts; when roused, every effort was made to shoot at it with an arrow, or to wound it with a spear ; if in which state it had the momentary happiness to escape, its safety proved but of very short and precarious duration, for the blood-hound traced, and the mastiff, greyhound, or the hunter, killed it in a solitary and self-interested M-ay; but, in the whole, there was nothing similar to the ecstatic sounds and convivial harmony of our modern chase. When the game was once disturbed, and a view obtained, it was, of course, pursued by some dog of innate ferocity and swift of foot ; which might have probably been the original wolf-dog of Britain, or the rough Scotch greyhound. The cha-se, as it is now enjoyed at its very zenith of perfection in this country, was, most probably, derived from the continent by our ancestors, and regular packs of hounds first formed at no very remote period from that in which M-e live. In such improvements of the chase, and the means by which it was pur- sued, a rectification in the canine appendage became unavoidably necessary, that the hounds might be possessed of power, perseverance, and patience, to run up to their game by scent, as well as speed sufficient to keep at the head of the horses. The great and distinguished peculiarity of the blood-hound to our sporting predecessors was his infallibility in tracing to its final resort any animal that had been 89 been taken on for a mile or two, the dog was drawn up to the spot from whence it had been previously drawn, and there encouraged to enjoy and carry on the scent. This prelusive ceremony, it must be observed, always took place, ac- companied with a seasoned stanch old hound, from whose age and experience the newly-entered dog must have derived knowledge and assistance during the drag-chase, at the termination of which they were regaled with the venison they had hunted as a reward for their labour, and an excitement to future service. When perfect in these introductory lessons, the shoes of a man (possessing great speed, strength, and perseverance,) were rubbed with the blood of a deer, he then taking a remote circuit of a mile or two, occasionally renewing the blood to the shoes, as the effluvia (alias scent) became less effectual, or more obliterated. These inculcations were persevered in occasionally, and the cir- cuit more enlarged, lengthened, or extended, 'till having afforded proof of perfection, his last experimental lessons were, to hunt the dry foot of any man, upon the scent of whom he had been instructively laid ; and this he would so soon achieve, by the assistance of an old dog, and by frequent repetition, that his acquisition was soon considered complete, and singly adequate to the successful pursuit of any animal whatever. It has been remarked, by a writer of some recent celebrity, that, on the di- visional borders of England and Scotland, while those countries were waging wars against each other, that the principle of morality was, in a great deo'ree, extinct, and private robberies were sanctioned as mere military excursions ; what in war their leaders, the feudal tenant, seized by force of arms, in peace he stole under covert of the night, and drove his prize in darkness far within his own district, or secured it in fastnesses from whence there was little or no chance of extrication. In instances of this kind, the hound under description was of the greatest and most incredible utility, in tracing, to a certain recovery, either the thief, or the articles of depredation. And while the then barbarous, inveterate, and unrelenting clans of the north, under petty chiefs, were perpe- tually engaged in civil broils, tlie vanquished, who fled from the sanguinary conflict, were often hunted from cave to cave by the dog of this description, and slaughtered in cold blood. In addition to this, it is mentioned by Bewick, in his volume upon quadrupeds, that, at the period alluded to, there existed a law in Scotland by which it was enacted, that whoever obstructed a dog of this description in pursuit of stolen goods, or the offender, would be deemed an accessary to the theft. VOL II. N In 50 In addition to tlie remarks already made, upon what seems to have been the gradational transmissions from the earliest and most respectable authority, it may not prove inapplicable to introduce what has been said upon the subject by the author of the " Sporting Dictionary," a recent publication. Blood-hounds, he observes, have always had a kind of fabulous property ascribed to them, of pursuing, and infallibly taking, or seizing robbers, murderers, or depredators, w henever they could be laid upon the scent, or footsteps of the particular ob- jects they were intended to pursue ; and of their possessing this property there cannot be the least doubt, when the experience of ages, transmitted to us by our predecessors (as well as our own obsei-vations), have afforded the most in- disputable proofs, that hounds may be taught, or broke in to carry on any par- ticular scent when feelingly convinced they are to hunt no other. There re- quires " no ghost from the grave" to confirm a fact of so much notoriet)'; a mere sporting embryo would tell us, that " a pack, who for some years hunted fallow-deer in the possession of their last owner, are hunting hare in the highest possible stj'le w ith the present ;" that the principal body of the celebrated pack, who for some years past hunted fox with Lord Darlington in the north, may, perhaps, in the ensuing season, be destined to the pursuit of red deer with Lord Derby in the south; so that the whole art of changing hounds from one chase to another is no more than breaking them afresh, and keeping them ri- gidly steady to the game they are then to pursue. From these established and incontrovertible facts, as well as every collateral consideration that can be fairly taken into the aggregate, it is fair to infer (par- ticularly as no proof whatever has been adduced to the contrary), that the ori- ginal stock of the blood-hounds in this country partook, in nearly an equal degree, of the large, strong, bony, fleet stag-hound, and the old English southern-hound, still maintained in the low and swampy parts of the kingdom. Those destined to one particular kind of pursuit, and used merely as blood- hounds, were never brought into the chase with any distinct pack for the pro- motion of sport with any species of game ; but were preserved and supported (as a constable, or Bow-street runner of the present day,) for the purposes of pursuit and detection, whenever they could, with certainty, be laid on in good time upon the scent or footsteps of the object it was necessary or expedient to pursue. Deer-stealing, for instance, was so exceedingly common not a century since, to what it is at present, that the park and game-keepers, in most parts of the kingdom, were in a kind of eternal watching and nocturnal war- fare; 91 warfare ; the hounds we are now describing were then constantly trained to the practice, and so closely adhered to the scent they were once well laid upon, that even, after a very long and tedious pursuit, detection was certain and in- evitable. From this persevering instinct they originally acquired the appella- tion they have so long retained ; and an oft'ending criminal, formerly, was ab- solutely conceived to be positively taken, and half-convicted the very moment a blood-hound could be obtained. Having gone through every thing appertaining to this description of dogs in Britain, we naturally refer to the use made of them in other countries where the breed is still preserved and held in the highest estimation ; more particu- larly at, and near the Havannah, in the island of Cuba, from whence they were procured for the prosecution of the late Maroon-war, which took place some few years since in the island of Jamaica ; from Dallas's history of which, the following particulars are extracted : — Don Manuel de Sejas, the Alcade Pro- vinciale, commanded about six and thirty chasseurs, who were in the king's pay, and who were, by treaty, engaged to embark for Jamaica, to assist in pursuing, and reducing to subjection, the rebellious negroes, and revolted Ma- roons, upon the following stipulated terms : That they engaged to go to Ja- maica, taking each three dogs for the hunting and seizing negroes as before de- scribed ; that when arrived at the said island, and were informed of the situa- tion of the runaway, or rebellious negroes, they pledged themselves conjunc- tively and individually to put in practice every means that might be necessarj^ to pursue and apprehend, with their dogs, the said rebellious negroes ; settling before hand, the proper time and mode of their excursions with the govern- ment of Jamaica, who was to supply them with every assistance that should be found necessary, such as troops, arms, and ammunition. That their stay in the said island should not exceed three months, counting from the day of their embarking at Batabano ; and for their service, during which time they were to be allowed two hundred dollars each, one hundred of which was to be paid down in advance, and the remaining hundred at the expiration of the three months. In addition to the two hundred dollars each, above stipulated, all their ex- pences of maintenance in sickness, or in health, Avas to be borne by the go- vernment of Jamaica, from the time of their embarking at Batabano to their N 2 return' 92 return to the same place. And if at the expiration of the three months in Ja- maica, that government should require their longer residence, it was to be at their own option to make a new agreement ; and in case any of them might wish to return immediately, that government should then provide them with a passage to Batabano. That as the government of Jamaica had offered a re- ward of nine hundred and sixty dollars for apprehending any of the rebellious negroes, agreeable to proclamation in that island, they agreed to submit them- selves to such re-partition as that government might make of such reward betwixt them and the auxiliary troops as might be allowed to assist them ; this reward being totally independent of those already enumerated. In consequence of this arrangement, after many disappointments occasioned by the Spanish go- vernor, and his emissaries, which were, at length, overcome by stratagem, bribery, and complicated deception, upwards of forty chasseurs, and a hun- dred and four dogs were shipped upon the occasion. Of these dogs, six and thirty only were thoroughly trained ; the others were the best that could be pro- cured, and would, beyond a doubt, have fully answered the purpose, if the Maroons had obstinately compelled the use of them. The commissioner, after having been absent seven weeks, and who had, from perverse winds, and Spanish obstinacy, experienced the most vexatious and distressing procrastination in his return ; although he had completely suc- ceeded in the immediate object of his expedition to Cuba, yet he was willing to flatter himself, that a favourable progress had been made in the war, and that there would be no occasion to have recourse to the recruits he had brought with him ; but his first enquiries produced an answer which convinced him their ser- vices would be required. He received a melancholy account of the state of affairs, and was informed that very little progress had been made in reducing the Maroons, that the troops had suffered great losses, that the militia, and the numbers on duty greatly lessened. ;■ No time, therefore, was lost in landing the chasseurs and their dogs ; the wild and formidable appearance of both spread terror through the place ; the streets were cleared, the doors of tlie houses were shut, and the windows crouded, not a negro ventured to stir out. The muzzled- dogs, with their heavy ratding chains, ferociously making at every object, and forcibly dragging on the chasseurs (who could hardly restrain them), presented a scene of a most tremendous nature, well calculated to give a most awful co- louring to the report which would be conveyed to the Maroons. The 93 The despondence that had so long prevailed now yielded to hope, renovated by the arrival of the commissioner, and joy was spread throughout the island. He was congratulated and thanked by all who met him ; his exertions were ex- tolled in all companies ; no praise was thought too high, nor could a reward be named adequate to his services. If, indeed, the spirit of the enterprise is con- sidered, the indefatigable activity with which it was pursued, the difficulties overcome, and the dispatch with which it was completed, it must be allowed, that the gratitude of the inhabitants of Jamaica was not premature ; for, al- though the ultimate object of the Cuba expedition remained to be accomplished, the expedition itself had been conducted with uncommon energy and ability, and had been attended with complete success : and it is no wonder that the great proprietors, some of whom had declared themselves ready to lay down the half of their fortunes for the suppression of the dangerous rebellion raging in the heart of the country, should sensibly feel the obligation they were under to one who had risen from a bed of sickness, despising fatigue and danger, and restored to them the prospect of saving their property and the island from destruction. Anxious to review the chasseurs, General Walpole left head-quarters, the morning after they were landed, before day-break, and arrived in a post-chaise at seven rivers, accompanied by Colonel Skinner, whom he appointed to con- duct the intended attack. Notice of his coming having preceded Iiim, a parade- of the chasseurs were ordered ; and they were taken to a distance from the house, in order to be advanced when the general alighted. On his arrival, the commissioner having paid his respects, was desired to parade them. The Spa- niards soon appeared at the end of a gentle acclivity, drawn out in a line con- taining upwards of forty men, with their dogs in front unmuzzled, and held by the cotton ropes. According to directions previously given, on receiving the command to fire, they discharged their fusils, and advanced as upon a real at- tack. This was intended to ascertain what effect would be produced on the dogs if engaged under a fire of the Maroons. The volley was no sooner fired than the dogs pressed forward with the greatest fury, amidst the continued shouts of the Spaniards, who were dragged on by them with the most irresistible force. Some of the dogs maddened by the shout of attack, while held back by the ropes, seized on the stocks of the guns in the hands of their keepers, and tore pieces out of them. Their impetuosity was so great, that they were with diffi- culty 94: culty stopped before they reached the General, who found it necessary to get expeditiously into the chaise from which he had alighted ; and, if the most strenuous exertions had not been made to stop them, they m ould, most certain- ly, have seized upon his horses. The ]\Iaroons having, soon after their arrival, submitted to the rules and re- gulations suggested by government, the chasseurs and dogs were never put to the public use for which they were procured, but, receiving the pecuniary sti- pulation previously agied on, were returned to their own country, in confor- mity with the original treaty upon which they were engaged. Their destructive ravages having been rendered unnecessary by the happy return of peace, we ad- vert to a description of their qualifications, and utility, in a more individual and unconnected capacity. These dogs, when perfectly broken in, will not kill or destroy the object they pursue, unless they are resisted and attacked in turn; on coming up with a fugitive, they bark at him 'till he stops ; they then couch near him, terrifying him with a ferocious growl if he stirs. In this position, they continue barking, to give notice to the chasseurs, who come up and secure their prisoner. Each chasseur, though he can hunt only with two dogs properly, is obliged to have three, which he maintains at his own expence, and it is by no means inconsiderable. These people live with their dogs, from which they are inseparable ; at home they are kept chained, and when walking with their mas- ters are never unmuzzled, or let out of ropes but for attack. They are con- stantly accompanied with one or two small dogs, called finders, whose scent is very keen, and always sure of hitting off a track. Dogs and bitches hunt equally well, and the chasseurs rear no more than will supply the number required ; though this breed is said not to be so prolific as the common kinds, it is infinitely stronger and hardier. This breed is the size of the largest hound, with ears erect, which are usually cropped at the points ; the nose more pointed, but widening very much towards the hinder part of the jaw. The skin and coat are much harder than those of most dogs, and so must, of course, be the structure of the body, as the severe correction they undergo in training would, it is conceived, almost kill any other description of dog whatever. There are some, but not many, of a more obtuse nose, and which are rather squarer set, and these, it may be presumed, have been crossed with the mastiff; but if by this the bulk has been a little increased, it has added nothing to the strength, height, beauty, or agility of the native breed. The 95 The common employment of these dogs is to traverse the country for the pur- pose of pursuing and taking all persons guilty of murder and other offences, in which they seldom, if ever, fail of success, no activity on the part of the offenders being able to elude their pursuit, of which an extraordinary proof occurred at the Havannah during the last war. A fleet from Jamaica, under convoy to Great Britain, passing through the Gulf of Mexico, beat up on the north side of Cuba. One of the ships manned with foreigners, chiefly renegado Spaniards, being a dull sailer, and consequently lagging astern, standing in witli the land at night, was run on shore, the captain, officers, and the few British hands on board murdered, and the vessel plundered by the Spanish renegadoes. The part of the coast on which the ship was stranded being wild and unfrequent- ed, the assassins retired with their booty to the mountains, intending to pene- trate through the woods to some remote settlements on the south-side, where they hoped to secure themselves, and elude all pursuit. Early intelligence of the crime, however, had been conveyed to the Havannah, and the assassins were pursued by a detachment of twelve of the chasseurs de roy, with their dogs ; in a few days they were all brought in, and executed, not one of them being the least hurt by the dogs when captured. The head and right-arm of each of these criminals were lately suspended in frames, not unlike parrot-cages, which were hung on various gibbets at the port, and other conspicuous places on the coast, near the entrance of the harbour. In a trifling and superficial account of some proceedings at St. Domingo, which appeared in a morning-print, was the following unconnected, and almost incoherent recital : " Blood-hounds were brought from the island of Cuba, or the continent of America, and these dogs which seemed to be reserved for war, for the purpose of ambuscades, or for self-preservation, were destined through a refinement of cruelty, under the authority and approbation of the principal chiefs, to devour the blacks alive ; and, that they might be the more truly trained, and rendered more ferocious, they were occasionally fed on the flesh of the negroes. To try them (this writer observes), a black was taken from the prison, and being carried into the court-yard, or garden, behind the government- house, the dogs were let loose upon him, and by every encouragement made to devour him. Another was carried to a place called le Haut du Cap, at the dis- tance of a league, where the dogs were let loose, and the black exposed to be devoured by them. The dogs at first made a faint attack, and the unfortunate wretch only received a few bites and lacerations : this, however, not being enough 96 enough, nothing short of death would satisfy his tormentors. The victim was, therefore, raised up, and ordered to run, as it was hoped that the dogs would then double their fury, and perform the office so earnestly expected of them ; they were then again let loose, but not being sufficiently cruel and voracious, they only repeated their former lacerations, and would not devour the unfortu- nate victim, so that it was found necessary to put an end to his tortures by shoot- incr him upon the spot, and, it is said, that both men and women were present at so shocking a spectacle.'' This account is concluded with the following, for the authenticity of which the writer pledges his veracity: — " That on the 27th or 28th Ventose (18th or 19th March), General Boyer, chief of the staff, a very young man, which ex- cites astonishment, and is a disgrace to humanity, having some cause of com- plaint against his cook, who had robbed him of a few sous (perhaps when he went to market), caused him to be carried out into the court, or garden, behind the government-house, where he delivered him over to the fury of the blood- hounds. It is added, also, (but the writer will not venture to affirm it) that General Rochambeau was present, that the black went and threw himself at his feet to implore his mercy and pardon, but that he pushed him rudely from him, and was devoured by the dogs. All tliis, he says, takes place in the town, with the knowledge, and before the eyes of the blacks, who are employed in domestic service, or in different trades and callings. All this, however, is now at an end, and the French extirpated from the island. After a review of their uses and appropriation in different countries, it does not appear that either the breed or their utility is more than temporarily dormant in our own ; as a very few weeks since the following appeared in a daily print of much repute : — " The Thrapston association for the prosecution of felons, in Northampton- shire, have provided and trained a blood-hound for the detection of sheep- stealers. To demonstrate the unerring infallibility of this animal, a day was appointed for public trial ; the person he was intended to hunt started, in the presence of a great concourse of people, about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and at eleven the hound was laid on : after a chase of an hour and a half, not- withstanding a very indifferent scent, the hound ran up to the tree in which he was secreted, at the distance of fifteen miles from the place of starting, to the admiration and perfect satisfaction of the very great number assembled upon the occasion. ' So 97 So truly sensible was Somervile of this peculiar property in the blood-hound, that we find it thus beautifully depicted in his celebrated production of the " Chase :" " Soon the sagacious brute, his curling tail Flourish'd iu air, low bending, plies around His busy nose, the steaming vapour snuffs Inquisitive, nor leaves one turf untried, 'Till, conscious of the recent stains, his heart Beats quick ; his snuffling nose, his active tail, Attest his joy: then with deep-op'ning mouth, That makes the welkin tremble, he proclaims Th' audacious felon : foot by foot he marks His winding way, while all the list'ning crowd Applaud his reasonings : o'er the wat'ry ford. Dry sandy heaths, and stony barren hills ; O'er beaten paths, with men and beasts distained Unerring he pursues ; 'till at the cot Arriv'd, and seizing by his guilty throat The caitiff vile, redeems the captive prey : So exquisitely delicate his sense." IRISH 98 IRISH GREYHOUND. THE dog originally distinguished by this appellation is, in the present age, so rarely to be seen, that it is a matter of doubt -nhether one of the pure and unmixed breed is to be found even in the most remote part of the country from whence, in the first instance, they are supposed to have derived their name. It is affirmed, by the best and most respected authorities, that the Danish-dog, the Irish greyhound, and the common greyhound of this country, though they appear so different, are but one and the same race of dog. The Danish-dog is said, by Buffon, to be but a more corpulent Irish greyhound ; and that the common greyhound is the Irish greyhound rendered thinner and more fleet by experimental crosses, and more delicate by speculative culture; for these three different kinds of dogs, though perfectly distinguishable at first sight, differ no more, comparatively, from each other than three human natives of Holland, Italy, and France ; and, by the same mode of argument, he justifies the sup- position, that had the Irish greyhound been a native of France, he would have produced the Danish-dog in a colder climate, and the common greyhound in a warmer one ; and this conjecture, he observes, is absolutely verified by expe- rience, as the Danish-dogs arc brought to us from the north, and the greyhounds iVom the Levant. In whatever state of ambiguity the origin of the Irish greyhound may remain, certain it is, that the similitude between the dog of this description and the Danish-dog is so exceedingly correct, that little doubt can be entertained of their being of the same race, with such trifling variation as may have been oc- casioned only by the difference of climates in which they have been produced. The name, however, from along series of disuse, is nearly buried in oblivion; and the few to be seen, either in this country, or our sister kingdom, are deno- minated 99 minated Danes, although every concurring circumstance and collateral conside- ration palpably tend to prove they are from one and the same stock. The great strength, speed, and ferocity of these dogs formerly rendered them per- fectly appropriate to the purposes of the chase, before it had acquired its pre- sent improved and systematic uniformity; and to this breed may be attributed the entire extirpation, and final destruction of the wolves with which the woody districts of England and Wales were, in earlier times, so seriously infested. Since which, having been found but ill-adapted to the more modern sports of the field and refinements of the chase, that they have been permitted, by va- rious accidental crosses, and casual commixtures, to dwindle into a gradational oblivion ; the few now to be accidentally seen appearing in a very different, though a very respectable capacity. The dog now under description is, in appearance, a produce between the greyhound and the mastifi", and, in his general stature, from eight and twenty to thirty inches high ; his head is rather straight, muzzle long, and nearly pointed ; ears naturally short, and half pendulous (but these, in conformity with fashion, are generally cropped when young) ; eyes mostly grey, or white ; in others, of equal white and yellow ; chest deep, flank long, belly small, legs straight and long, tail thin, wirey, and with a curve in its erective termination ; colour sandy red, or pale yellow, with frequently a snip, or blaze in the face. There is also another description which varies, in a small and inconsiderable degree, from the same race, and that more in the colour than in any other respect, which has, with some, given rise to the appellation of Harlequin Dane ; these have a fine marble-coat, beautifully variegated with large and small spots of black, grey, liver-colour, or sandy-red upon a white ground ; some of the former also have sometimes tan-coloured spots about the face and legs. The majestic and commanding aspect, bold muscular action, and ele- gant carriage of this dog, would recomniend him to notice, had he no other useful properties or points of attraction ; but from those he has already in pos- session, we observe honoured in adding to the splendid pomp and magnificent retinues of the noble, wealthy, and independent; before whose emblazoned vehicles he trots or gallops with a degree of dignity denoting no small con- sciousness of the patronage he is under, and the state of grandeur he is selected to precede and support. o 2 In 100 In the rigid and attentive execution of the trust so confidently reposed in him, he displays no trait whatever of fear or pusillanimity, amidst various ob- structions, but supports the intrepidity of his character, and the eminence of his appointment, by a firm and stately dignity, undebased by any clamorous, or barking disquietude. Though it is to be remarked, in all public parades near town, as well as in the streets of the metropolis, that they are never per- mitted to appear without a muzzle, the better to prevent the possibility of an attack upon any of their own species, or animals of any other description. The Dalmatian, or common coach-dog, already described, is considered a much more humble and subordinate attendant upon the horses, the carriage, and the servants, than the individual now depicted, who, from a certain conscious- ness of his own magnitude, seems to appear both the harbinger and escort of his lord, being bold and eager in his approach, and ready in his defence. It does not appear, by any regular transmissions upon record, that these dogs have ever been appropriated to any particular department of the chase, either ancient or modern, but were, most probably, destined to many pursuits, according to the customs and fashions of the times in which they lived. Indeed, from their ag- gregate of distinguishing properties of strength, speed, instinctive courage, and indefatigable perseverance, there cannot be a doubt, but with the hunters of centuries past, who traversed the trackless desarts in pursuit of game of every kind, as well as wild animals of the most ferocious description, these dogs must have been held in high estimation ; were as fearless as those who then boldly exposed their persons to the imminent dangers of the most perilous chase; as they would attack much larger, and much more fierce and powerful animals than are now to be found in this country in its present refined state of sporting and agricultural cultivation. This is the precise kind of dog, and, most probably, the very exact and same breed that the amateurs of fine painting may have observed transmitted to us in pictures from the eminent artists of former times. They are frequently intro- duced, and expressively depicted in the finest productions of Rubens, Snyders, and others, as well as in the popular and well-known prints of llidenger, where he is represented fierce, swift, and powerful, rushing on to combat with the most determined and impetuous ferocity, instantly seizing, and closing with the wolf, boar, or stag, equally undismayed at either, without having been once de- picted at bay. But when the dark, woody forest retired before the constantly increasing 101 increasing advantages of cultivated inclosures, and the sanguinary, ferocious, and solitary tribes fled the populous haunts of men, this dog then became a sub- ject of peace, and a servant of shew; yet even now it is natural to conclude, he might be brought into use in some department of field-sports, if the breed could be preserved under proper subjection, as the whole race invariably attack sheep with the most inveterate fury and aversion. LURCHER. 102 LURCHER, THE dog passing under this denomination is supposed to have been origi- nally produced from a cross between the shepherd's dog and the greyhound, which from breeding in and in with the latter, has so refined upon the first change, that very little of the shepherd's-dog seems now to be retained in the stock, its patience, docility, and fidelity excepted. The lurcher, if thus bred, without any farther collateral crosses, is about three-fourths the height and size of a full-grown greyhound, and of a yellowish, or sandy-red colour, rough and wirey-haired, with ears naturally erect, but dropping a little at the point ; of great speed, courage, sagacity, and fidelity ; by which pedigree and appear- ance they are, neither more or less, than a bastard-greyhound, with some addi- tional qualifications, but without their beauty. These dogs, little calculated for the sports of the great, and but ill-adapted to external show, or individual attraction, are seldom seen or known in the metropolis, or its environs ; but, on the contrary, are the established favourites of the holders of small farms, with many of whom they ofiiciate in the capacity of the shepherd's-dog, though they have speed and cunning sufficient to turn up a rabbit, or occasionally (when opportunity ofl^ers) to trip up a leveret half, or three parts grown, with- out the owners possessing either licence or certificate. Though doomed to obscurity by the rusticity and unattracting singularity of his appearance, the lurcher is not without many of those innate merits by which the majority of his cotemporaries are more luckily and materially distinguished. Prevented by nature from every chance of dependent society with the great, he calmly resigns himself to the fate so evidently prepared for him, and so truly consonant to the predominant propensities of his disposition. Hence we find him almost invariably in the possession of, and in constant association with, poachers 103 poachers of the most unprincipled and abandoned description ; for whose ser- vices of nocturnal depredation of various kinds, they seem every way inherently qualified. Replete with the most placid and serene sagacity, he seems entitled to the utmost confidence that can be reposed in an animal of this description ; conscious of the perfect state of his intellect, and convinced, to a certain de- gree, of the powers of comprehension, he absolutely appears to claim, and by his incessant attention to solicit some share of society with mankind, to whose injunctions and dictates he is implicitly subservient. That he may become the more clearly entitled to the privilege he implores, he is indefatigably attentive to every look and every gesture of his master, and avails himself of every watchful and anxious moment to aid him in the execution of his designs, to recline near him for his security, to assist him with his powers in whatever way they may be required, and to defend, as well as to adulate him : disco- vering experimentally, by these assiduous attentions, and repeated services, how much he continues to conciliate and accumulate the affections of his master, the better to captivate^ and render him his firm friend and perma- nent protector. Not favoured by nature with any of those fascinating externals which so evi- dently and fortunately attract attention, and command respect, he, nevertheless, possesses many interior qualities eminently adapted to insure the affection of those with whom he is destined to abide, and sedulously seeks to please the in- dividuals to whom he visibly attaches himself with so much pleasure and since- rity. To the reflecting mind, and soul of sensibility, it is not the least grati- fying sensation to observe and ruminate upon the crouching, humble, and obe- dient attitude with which he approaches to lay at the feet of his master his cou- rage, his strength, and his talents, and there waits his commands to bring the whole, or either into action ; for these he consults, interrogates, and suppli- cates him ; a single glance of the eye is sufficient ; and by that alone he fre- quently understands the signal of his Avill, and proves himself all zeal, all ar- dour, and all obedience. More sensible of kindness than of injury, he is nei- ther repulsed or discouraged by the worst of treatment ; on the contrary, pa- tiently submits to it, seems to forget it; at least, if he does remember it, it appears only to increase his attachment. Instead of sullenly resenting cor- rection, he willingly exposes himself to new trials of severity, and licks the hand that strikes him, making no other opposition than a mournful resignation. 104 resignation, and ultimately disarms his master's rage by patience and sub- Rough and unruly, as the lurcher is by nature, he soon becomes tractable, and imbibes instruction in a shorter space of time than would readily be be- lieved, and soon conforms himself to the various motions, manners, and pur- suits of the person who commands him. Possessing these qualifications, it can create no surprize that this is the very race of dogs applicable to the aggregate wants of the poacher ; in fact, they are so admirably adapted to the universa- lity of the system and the services required, that no other breed of the whole species seem so peculiarly calculated for the purpose : they equal, if not ex- ceed any other dog in sagacity, and are easily tauglit any thing that it is possi- ble for an animal of this description to acquire by instruction. Some of the best-bred lurchers are but little inferior in speed to many well-formed grey- hounds ; rabbits they kill to a certainty, if they are any distance from home : and when a rabbit is started not far from a warren, the dog invariably runs for the burrow; in doing which, he seldom fails in his attempt, but generally se- cures his prey. His qualifications, natural and acquired, go still somewhat farther; in noc- turnal excursions he progressively becomes a proficient, and will easily and readily pull down a fallow-deer so soon as the signal is given for pursuit; which done, he will explore the way to his master, and conduct him to the game subdued, wherever he may have left it. To the success of poaching they are every way instrumental, and more particularly in the almost incredible de- struction of hares; for when the nets are fixed at the gates, and the wires at the menses, they are dispatched, by a single word of command, to scour the field, paddock, or plantation, which, by their running mute, is effected so silently, that a harvest is soon obtained, in a plentiful country, with very little fear of detection. Having expatiated pretty largely upon the practices of poachers under the head of " Game-Laws," page 260, of volume the first, little more becomes necessary upon a subject so universally known, and, amongst the sporting- world, so generally understood. Upon the most mature and patient contem- plation it appears, that, amongst the lower classes, the act of poaching is considered 105 considered a crime of very little consequence, merely because it is in opposi- tion to laws against which they have the most unprincipled and unqualified aver- sion ; and fearless of informations, persecutions, prosecutions, pains, and pe- nalties, are invincibly determined to disobey. The lower order of rustics, consisting of farmers labourers, whose cottages stand in remote and rural situations, amidst such manors as are abundant in game, are generally poachers of the most notorious description ; and these people who once embark in so villainous and abandoned a combination, set the laws at defiance, upon the scarcity of informers, upon a plea that such a character is an enemy to the poor, and a pest to the necessitous classes of society. Thus then the laws for the protection and preservation of the game are, in a great degree, deprived of their intended effect, by a want of the very information by which only they can be rendered effectual ; and this is the true and fundamental basis upon which the practice of poaching is so largely carried on with the most exulting impunity ; for the most abandoned ruffian existing indulges in his own prosti- tuted idea of integrity, and, in the language of Shakespeare, will laughingly exclaim, " a plague on it, I say, when rogues can't be true to one another." Hence it is, that the great difficulty arises of procuring the instrumental as- sistance of informers, even under magisterial influence and exertion; for as some small spark of imaginary worth is sometimes retained in even the lowest character, so the very round-frocked rustic, who follows the plough, conceives himself superior to the stigmatized office of informer, and will never be in- duced, by any pecuniary compensation whatever, to make his labouring neigh- bour liable to a penalty, or punishment, for the acquisition, or destruction of any species of game that he himself is legally and peremptorily forbidden to partake of. It is an extraordinary fact which no syllogistic reasoning can wipe away, that to all acts of the legislative body the people of every descrip- tion have submitted with less signs of discontent than to those enacted for the preservation of the game, which is a palpable and incontrovertible proof why they are so wantonly and publicly evaded. It is a circumstance too notorious to be concealed, that in all laws established for the promotion of public good, where a general and proportional contribution, or submission, has been de- manded on the part of parliament, they have been, in general, quietly ac- quiesced in by its constituents ; but in the subject of game there seems an evi- dent exception ; the proscription having been deemed partial by the farmers VOL. II. p and 106 and labouring dependants, it has, w ith the major part of that fraternity, excited so general a degree of discontent, that they feel no compunction at a conniv- ance with the nocturnal depredator, upon a plea of resentful retaliation, that as ihey are excluded every possible chance of participation, they care not who has the game, it is evidently intended not to do them any good, and therefore one may as well have it as another. By these philosophical reasonings, and logical disquisitions, they mutually shield the conscience of each other, and under these premises, every professed and incorrigible poacher sets at defiance the laws of his country, with a degree of eftVontery not very dissimilar to the mode by which the smuggler and his abettors deprive the revenue of its due ; and for the gratification of this vil- lainous propensity, the poacher is not without a most confident and bare-faced argument in his defence. He, as well as they who employ and protect him, are always ready to urge, " that so long as a man is called upon, for whatever may be adequate to his own possessions, equivalent to the affluence of his neighbour, and requisite for the exigencies of the state, and the support of go- vernment, so long he contributes his support without repining ; but he no sooner perceives the fortuitous affluence of that neighbour put him in possession of what he himself is deprived of, than nature revolts at such a partial construc- tion of equity, and he, in his ill-judged resentment, proceeds, by nocturnal depredations, to undermine the injunctions of the law, determined, as he de- clares, to have his share of the game, and do himself that justice which his su- periors have prevented his enjoyment of;" and, by the same theme, do thou- sands of their supporters and abettors justify their conduct, and publicly avow, " that as the legislature has found it convenient and political to prevent a cer- tain unqualified class of society from killing, so like Sharpe, in the Lying Valet, ' having all the whoreson-appetites of a gentleman about them,' that appetite, so long as pecuniary property has its weight in the scale of society, must be gratified by buying ; and, so long as bribery and corruption can be considered instrumental to the completion of a seat in the national senate, so long will the same means opeiate to the prevention of poaching-extirpation." That the laws for the prevention of poachers arc proper, safe, and salutary., every man of rationality and common comprehension must readily admit; be- cause, in the present improved, enlightened, and refined state of society, suchli-. titrated 107 tigated claims and indefinite disputes, as eternally occurred, cried aloud for more effectual and permanent regulations. These, though adopted under the pro- found and extended wisdom of successive reigns, and successive parliaments, it now appears could not sanction those acts with infallible effect, so true it is, that perfection is not in human nature. In conformity M'ith an axiom of no recent formation, " that there are few conveniencies to be obtained without an inconvenience," so, probably, it is not likely that, in any country, any statute could be enacted to afford, or diffuse a more unlimited dissatisfaction ; so in those affected by the laws for the protection of the game, and the abolition of poachers, the farmer, his friends and relations, most likely, feel themselves disagreeably affected by collateral circumstances, which, perhaps, it is imprac- ticable, or impolitic to remove. These people, whose friendly assistance and personal forbearance, in tlie breeding-seasons, are indispensibly necessary to increase the breed, and promote the preservation of the game (whose industry in the cultivation of lands, and punctuality in the payment of rents, form the centrical and fundamental part of all the landed greatness in the kingdom), are, unless they possess the necessary qualifications by the laws as they now stand, restricted from enjoying one hour's relaxation in the pursuit of game, bred and fed upon the very land for which they, in some cases, pay a most enormous rent, and call it, for such consideration, their own premises ; though an abso- lute stranger (merely said to be) possessed of one hundred a year, at two hundred miles distance, may make his appearance, pursue and destroy that very game, and break down the fences, not only with impunity, but with an exulting kind of insulting consequence, conscientiously considering himself protected by the sanction of the law ; a circumstance not critically calculated to conciliate the affection of the farmer, or his adherents, who cares but little for the depredation or the detection of the poacher, knowing a bare, pheasant, or brace of birds, are always at his service whenever he pleases to command them. If a suppression of poaching in this country can ever be hoped for, or ex- pected, the assistance of the farmer must constitute the very ground-work of such reformation ; for, within himself, he is no enemy to the laws, or envious of others in the pursuit of game, from selfish or interested motives ; on the con- trary, he regards it with the most simple indifference, in respect to the game itself; nor would one in twenty of the farmers be at the trouble to kill, or the P 2 expence 108 expence of bringing it to table ; but they conceive that the dictates of nature must be obeyed, and that as they are excluded a participation of what their land produces and supports, they feel themselves conscientiously justified in declining the least personal trouble in its protection. In this supine inactivity he latently indulges his private resentment; for although he has infinite opportu- nities (and knows every neighbouring poacher as well as the poacher knows him), he never prosecutes a poacher, or holds forth the most distant clue by which he may be apprehended. Let the most candid disputarian be asked, what is this but tacitly becoming a conditional accessary to the offence against the laws, wrapping himself up in the warm and consolatory transposition of Shylock's exclamation : " The cunning you teach me, I will execute ; and it shall go hard but I'll better the example." The better to gratify such corroding passion of resentment, the subordinate labourers and rustics, in both hay-making and harvest, too frequently indulge in the sympathetic sensation, and wickedly destroy, either in the eggs, or in in- fancy, those very articles of game, which they well know, and publicly declare, they have no legal chance of when they come to maturity. These too serious facts are by no means the ebullitions of caprice, or the effusions of fancy, but literally the sentiments of the parties described, who never hesitate in delivering their opinions whenever the subject is matter of either public or private disqui- sition. It may, therefore, when all considerations are taken into the aggregate, be concluded, that the combination already alluded to, destroys more game two- fold than the whole body of fair and legal sportsmen from one extremity of the kingdom to the other. This numerous and destructive class, conjunctively con- sidered, unchecked by law, unrestrained by power, unawed by influence, insensi- ble to fear, and impressively supported by pecuniary compensation, from their opulent abettors already described, annually kill and dispose of, at least, treble the quantity killed and taken by every other means whatever ; and what must, by every perfect sportsman, and every humane mind, be most sincerely regretted is, that even our legislators, in the utmost extent of their wisdom, may not be enabled to adopt an alternative, and therefore conclude, after the fallibility of successive experiments, it may be better to bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of." In 109 In that season of the year when the traffic of game is in a state of steiility, and during those months when, by act of parliament, several articles of game are prohibited from being publicly seen, then the poacher is left with little choice for devastation ; nothing is left him but the fish-ponds of the neighbouring manors, and the rabbit-warrens, to the last of which he never fails to do ample justice. Totally excluded from the ecstatic vibration sympathetically produced by the wonderfully instinctive, inspiring attitude of the pointer; the determined irresistible speed of the greyhound, the joyous crack of the spaniel, or the more noble burst of the enlivening pack, the poacher, at all hazards, encoun- ters the chance of pecuniary punishment, and bodily imprisonment, rather than relinquish what he affects to consider his just claim to a participation of the sports of the field ; not being enabled to pursue which by day, he is left without any alternative but the lurcher, and nocturnal stratagem for his conso- lation. Notwithstanding the rabbit, in its wild and natural state (not part of, or appertaining to a warren), is considered but of little intrinsic value, and generally killed, or taken, as a matter of public right, by every class who hap- pen to find them; yet, those bred in warrens are the private property of the warren-farmers, whose premises are of very great extent, and rented from two to three or four hundred a year, for the protection of which the following laws were enacted, and are still in full force with those who offend against the sta- tutes in such case made and provided. By the common law, if rabbits come upon a man's grounds from a warren, or elsewhere, and damage his corn, or herbage, it is lawful for him to kill them ; but he is not justified in killing them for feeding upon a common to which he may be entitled to commonage ; for rabbits being beasts of warren, and profitable, the owner of the soil has a right to keep them there, and the com- moner has no farther interest in the common than for the feed of his cattle ; and as a commoner cannot kill them, much less can a stranger. Neither may he destroy or stop up the burrows ; if, therefore, they be so numerous as to leave insufficient pasture for the commoner's cattle, his remedy will be to bring an action against the lord for surcharging the common. In respect to the statute-law relating to these animals, it is jarovided, that if any person shall, by night or by day, unlawfully enter into any park, or grounds, inclosed with a wall, pale, or hedge, and used for the keeping of conies 110 conies, and unlawfully hunt, take, chase, or slay, any conies within such paak, or grounds, against the will of the owner, and shall be therefore con- victed at the suit of the king, or the party, at the assizes or sessions, he shall suffer three months imprisonment, pay treble damages and costs to the party, to be assessed by the justices before whom he shall be convicted, and shall find sureties for his good demeanour for seven years, or remain in prison till such sureties may be found. For the .better prevention of hunting in warrens not inclosed, it is enacted by the 22 and 23 C. II. that if any person shall, at any time, wrongfully enter into any warren or ground, lawfully used for breeding, or keeping of conies, though the same be not inclosed, and shall chase, take, or kill, any conies against the will of the owner, or occupier, not having lawful title so to do, and shall be thereof convicted within one month after such offence, by confession, or oath of one witness, before one justice, he shall yield to the party grieved treble damages and costs, and suffer three months imprisonment, and so long after "till he find sureties for his future good behaviour. And by the 9 George I. it is provided, that if any person, being armed and disguised, shall appear in any warren or place where hares or conies are usually kept, or unlawfully rob any such warren, or shall (though not armed and dis- guised) rescue any person in custody for such offence, or procure any person to join him therein, he shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. And by the 5 Geo. III. it is enacted, that if any person shall so enter into such warren or grounds in the night-time, and take, or kill any coney against the will of the owner, or occupier of the said ground, or shall be aiding or as- sisting therein, and be convicted thereof at the assizes, he shall be transported for seven years, or suffer such other lesser punishment by whipping, fine, or imprisonment, as the court shall award. By the 22 and 23 of C. II. it is provided, that no person shall kill, or take in the night, any conies upon the borders of warrens, or other grounds, law- fully used for the breed ing.or keeping of conies, except such person be owner of the soil, or lawful possessor of the ground whereupon such conies shall be killed, or be by him employed, upon pain of such satisfaction as the justices aforesaid shall award, and also pay to the overseers of the poor a sum not ex- ceeding II 1 ceedingten shillings, or, in default thereof, be committed to the house of cor- rection for a term not exceeding one month. And, by the same act, if any person shall be found setting, or using any snares, or other like engines for the taking of conies, and shall be thereof convicted, he shall be liable to the same penalties as in the last-mentioned section. And by a previous act of James I. still in force it is enacted, that if any per- son not having hereditaments of the yearly value of 401. or not worth in goods the sum of 2001. shall use any gun, or cross-bow, to kill conies, or shall keep any engine, hays, nets, ferrets, lurchers, or coney-dogs (except he have in- closed rabbit-grounds, the produce of which is worth forty shillings a year to be let) ; any other person having hereditaments in foe, in tail, or for life, of the yearly value of lOOl. in his own right, or in right of his wife, may law- fully take from such offender all such engines or dogs, and keep the same to his own use. WATER- 112 WATER -SPANIEL. THE dog passing under this denomination is held in high estimation in those counties replete with swamps, fens, moors, and rushy-bedded rivers ; by the neighbouring inhabitants of which they are principally bred, for the enjoy- ment of sport with the wild-fowl, in those districts where they so plentifully abound. The best founded conjecture respecting this particular race is, that it originated in a cross between the large water-dog and the springing-spaniel, both of whom are already described ; and this opinion is the more entitled to respect, as it seems to have received the stamp of confirmation in the almost indefinite variegations in both colour and size : in fact, the water-spaniel is so universally known in most parts of the kingdom, as well as the metropolis, that (beyond the exact representation of him by the conjunctive efforts of the artists in the plate annexed) they require but little minute description. Amidst the different degrees of size and colour, those rather below the pitch of mediocrity in stature and strength are entitled to the preference, as in willow- banks, and bushy, watery coverts, they find less difficulty in finding their game. With connoisseurs (or fresh-water sportsmen) some show, or affectation of superior intelligence is attempted ; as they presume to predict certain shades of perfection are dependent upon the different colours of the different individuals ; that the black is the best and the hardiest ; the spotted, or pied, the quickest of scent; and the liver-coloured the most rapid in swimming, and the most eager in pursuit ; these, however, seem to be more the effect of fantastic fabrication, than the result of judicious investigation. Notwithstanding this refined attempt at nice discrimination, candid conside- ration will prompt the more curious and inquisitive naturalist to believe the co- lour is by no means so material ; but that good, or even bad, of all colours are to 113 to be found, so far as their qualifications in the field are concerned. Yet, if a uniform excellence of figure can be obtained, with an accumulation of neces- sary requisites for sport, the object, of course, becomes a subject of the more attracting perfection. Colour may be thought a mere matter of individual taste or fancy, exclusive of which, the body should not be too large, or the frame too heavy ; the head should be round, ears long, broad, soft and pendu- lous, his eyes prominent and lively, neck short and thick, shoulders broad, legs straight, chine square, buttocks round and firm, thighs muscular, pastern-joints strong and dew-clawed, his fore-feet long and round, with his hair long, and naturally curled, not loose and shaggy ; for the first indicates constitutional hardiness and strength to bear the water, the latter a bodily tenderness of an opposite description. As the attainment of superior excellence in the water-spaniel must be derived from the advantages of early education, so he cannot be too soon reduced to the trammels of obedience ; at three or four months old, or, in fact, so soon as he is capable of obeying verbal injunctions, and of distinguishing between right and wrong, it will be necessary and proper to accustom him to the word of command in every little walk, or excursion, whenever it can be adopted ; for, so soon as the principles of subordination are patiently inculcated, and clearly comprehended, he then becomes progressively adequate to the execution of the orders he receives. To couch, and lie close, not daring to stir from such posture but by command, are the leading steps to every subsequent instruction ; the better to expedite and confirm this disposition to an implicit obedience, is to encourage him with great kindness when he does right, and not to be sparing in resentful reproaches when he does ill. Personal caresses, followed by grati- fications of food occasionally, may be considered salutary rewards for uncon- ditional submission, and, therefore, during his first lessons, it is proper not to let him eat but when he has given proof of progress to deserve it ; by these means he will soon be able to discover that his bodily support in food is not de- rived from chance, but the palpable effect of his own well-doing. A perfect conviction of this will not only render him the more susceptible of instruction, and the more readily inclined to learn, but he will be the more likely to re- member what he is taught without blows, to which end he should have but one teacher ; for having more, that variety creates confusion, and, between different masters in teaching, he might, probably, learn no way well. VOL. II. Q • The 114 Tlie next thing for consideration is the absolute necessity for using always the same words to denote the same thing, selecting, upon every occasion, those most applicable to the purpose ; and, such words once adopted, should never be altered ; for the auricular sensation of the canine being more acute than the human species, they advert more to the tone and sound than the English, so that a change from one word to another (to express the same meaning) fre- quently reduces the poor animal to an unintentional fault. The exclamations necessary in breaking and hunting the water-spaniel are very concise and ex- pressive, " down !" — " hie on I" — " back !" and " hie lost !" are all that is re- quired in wild-fowl shooting ; and the introduction of more is superfluous, as the sport itself, to prove successful, should be proceeded upon with the great- est silence. These terms he soon becomes perfectly accustomed to, and readily obeys: the first implying to couch, or lie close; the second to try on for the game ; the third to come behind ; and the last to try hard for the recovery of the bird when killed or wounded, and sometimes lost in the sedges, rushes, or covert. The ceremony of instruction is therefore exceedingly short and con- clusive ; with very little trouble previous to being brought into the field, he is by caressing, correction, and advice, theoretically taught, what by practice and experience will soon be brought to habitual perfection. To establish which, one qualification becomes indispensibly necessary ; this is to fetch and carry with the greatest alacrity, and to execute both by the word of command ; this is so easily taught with a glove, or any other little light article, that no kind of information can be necessary upon the subject; but if a dog of this description was not rendered perfectly obedient in bringing the birds when killed, the sportsman would, in water-shooting, be frequently prevented from recovering half the game he might happen to kill. In the attainment of this acquisition, care should be taken, in the commencement, to make him use a tender mouth, in want of which, the birds would be wantonly mangled and torn, so as to be rendered unfit for the table. "When once completely broke, and expert in their business, they are indefatigably energetic in the pursuit and discovery of every kind of fowl whose place of nativity and residence is in or near an aqueous situation ; and by the effect of minute observation, and the most ecstatic anxiety, they arrive at such a degree of emulative excellence as almost exceeds credibility ; for upon flushing the bird, whatever it may be, the eye is fixed so invariably upon the fiiglit, that instantaneously, upon the dis- charge of the gun, if the game is palpably striken, he sets off with the most determined 115 determined speed to bring it to bis master, and to obtain possession of it if possible, even before it readies the ground. Exclusive of the services rendered by this dog to the sporting-world in the Held, there are other uses to Avhich he becomes applicably appropriate, and where, in fact, his assistance can scarcely be done without. In the formation of a decoy for the taking of wild-fowl, there are several flues, or pipes of net- work, which lead up a narrow ditch that terminates with what is called a funnel- net. Over these pipes (which become gradually contracted from their first en- trance) is a continued arch of netting suspended on hoops, it being necessary to have a pipe, or ditch, for almost every wind that can blow; as, upon this circum- stance, it principally depends which pipe the fowl will take to, as the decoy- man is always under the necessity of keeping on the leeward side, to prevent his effluvia reaching the olfactory sensations of the ducks, of which, strange as it may appear, they are exceedingly irritable. During the whole length of each pipe, at different spaces, are placed skreens made of reeds, which are so situated, that it is impossible the wild-fowl should see the decoy-man before they have passed on towards the end of the pipe, Avhere the purse-net is placed. The inducement to the wild-fowl to go up one of these pipes is, because the decoy-ducks trained to lead this way, after hearing the whistle of the decoy- man, or enticed by the hemp-seed, the latter will dive under water whilst the wild-fowl fly on, and are taken in the purse. Sometimes, however, it happens, that the fowl are in such a state of sleep- ing and dozing, that they will not follow the decoy-ducks; there is then no al- ternative but to resort to the assistance of the dog, whoj having been previously and properly taught his lesson, passes backwards and forwards between the reed-skreens (in which there are small holes both for the decoy-man to see, and larger at bottom for the dog to pass through) ; this attracts the attention of the fowl, who, not choosing to be interrupted, advance towards the busily em- ployed animal, in a hope thej^ may be able to drive him away. The dog all the time, by the direction of the decoy-man, plays among the skreens of reeds, and the wild-fowl not daring to pass by him in return, nor being able to escape upwards (on account of the net-covering), rush on into the purse-net , yet, notwithstanding their general alertness upon the watch, they are sometimes so insensible to the approach of danger, that even the appearance of the dog a 2 will- 116 will not attract their attention, if a red handkerchief, or something singular, is not put about him. Decoys, so admirably calculated to supply the public with so delicious and useful an article, cannot be formed, nor need they be attempted, but where nature has been a little diffuse in her favors for the formation; marshy low-lands, plenty of Mater, and sequestered situations, are indispensibly necessary to a successful embarkation. Decoys are to be seen in different remote parts of the kingdom, but more plentiful in the northern and eastern counties than in any other ; Lincolnshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and some parts of Warwick- shire, are remarkable for some of considerable extent, from the principal of which, the markets of the metropolis are so plentifully and reasonably supplied. Lincolnshire seems to take the lead in its production, where the most astonish- ing number of ducks, wigeons, and teal, are constantly taken ; for it appears, in a page of Pennant's British Zoology, that there were taken in one season a few years since, in only ten decoys, in the neighbourhood of ^^^ainfleet, no less than 31,200 head, which were sent to the capital, exclusive of those sold and consumed in the neighbourhood. This immense produce renders them so cheap on the spot, that it is asserted by many, that several of the decoy-men would be content with a contract for years to deliver their ducks at Boston for tenpence a couple. So infatuated were the people of that country with the sport formerly, that it was customary in the fens to have an annual driving of young ducks be- fore they took wing; numbers of people never failed to attend, and when as- sembled a vast tract was beat, and the young birds driven into a net placed at the spot where the sport was to terminate ; by which so great a destruction took place, that an hundred and fifty dozen have been taken at one time, to which wanton and inhuman practice an end has been made some years since by the interposing power of parliament. For the protection of decoys in general, and the preservation of those whose interest is concerned, it is enacted, by an act of Anne, that, if any person Avhatsoever shall, by hays, tunnels, or other nets, drive and take away any wild-duck, teal, wigeon, or other water-fowl, in the moulting-season (which, in the 10 Geo. IL is expressly specified between the first of June, and the first of October), such person being thereof convicted before a justice, shall forfeit five shillings, and the hays, nets, or tunnels used in driving, or taking such fowl. 117 fowl, shall be destroyed. In addition to this, it cannot be inapplicable to young or inexperienced sportsmen to be informed, that an action will lie against the disturbe/ of a decoy, by firing a gun within a certain distance, or any other act of wilful injury whatever. As the rough and awkward appearance, as well as the strong and unpleasant effluvia issuing from the shaggy coat of the water-spaniel, render him but of little domestic attraction ; his offices of tenderness, fidelity, sagacity, and soli- citous attention do not appear so individually predominant as in many other branches of the species, whose fortunate exterior luckily insures them a more favourable parlour reception : in Avhich situation every merit is in hourly obser- vation, and, of course, being in the daily eye of the family, every distinguish- ing trait is in constant memory, without a possibility of being doomed to obli- vion. Although the dog under description is precluded every possibility of dis- playing ample proof of his possessing the same natural virtues as his cotempo- raries, in consequence of his compulsive sequestration from the more polished scenes of society, yet proofs are not wanting of his being in equal possession of the attributes so universally applicable to spaniels of every description ; in con- firmation of which, one striking instance need only be adduced, and that ex- tracted from a work replete with distinguishing marks of respectability, and thus introduced by the Avriter. Will it be unworthy history — will it be a departure from the respect I owe my i-eaders, to preserve the memory of a dog, who poured out his life with grief upon the ashes of the man who had been his own protector from the origin of his existence ? A few days before the 9th Thermidor (the day on which Robespierre was overthrown), a revolutionary tribunal, in one of the departments in the north of France, condemned to death M. des R , an anc'ent magistrate, and a most estimable man, guilty, at fifty leagues from Paris, of a conspiracy, which had not existed at St. Lazare. M. des R had a water-spaniel, of ten or eleven years old, which had been brought up by him from a puppy, and had never quitted him. Des R , during his imprisonment, heard that his fa- mily were all dispersed by the system of terror — some had escaped by flight ; others were arrested, and confined in distant goals ; his domestics w ere dismis- sed ; his house was buried in the solitude of the seals ; his friends either aban- doned him, or secreted themselves ; every thing on earth was silent to him except his dog. This faithful animal had been repeatedly refused admittance into the prison ; 118 prison ; he had as repeatedly returned to his fond master's house, and as re- peatedly found it shut. Overwhelmed and depressed with his mortifying ai>d distressing situation, he took refuge under the roof of a neighhour, who know- ing the dog, and commiserating his misery, received and caressed him ; but, tliat posterity may judge soundly and truly of the times in which we have ex- isted, it cannot be omitted to observe, that this humane man received him in secret, and with trembling, dreading lest his humanity for the poor, harmless, inoffensive animal, should lay a foundation for being himself conducted to the scaffold. Once domesticated with so good a friend, he every day, and invariably at the same hour, constantly left the house, and went to the door of the prison ; here being as usual denied admittance, he regularly passed an hour before it, and then returned. His invincible fidelity, and unalterable attachment, at length, operated so powerfully upon the hitherto unaffected feelings of the porter, that, in the moments of his relaxed rigidity, he permitted the poor suffering solicitant to enter ; the dog saw his master, and the meeting may be conceived better — much better than it can be described, even by a pen of the most animating description. From the mutual and happy gratification of this temporary union it was difficult to separate them, but the goaler was peremp- tory in taking him away, and the discarded visitant returned to his retreat. He came back the next morning, and in future every day; each time he was admitted, and exchanged caresses with his master ; in these complicated scenes of sorrow, and excess of despondency, he licked the hand of his dearest friend — wistfully examined in his face every sensation of his soul — licked his hand again — and again— then gratefully retired, without a prompter far his depar- ture. When the day of sentence arrived, notwithstanding the crowd — notwithstand- ing the guard, setting every obstacle at defiance, he made his way into the hall, and couched himself between the legs of the unhappy man, whom he was now about to lose for ever. The judges condemned this man ; and — may my tears be pardoned for the expression which issues from them — they condemned him in the presence of his dog. They re-conducted him to prison with the most awful solemnity ; but the dog, no more admitted, no more quitted the door. The fatal hour, at length, arrived — the prison-door is slowly seen to move — the unfortunate victim is seen to approach, and upon the very threshold his faithfid 119 faithful dog is ready to receive him — He clings to his hand! — that very hand^nhich, in a few moments more, can never be spread upon thy faithful and caressing head. He follows him in silent sorrow, and at the place of execution, may be said, to have " stared and looked aghast" at the " dreadful note of prepara- tion." The axe falls — the master dies — but the affectionate tenderness and grief of the dog is far — very far beyond obliteration. The lifeless trunk is borne away — he walks by its side — the earth receives it — the tear of inexplica- ble sensibility exudes from the eye, and, as the last tribute to eternal affection, he makes his seat of sorrow on the grave. Here, to the mind of ruminative reflection let it be known, he passed the first night — the next day — the second night ; when the benevolent neighbour, unhappy at not seeing him, once more determines to risk his safety, and searches for the dog, and guessing, from the extent of his fidelity, the asylum he had chosen, finds him — caresses him — brings him back — and, by patient persever- ance, makes him eat. In less than an hour the dog escaped, and regained bis , favourite place. Three months passed away, every morning of which he came to receive his sustenance, and then returned to the ashes of his master ; but every succeeding day grew more sad, more emaciated, more depressed, and it was evident he was gradually approaching the latter end of this life. They en- deavoured, by chaining him up, to wean him from this fruitless affection — but in vain — it was impossible to triumph over the predominant propensities of na- ture. He broke, or bit, through the bonds intended to restrain him — escaped — returned to the grave, and never quitted it more ; it was in vain that they endeavoured to bring him back — they carried him food, but he would eat no longer. For four and twenty hours he was seen employing his weakened limbs in digging up the earth that separated him from the remains of the master he had so much loved. Energy contributed to prolong his strength, and he gradually approached the body ; his labours of affection then vehemently increased ; his efforts became convulsive ; he shrieked in his struggles ; his faithful heart gave way, and he breathed out his last gasp, as if exultingly conscious he had found his master. PUG- 120 PUG-DOG. • NOTWITHSTANDING every indefatigable investigation that has been made by the most celebrated and industrious naturalists, to discover the origin of every particular and distinct race of the canine-species, little more can be ascertained to an indisputable certainty, than that the whole of the present varieties, from the stately mastiff to the diminutive pug, centered in one and the same dog at tlie first creation. That every virtue, faculty, size, and shape, which we find, 6r improve in every dog upon earth, were originally comprehended and included in the fiist parents of the species ; and that the great variety we observe in them is the natural product of the climate, or the accidental effect of soil, food, or situation, and, beyond a doubt, have frequently been the issue of human care, curiosity, or caprice : yet there is a limitation, a fixed bar to the utmost efforts of human exertion, a kind oi lie plus, or termination of our endeavours, to which we are stinted; nor can any conjunctive device, or invention, add one hew species to the works of the creation. The wise dispensations of Nature are uniform in all her operations, and not to be corrected, or counteracted by the presumptuous interference of confident and shallow-sighted mortals. In spite of every art our mules will be barren, nor can the most curious, or cunning projector produce one amphigeneous animal on earth that can be made to in- crease and multiply. Even to the most reflecting mind there must appear a dis- tinct specific difference in living creatures of every description ; the horse, the dog, the bear, the goat, and many other animals, however diversified by art, or accident, in size and figure, will ever discover some distinguishing or predo- minant traits peculiarly appertaining to those names or characters : and, above all, their individual appetites and powers of generation will evidently prompt them to display their natural relation to each other. This 121 This is conceived, by all who have written upon the subject, the most incon- trovertible argument why every race of dogs are of one original species ; for every close and attentive observer must know, that no deformity, disproportion, or dissimihtude, can hinder any one of that name from courting, following, or receiving the other ; nor their mongrel offspring from enjoying the common na- ture and faculties of the species. Without adverting to the conjectural theses of BufFon, which, in fact, afford no matter of information or elucidation in respect to the subject before us, it is clear that the pug-dog, from its singula- rity, affords more doubt in the certainty of its origin than almost any one of the species. It is asserted by some, that the genuine breed was introduced to this island from Muscovy, and that they were, originally, the undoubted natives of that country ; others assert the pug to have been produced by a commixture between the English bull-dog and the little Dane, calling such races simple mon- grels, as coming from the mixture of two pure races ; but there are other dogs which may, with propriety, be called double mongrels, because they come from a mixture of a pure race, and of one already mixed. The shock-dog, for in- stance, is a double mongrel, as being produced by the pug and the small Dane. The dog of Alicant is also a double mongrel, as coming from the whelp and small spaniel ; and the Maltese, or lap-dog, is a double mongrel produced by the small spaniel with the barbet; the spaniel and the little Dane produce the lion-dog, which is very scarce. Of all domestic animals, the dog may be truly said to be almost the only one whose fidelity may be put to the proof; the only one which invariably knows his master and his friends ; the only one which, as soon as an unknown person ar- rives, perceives it; the only one which perfectly understands his own name, and obeys the injunction when called upon; the only one which, when he has lost his master, and cannot recover him, regrets his loss by the most expressive lamentations; the only one which, in a long journey, a journey which, perhaps, he has never gone before, can remember the intricacies of the road, and effect his return ; the only one, in fact, whose talents are generally good, and whose education is seldom ineffectual. To this aggregate of qualifications it may like- wise be added, that the dog, in the general acceptation of the different species of animals, is the one whose understanding is most susceptible of impressions, and most easily taught by moral causes ; he is also, above all other creatures, most subject to the variety and other alterations caused by physical influences. The temperament, the faculties, and habits of the body vary prodigiously, and VOL. II. u the 122 the form is not invariably uniform ; in the same country one dog is very different from another, and the species is quite different in itself in different climates ; of which versatility and contrariety there cannot be a more palpable proof than in the subject before us; for, perhaps, in the whole catalogue of the canine- species, there is not one of less utility, or possessing less the powers of attrac- tion than the pug-dog, whose representation is so accurately depicted in the plate annexed ; applicable to no sport, appropriated to no useful purpose, sus- ceptible of no predominant passion, and in no way whatever remarkable for any extra eminence, he is continued from era to era for what alone he might have been originally intended, the patient follower of a ruminating philosopher, or the adulating and consolatory companion of an old maid. DROVER'S 123 DROVER'S-DOG; or, CUR. THIS dog, though with some points of similitude, is both larger and more ferocious than the shepherd's-dog, to whom, in appearance, he evidently seems a kin, but stands considerably higher upon his legs, with a much more com- manding aspect. In colour, the cur is of a black, brindled, or of a dingey- grizzled brown, having generally a white neck, and some white about the belly, face, and legs ; sharp nose ; ears half pricked, and the points pendulous ; coat mostly long, rough, and matted, particularly about the haunches, giving him a ragged appearance, to which his posterior nakedness greatly contributes, the most of this breed being whelped with a stump-tail. The simplicity of his ex- terior seems admirably adapted to the easy insignificance of his destination, as it would be neither more or less than a prostitution of ability, to employ a dog of superior powers and penetration in the trifling office of urging tame cattle forward, in a beaten-path, where both speed and energetic action are so little lequired. This dog, from his formation and complicated appearance, was, in its origin, most probably engendered between the shepherd's-dog and the lurcher, with an intermediate cross of the mastiff, or Dane ; his restless habit, shuffling gait, vo- ciferating clamour, beggarly approach, and his perpetual return to the voice and action of his master, seem to bespeak him incapable of any great design, or regular chain of action. Held in no great degree of estimation, as posses- sing no distinguishing traits of utility, he is .seldom seen but in the hands of drovers, carriers, and travelling adventurers ; for his use being solely appro- priate to a single purpose, the breed is cultivated merely by the farmer, or gra- zier, to whom alone he's useful in watching and driving their cattle ; as well as to their delegate, the drover, in driving their cattle to market, or sheep to the slaughter. In every other respect, this dog is harmless and inoffensive ; sagacious, active, and fond of the employment for which he has been selected. r2 In 124 In travelling with cattle, if a drove become huddled together, so as to retard their progress, he resentfully dashes amongst, and separates them 'till they form a line, and travel more commodiously to each other. If a sheep is wild, or re- fractory, he soon overtakes him, and seizing him by the ear, or fore-leg, spee- dily brings him to the ground. The bull, or ox, he forces to obedience by baying and baiting, most dexte- rously avoiding their heels and their horns. Knowing, by strict and attentive observation, the extent of his master's premises, he becomes a rigid centinel in the execution of the trust reposed in him; never suffering their own cattle to break the bounds allotted them, or permitting the cattle of others to intrude. The officious and depredating hog he indignantly shakes by the ear, and obliges him to retreat with the most vociferating proofs of repentance. This dog, in uniformity with t!ie subordinate rustic with whom he acts, ranks but low in the estimation of society, submitting to degrading rebuffs, blows, and kicks innu- merable, with the most humiliating and philosophic patience ; notwithstanding which severities, he is a serene and faithful follower of fortune with his em- ployer, and is seldom without the power and ability to render assistance in any little poaching excursion that may be occasionally entered into at certain seasons of the year. SPANISH- 125 SPANISH -POINTER. THE dog originally passing under this denomination, formerly so frequently seen, and so well remembered by the elder branches of the present generation, is so completely changed by the various speculative and experimental crosses with the breed of our own country (including pointers, setters, fox-hounds, and spaniels), that one of the race, in its pure and uncontaminated state, is very rarely to be found. Every trait upon record respecting their appearance in England is, that they were, in very early ages, introduced from Spain; and that they were the natives of that country from whence their name was derived. The Spanish-pointer in shape, make, strength, seeming stupidity, and bodily tardiness, is a perfect specimen of the most consistent uniformity ; well adapted in all those qualifications to the haughty, somniferous, majestic parade and dignity of the lofty Spaniard, but very inadequate to the life, spirit, agility, and impatient energy of the English sportsman. This race of dog, in his natural and unimproved state, is a mass of inactivity, as is evidently perceptible by his shape and make ; in every point of which is displayed, the very reverse of speed and action, objects so truly necessary in almost every sport of the field. The pointer of this description is short in the head, broad in the forehead, Avide in the nose, expansive in the nostrils, simply solicitous in aspect, heavy in the shoulders, short in the legs, almost circular in the form of the carcase, square upon the back, strong across the loins, and remarkably so in the hind-quarters. Although this breed, like the English-pointer (by the many collateral aids so much improved), are produced of various colours, yet the bold brown liver- colour and white are the most predominant. These dogs, slow as they are, and accustomed to tire with quick work before the intended sport of the day is half over (with those who are in the prime of life, and adequate to the customary fatigue), are yet truly applicable to the purposes of those who are advanced in years, or labouring under infirmities, feel themselves unable to get across a country in the way they could in their earlier years. To 12S POMERANIAN; or, WOLF-DOG. THE dog so called in this country is but little more than eighteen or twenty inches in height, and is distinguished by his long, thick, and rather upright coat, forming a most tremendous ruff about the neck, but short and smooth on the head and ears ; they are mostly of a pale yellow, or cream-colour, and lightest on the lower parts. Some are white, some few black, and others but very rarely spotted ; the head broad towards the neck, and narrowing to the muzzle ; ears short, pointed, and erect ; nose and eyes mostly black ; the tail large and bushy, invariably curled in a ring upon the back. Instances of smooth, or short- coated ones are very rarely seen; in England he is much more familiarly known by the name of fox-dog, and this may originally have proceeded from his bear- ing much affinity to that animal about the head ; but, by those who in their writ- ings describe him as a native of Pomerania, he passes under the appellation of the Pomeranian-dog. In general opinion, as a house-dog, he is held but in slender estimation, being by nature frivolous, artful, noisy, quarrelsome, cowardly, petulant, and deceitful, snappish and dangerous to children, without one predominant pro- perty of perfection to recommend him. This breed of dogs are common in Holland, and have been occasionally introduced as a hieroglyphic by the cari- caturist partizans of the House of Orange (in opposition to the pug) to ridi- cule the patriots in their political disputes. There is this peculiarity in the coat of this dog, his hair, particularly the ruff about his neck, is not formed of hairs calculated to form the surpentine, or line of beauty, but is simply a semi- circle, which, by inclining the same way in large masses, give him a respectable and attracting appearance ; and, although they do not betray so great a degree of fondness and affection for their owners as some others of the species, yet they are not to be readily, or easily seduced. The largest of these dogs are used 129 used for draught in different countries, and it may, with well-founded reason, be presumed, that to these, or a race somewhat similar, be attributed Tooke's account of dogs in his View of the Russian empire. lie says, it is the dog of whom numerous packs are found with almost all the nomadic nations, and are used for draught, particularly by the Kamtsha- dales, and the Ostiaks, by the Eastern Samoyedes, the Tunguses, and by some stems of the Mandshuses : an employment to which they are destined even among the Russians in the government of Irkutsk, where, in some places, they supply the place of post-horses. But no where is the breed of this animal of such importance and necessity as in Kamtshatka, where they constitute the only species of tame domestic animals, and where it is impossible to dispense with them, as in other countries with horned-cattle, or the horse. The Kamt- shadale-dogs are, in size and shape, little different from the large Russian boor- dog, but their manners are almost totally changed by their course of diet, training, and treatment. They are held to be the best, and most long-winded runners of all the Siberian dogs ; and their spirit is so great, that they fre- quently dislocate their joints in drawing, and their hair is often tinged with red from the extravasation of blood occasioned by violent exertions. They possess so much strength, that four of them (which are commonly harnessed to a sledge) will draw, with ease, three full grown persons, with a pood and a half of lug- gage. The ordinary loading of four dogs amounts to five or six poods, and a single man can in this manner, in bad roads, go thirty or forty, but in good roads from eighty to a hundred and forty versts in a day. The deep snow which the dogs run over without breaking in ; the steep mountains, and narrow passes in the vallies ; the thick impassable forests ; the numerous streams and brooks that are either not all, or but slightly frozen over; the storms which drift the snow, and efface every vestige of a track ; — all these circumstances together would prevent the travelling with horses, had they ever so many of them, in winter at least ; and it is therefore very probable that the dog, even under the highest pitch of cultivation to which Kamtshatka can at- tain, would be always the principal and most serviceable animal for draught. Accordingly, the taste for dogs here is as great as for horses elsewhere; and considerable sums are not unfrequently expended in the purchase of them, and on the elegance of their trappings. The manner in which these animals are VOL. II. s trained 1.30 trained to their singular employment has so powerful an influence on the indivi- dual properties of the whole species, that the description of it will not prove un- interesting even to the philosophic reader. For proper draught-dogs, the choice is principally made of such as have high legs, long ears, a sharp muzzle, a broad crupper, a thick head, and who discover great vivacity. As soon as the pup- pies are able to see, they are thrown into a dark pit, where they remain shut up till they are thought able to undergo a trial. They are then harnessed with other seasoned dogs to a sledge, with which they scamper away with all their might, being frightened by the light, and by so many strange objects. After this short trial, they are again confined to their gloomy dungeon, and this prac- tice is repeated 'till they are inured to the business of drawing, and are obe- dient to their driver. From this moment begins their hard and miserable course, only alleviated by the short recreation the summer affords them. As in this season they are of no service, nobody cares about them, but they enjoy a perfect liberty, which they principally employ in assuaging their hunger. Their sole nutriment consists of fish, which they watch for all this time by the brinks of rivers, and which they catch with the greatest cunning and dexterity ; and when they have plenty of this food, like the bears, they devour only the heads, and leave the rest behind. This respite, however, continues no longer than October, when every proprietor assembles his dogs, and ties them up in a place adjoining his dwelling, where they are kept upon spare regimen, to bring down their superfluous fat, that they may be the more adequate to the task of labour so soon to begin. With the first fall of snow commences their time of torment ; and then day and night is heard their dreadful howling, in which they seem to bewail their miserable fate. During the hard lot these animals have to bear the winter through, their food consists only of soured, or dried-fish, in a state of corruption, and even this they are only allowed as the better diet to refresh and invigorate them ; as it is observed that they become nice, and more easily tired on receiving this delicacy shortly before they set out on a journey. Their ordinaiy sustenance is mouldy dried-fish, a treat at which they can sel- dom satisfy their appetite without bleeding-jaws, as the greater part of it con- sists in bones and teeth only. This hard usage they, however, generally re- venge, by the amazing voracity which spares no object on which they can lay hold. 131 bold. With the most depredating cunning they wait the lucky unwatched mo- ment for an opportunity to mount the ladder, by which alone access can be ob- tained to the aerial cupboard of their tyrannical master, and with unnatural rapacity prey upon his thongs, straps, leathers, and other objects of attraction wherever they are to be found : and the depravity of their taste is such, that rarely can a Kamtshadale incline in obedience to the ignobler calls of nature, without first arming himself with a whip, as at all times a ravenous pack is ready to contend (even to blood) for his loathsome leavings. Not only in their vo- racity, however, but in the whole individuality of their brutal behaviour, this depravity is ever conspicuous. Instead of the vigilance, fidelity, and attach- ment which the dog every where shews for his feeder, and therefore has, in all nations, and in all ages, been made the symbol of these virtues, the Kamtsha- dale-dog has assumed the spirit and character of a crafty knave. Timid and sullen he sneaks, prowling alone ; still leering in every direction, consciously suspicious of some intentional severity, or injury, which he seems to anticipate. It is only by artifice, stratagem, and deception, that they can be harnessed to the sledge ; while which is doing, they all stretch their heads upwards, and set up a melancholy yell ; but as soon as the sledge is in motion, they are suddenly mute, and then, by a thousand artful tricks, seem to vie with each other to weary the patience of the driver, or resolved to bring his life into jeopardy. On coming to a scene of danger, they most cunningly and incredibly redouble their speed, where, to avoid being precipitated down a steep mountain, or plunged into a deep river, he is commonly forced to aban- don the sledge, which seldom fails of being broken to pieces, and he only finds it again at the next village, if the dogs have not been so lucky as to set them- selves entirely at liberty. Although the dog now under description is so de- generate from the rest of his kind, yet he is not by any means deficient in qua- lities by which he may render himself equally serviceable to man when he is so disposed. Besides the advantage of being able, with these light creatures, to travel the trackless mountains, and proceed along the surface of deep ridges of snow ; they are also excellent guides on the dreary way, as in the most pitchy- darkness, and in the most tremendous storms of snow, they readily find the place to which their master is bound, or intends to go. If the storm is so violent, that unable to proceed, they have no alternative but to remain on the spot, which sometimes happens, the dogs will lay upon s 2 and 132 and round the body of the master, to assist by their warmth in the preservation of his life. They possess, likewise, an instinctive sagacity of giving infallible notice when storms are approaching, by scratching holes in the snow, and en- deavouring to shelter theniselves beneath it. By these, and many other good qualities, the Kamtshadale-dogs by far overbalance the casual mischiefs they do in their occasional petulance and perverseness ; and, in fact, to what other cause than the tyrannical treatment they receive from hard-hearted man is the blame of this perversity to be ascribed ? Great as their deceptions and trans- gressions may be, they exult in the comparison between the cold and selfish ingratitude, which animals so degraded, changed to perpetual bondage and stripes, endure from mankind. Scarcely has the Kamtshadale-dog, worn out by the weight of his bodily sufferings, arrived at a premature old age, in which he is no longer adequate to the task of labour in a sledge, than his inexorable master exacts of him the last surrender he is able to make — his ski?i : and the poor unfortunate, cruelly-treated slave, who, during his short, laborious, and painful life, has so often imparted his animal- warmth to his merciless tyrant^ affords him similar service, and in the same manner even after his death. As various speculations have been formed, and different opinions promul- gated by successive naturalists in respect to the doubtful commixture between the canine-species and the wolf, it cannot prove inapplicable to observe, that the majority of those who have written upon the subject, perfectly agree in placing the wolf and the dog in the same class ; and, from the slightest inspec- tion of only its external form it is apparent, that a wolf is, in every respect, a dog in its state of natural freedom. The shape of its head, indeed, is some- what different ; and its eyes being fixed in a more oblique position, give it a look of more savage ferocity ; its ears are sharp and erect ; its tail long, bushy, and bending upwards between its hind-legs; its body is stronger than that of almost any dog in existence ; its jaws and teeth larger, and its hair thicker and coarser. The internal structure of these animals is perfectly similar ; they co- pulate in the same manner as the dog, and its immediate separation is prevented by the same cause : the time of gestation is also nearly the same, and, from a variety of successful experiments related by Dr. Hunter, there is no longer any reason to doubt that the wolf and the dog will copulate together, and produce an intermediate species capable of subsequent propagation. For every kind of animal-food, the appetite of the wolf is excessively voracious ; and though na- ture has furnished it with every requisite for pursuing and subduing its prey, it 133 it is often reduced to the last extremity, and sometimes even perishes for want of food. So great is the general detestation of this destructive creature, that all wild-animals endeavour to avoid it, and generally escape it by their superior swiftness. When pressed with hunger, however, he braves danger, and attacks those animals which are, in a certain degree, domesticated, and under the protection of man, particularly such as he can carry away, lambs, sheep, or even dogs themselves ; for all animal-food, at such times, becomes equally acceptable. If success attends his excursion, he often returns to the charge, unless having been wounded, or closely pursued by the shepherds, or dogs, he secretes himself by day in the thickest coverts, and only ventures out at night; but, at last, wheu his necessities are urgent, he confidently opposes the chance of almost certain destruction ; in such dilemma, he attacks women and children, and sometimes ventures to fall upon men, becomes furious by his continual agitations, and ends his life in misery and madness. Possessed of great muscular strength, particu- larly in the neck and jaws, he carries off a sheep in his mouth without letting it touch the ground, and runs much faster with it than the shepherds who pursue him ; so that nothing but the dogs can overtake, or compel him to quit his prey. He bites most severely, and always with greater vehemence in propor- tion as he is less resisted ; for he most sagaciously uses precautions with such animals as attempt to stand upon the defensive ; and is admitted to be instinc- tively a coward, as he never fights but when under the necessity of satisfying his hunger, or making good his retreat. When wounded by a bullet, he is said to cry out; yet, when surrounded by pursuers, and attacked with clubs, or other weapons, he never howls, but defends himself in silence, and generally dies as hard as he lived. Buffon, in opposition to the opinion advanced by other writers, respecting the affinity between the wolf and the dog, has these remarks — that the wolf, as well externally as internally, so nearly resembles the dog, that he seems modelled upon the same plan ; and yet he only offers the reverse of the image. If his form be similar, his nature is, however, different; and, indeed, they are so unlike in their dispositions, that no two animals can have a more perfect anti- pathy to each other. A young dog shudders at the sight of a wolf; a dog who is stronger, and knows his strength, bristles up at his approach, testifies his ani- mosity,, 134 mosity, attacks him with courage, endeavours to conquer, or put him to flight, doing all in his power to rid himself of an object that is so perceptibly hateful to him. They never meet without flying from, or fighting with each other ; if the wolf proves the strongest, he tears and devours his prey : the dog, on the contrary, is more generous, and contents himself with the victory. The horse seems the only tame animal that can defend itself against their fury and voracity, all those of a weaker kind become their prey ; even man, as before observed, often falls a victim to their rapacity, and it is said, and with a very great degree of probability, that when they have once tasted of human blood, they prefer it to that of any other creature. Hence many superstitious stories have origi- nated respecting the wolf; and hence the Saxons supposed that it was pos- sessed by some evil spirit, and called it the leare-Xfolf, as an animal of which it was necessary to be axcare ; and the French peasants, for the same reason, call it the loup-garo. In confirmation of w hich abhorrence, the poet has thus beau- tifully depicted the fury of this insatiate animal : — " By wint'ry famine rous'd, from all the tract " Of horrid mountains, which the shining Alps, " And wavy Alpenine, and Pyrenees, " Branch out, stupendous, into distant lands, " Cruel as death ! and hungry as the grave ! " Burning for blood ! bony, and ghaunt, and grim ! " Assembling wolves, in raging troops descend ; " And, pouring o'er the country, bear along " Keen as the north-wind sweeps the glossy snow : " All is their prize." When in whole droves they join in the cruel work of general devastation, roam- ing through the village, and attacking the sheep-folds ; as well as digging the earth from under doors, where entering with the greatest ferocity, they destroy every living thing before their departure. If a comparison may be drawn be- tween the wolf and the dog (which the wolf is admitted so much to resemble), it must be remembered that the dog, even in his savage state, is not known to be cruel, or even unmerciful to an opponent when subdued ; he is at all times easily tamed, reduced to mildness and obedience, and continues unalterably firmly attached to his master. The wolf, on the contrary, if taken young, be- comes readily tamed, but is seldom or ever known to have been rendered sus- ceptible 135 ceptible of any friendly attachment. Nature is stronger in him than education ; he resumes, with age, his natural dispositions, and returns, so soon as he can, to the woods from whence he was originally taken. Dogs, even of the dullest kinds, seek the company of other animals ; they feel a propensity to follow, and associate with other creatures ; the wolf, on the contrary, is the enemy of all society, he shuns company as he would a pestilence, and aflfords no proof of desire to mix, for any length of time, with his own kind. When seen in packs together, it is not so upon the score of peaceful society, but a combination for war, or depredation ; they testify their hostile intentions by their loud and in- cessant bowlings ; and, by their fierceness, denote a project already planned for some conjunctive exploit, as the attack upon a bull, a stag, a formidable dog, or some expedition extraordinary to be achieved. The instant which is accom- plished, the temporary convention is at an end ; they part, and every individual returns in silence to his solitary retreat. In corroboration of which, there is not any strong attachment even between the male and female ; they seek each other but once a year, and then their meeting is but of short duration. BufFon has promulgated a different opinion to those who aver, " that the weeks of gestation between the wolf and the canine-bitch are nearly the same ;" the former asserting, that the difference, in the duration of the pregnancy of the she-wolf, who goes with young above an hundred days, and the bitch, who goes but a few more than sixty, proves that the wolf and the dog, so different in disposition, are still more so in one of the principal functions of the animal oeconomy. The wolf generally brings forth five or six, and, when older, even eight or nine at a litter. The cubs are brought forth, like those of the bitch, with the eyes closed ; the dam suckles them for some weeks, and teaches them betimes to eat flesh, which she prepares for them by chewing it first herself They do not leave the den where they have been nurtured 'till seven or eight weeks old; and it is not 'till they are about ten or twelve months old, and 'till they have shed their first teeth, and completed the new, that the dam thinks them enabled to shift for themselves. Then, when they have acquired arms from nature, and have learned industry and courage from her example, she withdraws her maternal attention, and declines all future care of them, being again engaged in bringing up a new progeny ; and from every possible investi- gation it appears, that from two to three years is required for the attainment of full -growth, and that they generally live to the age of twenty. Like many of the 136 the canine-species, as he grows old he grows grey, and his teeth M-ear like /hose of most other animals in proportion to the time of using. The wolf sleeps most when his frame is filled, or when he is fatigued, rather by day than night, and is always, like the dog-tribe, easily awaked. He seems habitually thirsty, and drinks frequently; in times of drought, when there is no water to be found in the trunks of trees, or in pools about the forest, he comes often in the day down to the brooks, or streams in the plain, to allay his thirst. Although very vora- cious, he retains the power of supporting hunger for a long time, and can, with- out much disquietude, live four or five days ia succession without food, pro- vided he is plentifully supplied with water. If caught in a pit-fall, or subdued and taken by any other device, he is for some time so frightened, so ashamed, and so astonished, that he may be in- stantly killed without offering to resist, or taken alive with very little apprehen- sion of danger. In that moment of victory, it is no difficult business to clap a collar round his neck, muzzle him, and drag him along, without his displaying the least signs of anger or resentment. At all other times he has his senses in great perfection, and will scent a carcase at more than a league distance ; he can also perceive living animals a great way off, and can follow them a long time upon scent. Whenever he leaves his den, he takes care to go out against the wind ; and when he reaches the extremity of the wood, he remains there some time, exerting every precaution in endeavouring to discover, by his smell on all sides, the emanations that may come from either his enemy or his prey, which he very nicely distinguishes to the greatest certainty. He prefers those animals he kills himself to those he may, at any time, happen to find dead ; and yet he does not disdain the latter, though ever so much infected or putre- fied, when no better is to be had. And it is asserted, upon the best authority extant, that they have been known to follow armies, and after the contending parties have retired, to assemble upon the field of battle, tearing up such bodies as have been carelessly interred, and devouring them with the most insatiable avidity. The wolf has, in all ages, been considered the most savage enemy of man- kind, and rewards have always been offered for his destruction. Various me-' thods have been formerly adopted to rid the world of this rapacious invader ; -pit-falls, traps, and poison, have all been employed against him, and, happily for 137 for these islands, the whole race here has been long extirpated. The better and more expeditiously to effect w^hich purpose in England, King Edgar remitted the punishment of certain crimes, on producing a certain number of wolves- tongues ; and in Wales, the tax of gold and silver was commuted for an annual tribute of wolves-heads. Some centuries after, they increased to such an alarm- ing degree as to become a particular object of royal attention, and considerable rewards were offered for their destruction. Camden relates, that certain per- sons held their lands on condition of hunting and destroying the wolves which infested the country; whence they were called the wolf-hunt. In the reign of Athelstan, wolves abounded so much in Yorkshire, that a letreat was built at Flixton to defend passengers from their attacks. As the ravages of these ani- mals were greatest during the winter, particularly in January, when the cold was severest, our Saxon ancestors distinguished that month by the term of wolf-motith. A variety of well-authenticated cases, in which men, women, and children have been attacked (and in some instances destroyed) in different parts of France and Germany, might be introduced from recitals upon record ; yet, as the wolf has been so long extirpated in this country, and such occur- rences have generally appeared in the public diurnal and periodical-prints, they lay the less claim to I'epetition upon the present occasion. Anxious, as the major part of the sporting M-orld have ever been, to acquire some minute and authentic particulars respecting the mode of hunting wolves in this country, previous to their extirpation, but without any information to be implicitly relied on ; will gladly accept, as a substitute, the following anec- dote from the recent production of the Rev. Mr. Daniel, who says : — In point of numbers, the exportation of fox-hounds from this country to France was, at one period, very considerable. The compiler requested a friend, who had his regular establishment of fox-hounds in France, to inform him how far the chase of the wolf was successful, or likely to be so, when prosecuted by the vigour and emulous speed of the English fox-hound, and his reply was to the following purport: " You wish me to communicate my observations on wolf- hunting, which I shall most readily do, but must first apprize you, that neither with my own hounds, which I took with me to France in 1774, nor with the hounds of Count de Serrent, Mhich were under my direction some years before, did I hunt the wolf by choice. The Count de Serrent's pack consisted of about thiity couple of French-hounds, larger than the English stag-hound, liftecn VOL, II. ■ T couple 138 couple of them were kept for stag-hunting only, and with the remainder they hunted the wild-boar and the wolf. The first time I ever met the Serrent hounds was at a wolf-hunt, where a bitch-wolf had littered in some woods of the Count's, far distant from the Fo- rest; the woods were nearly surrounded by the officers of the Carabiniers, each person with a double-barrelled gun, some with small bayonets fixed, and all were loaded with ball. As soon as each sportsman had taken his station, the huntsman and hounds entered the wood; they found instantly, the hounds di- vided, and I (who was unarmed) tally"d the old bitch-wolf, who went off for the Forest in the most gallant style imaginable. INIy English halloo amused some of the French, but enraged others, M'ho declared, that if the huntsman had not fortunately stopt the hounds, they would have gone off with the old wolf, and this indeed was my intention. The stopped hounds were immediately clapped back to those running the cubs in the covert, and which were supposed to be about three or four months old ; they were higher in size than a full-grown fox, and shewed, by the looseness of their make, and the vast size of their bone in their then infantine state, what they must be when arrived at maturity ; that, however, fate forbade, for all but one were shot on that day, and the remaining one was killed the day following, by one of the Count's keepers. These cubs, whilst hunted, never quitted the coverts, nor was it supposed they had ever been out of them; for the forest to which the old wolf pointed was between four and five leagues distance from the woods where she had littered. I often hunted wolf afterwards, and the result was, that the wolf was either shot when quitting the covert in which she was found, or by some keeper, or person, who accidentally saw him in his route, or he escaped by going off, at one steady pace, until he left hounds, horses, and men totally beat, and who were gene- rally relieved by the hospitality of some cure, and enabled to return home the next day. It is asserted, that the wolf, whose pace seems, for the most part, to be re- gulated by that of his pursuers, will stop when no longer pursued, and the hounds may attack him again the next morning : perhaps so ; but w ill not the wolf be equally refreshed by his night's repose as the hounds ? Admitting that the wolf does stop, he gives his enemies a fresh chance, because formerly there was scarce a parish in France that had not one or more game-keepers. The huntsman 139 huntsman who hunted the wolf reported where he gave him up, how much he appeared fatigued, and which way he pointed, to the keepers of the adjoin- ing district when his chase ended ; tliey, most prohably, nearly calculated where the wolf rested that night, and by properly placing all the assistance they could collect, got a shot at him Avhen he broke covert, in the same manner as he had been fired at on the preceding day. Upon remarking this risk of being shot, which the wolf had to escape, to a French gentleman, he assured me that a friend of his, who kept hounds for the wolf onl}^, never fired on the wolf until (unable to run any farther) he turned upon the dogs, and this generally took place about the fourth or fifth day." This certainly sounds like strange hunting to us English fox-hunters, and we must presume it may be so, because we are not prepared to deny the fact. T 2 SOUTHERN' 140 SOUTHERN - HOUND. THE dog passing under this denomination is, beyond a doubt, the old English hound so beautifully depicted by Shakespeare in his allusion to the chase ; in which it is said, " My hounds are bred out of tbe Spartan kind, So flew'd, so sanded; and their heads are hung With ears that sweep away the morning dew ; Crook-knee'd and dew-lap'd, like Thessalian bulls ; Slow in pursuit; but match'd in mouth-like bells. Each under each." It is also the precise race described by Whitaker, in his history of jVfanchester, as the original breed of this island, used by the ancient Britons in the chase of the larger kinds of game, with which this country then so plentifully abounded. This hound, formerly so very highly estimated, is readily distinguished by his superior size, great strength, and majestic solemnity of appearance, in the body he is long, in the carcase round, chest deep, ears long and sweeping, Mith a tone in the cry, peculiarly deep, mellow, and attracting. From the particular formation of the olfactory organs, or from the extra secretion of glandular moisture, which always adheres to the nose and lips, or to some other latent cause, it is endued with the most exquisite sense of smelling, and often distinguish the scent an hour after the lighter beagles have given it up : their slowness affords them opportunity to receive the assistance and instructions of the huntsman, in a much greater degree than those of a fleeter description ; but as they are so well enabled to hunt a cold scent, they are too apt to make it so, by their tardiness in action, and too minute exactness. These 141 These hounds were once universally known, and equally common in every part of the kingdom, and the breed were then cultivated much larger than those now to be found in the low and marshy parts of the country, where they are still in use for the purposes of the chase ; although it has been said, " that the breed which has been gradually declining, and its size studiously diminished by a mixture of other kinds, in order to increase its speed, is now almost extinct." The assertion of this author, however, savours much more of speculative con- jecture than of experimental practice ; for the present writer hunted the winter of 1775, in the neighbourhood of Manchester, with each of the two packs supported by subscription in that town : one of which was denominated the southern-hounds (uniform of the subscribers, blue, with white cuffs and capes), the other called the beagles; the uniform, scarlet, with silver-buttons and green velvet capes. The southern (or old English-hound) is, most undoubtedly, the original real-bred harrier of this country, and more particularly in those swampy parts where the chase is wished to be protracted, without prolonging the dis- tance. The reverend editor of " Rural Sports'' corroborates the above remark of the southern-hounds being adapted to the low, marshy, and moory countfies by saying, he once saw, at IVIr. Wild's, in Lancashire, a numerous pack of hounds kept to hunt hare, the least of which stood txventy-ttoo inches, and the huntsman went with a pole on foot; and true this is, for in some of the peat- moors and coal-pits in the environs of Manchester, and its surrounding neigh- bourhood, no horseman whatever, however well-mounted, would be able to go with the hounds. Every huntsman, and every experienced sportsman, well knows what a vast alteration may be made in the breed of hounds, by a few judicious crosses, in only two or three generations ; not only in size, in tongue, speed, and colour, but in other necessary and distinguishing qualifications ; what nature can do, and may be assisted in to perfect her efforts is clearly demonstrated by this : that a couple of real well-bred southern-hounds, removed to the north, and per- mitted to propagate (without any contaminating cross or commixture) in a hilly, or mountainous country, where the air is light and thin, will, by sensible de- grees, decline into lighter bodies, and shriller tones in their cry, if not into rougher coats. Hence, by gradational shades of variation, and crosses oblique, collateral, and direct, the great variety of hounds with which every part of the united kingdoms are so plentifully stocked, have been multiplied and improved from 142 from one distinct head. It has been repeatedly observed, in other parts of the work, that every dog whatever, from the enormous mastiff, to the diminu- tive lap-dog, must have originated from a certain stock of one pair only ; and that every virtue, property, propensity, size, or shape, which we find in every dog upon earth, were originally comprehended in the first parents of the species; and, that all the infinite variety we now behold in them, is the natural product of the different climates, or the accidental and inexplicable effect of soil, food, or situation, blended with the very essence of human care, curiosity, or ca- price. Amidst the warring opinions of professed hare-hunters, that the harriers of the present day verge too close upon the dwarf-fox, and are unmercifully fleet for the hare; and those who urge the slowness of the southern-hound, as a most tedious procrastination of sport, it may not be inapplicable to observe, that for those who have both time and patience to breed for a new establishment, nothing can be more prudent than to adapt the kind of hound to the nature of the country in which he is intended to hunt; but, if a hound is to be calculated for any country he may happen to fall into, perhaps no better plan can be adopted, with consistency, than to begin by endeavouring to produce a breed of mediocrity in si^e between the southern-hound and the northern-beagle. The slow steadiness, and accurate certainty of the former, in addition to their close and invariable adhesion to scent, constitute, in the chase, the most pleasing traits of attraction to men of a ruminative disposition; such hounds, and such hunting, seem best adapted to sportsmen of the same gloomy and somniferous sensations; for, as they so much delight in hunting and boxo-icoxc-ing over a cold scent, they seem inclined to make it more so, by their want of speed and vigour to carry it along, and make it warm. By this means the chase may be spun to a finer thread in its duration, yet the game (which by some is thought the best of the sport) very often escapes, the length of the chase not only engrosses an immoderate length of time, but exposes them to innumerable chances of los- ing. The north-country beagle, or harrier, as it is now almost universally called, is incredibly nimble, alert, and vigorous, pursuing his business with the most wonderful av dity in every endeavour to find ; when the game is a-foot, he car- ries on the scent with the most impetuous eagerness, and gives the hare little or no time to breathe, double, or squat ; and if hares are plenty, and the scent lies high, a pack of this description will frequently pick up a leash, or two brace 143 brace before dinner : but this is altogether unreasonable, the sport is by much too short and violent — nor, in fact, should such success (or rather destruction) be often expected. These fast-running hounds are all the fashion, in the present eccentric age, when both sexes, and all classes, are aiming at a universality of celebrity by " out Heroding Herod ;"' particularly with those young and inexperienced he- roes on horseback, who take out-running, and out-riding their neighbours and friends to be the most certain and excellent criterion of the chase ; yet it is not the most entertaining, or enlivening thing, to be out with such hounds on a bad scenting morning, when an eternal " hark back !" constitutes a continual scene of mortifying bad sport for the day. To avoid which chance of perpetual dis- appointment, it must be matter of prudence in the propagation of the pack, to let a proper proportion of southern blood be retained in their veins : this has, in fact, been so much attended to in the course of emulative experience, that there are now to be found, in the possession of sporting amateurs of taste and fortune, various packs possessing a substantial share of the broad nose and steady scent of the southern, the vigour and activity of the harrier, the indefa- tigable energy of the little, busy, bustling beagle, and a tuneful unison in the chase, which may be said to constitute a compound of the whole. Of this ne- cessary judgment and precaution, in either breeding or collecting, Somervile was so fully possessed, that, in his celebrated poem of " The Chase," he has inculcated the following rule for selection : — " A different hound for every different cliase Select with judgment, nor the timorous hare O'er matched destroy, but leave that vile offence To the mean, murderous, coursing crew, intent On blood and spoil," After the most minute observation, and accurate investigation, it must be candidly admitted, that every sort of hounds have their excellencies, nor can one with propriety be commended before the other ; at least, so as to be appli- cable to every taste, every wish, and every expectation. Those who are par- tial to a long chase, fond of perpetual tongue, and who wish to be invariably up with the hounds, will certainly prefer a breed from the southern-hound first mentioned ; or the slow, heavy sort, which are used in the weald of Sussex ; their cry is a good musical bass, and considering how deep and dirty the country 144 country is, the amusement they afford to the aged, the invalid, and the valetu- dinarian, render them high in estimation ; these hounds generally pack well from their equality of speed ; and when with all their zeal they come to a fault, every nose is upon the ground in an instant for a recovery of the scent. To young, spirited, dashing sportsmen, and in an open country where the hounds can go along, the north-country beagle (or improved harrier) must, of course, be preferred ; their tongues are lightly harmonious, and, at the same time, they go so fast as to occasion a constant scene of racing emulation with both the horses and the riders, exclusive of the additional advantage, that their speed prevents a hare from playing tricks, and making much work before them ; they seldom allow her time to loiter, head, or double ; she must continue her rate, and adhere to her foil, or change her ground, if which happens to be turf, or pasture-land, and the scent lays well, she is inevitably brought to a fatal view. ''See, see, she flies! each eager hound exerts His utmost speed, and stretches ev'ry nerve. How quick she turns ! their gaping jaws eludes, And yet a moment lives ; 'till round inclosed By all the greedy pack, with infant screams She yields her breath, and there reluctant dies." SOMERVILE. It is somewhat remarkable, that after the utmost care, trouble, and atten- tion, it is difficult to procure, or select a pack of fast hounds that run evenly together ; many are usually found to tail, and their clamorous exertions to get up to the head of the pack make them of little use, farther than to enlarge the cry; unless when the scent is over-ran, then hounds thrown out, or tailed, often come up and hit off the fault. There are few packs but what have a fleet (or crack) hound, which is always the greatest favourite ; but let a hound be ever so excellent in his nature, that excellence is totally obscured if unfortunately fixed in a pack who go too fast for him. There is at all times work enough in the field for every hound to do, and each ought to bear a part; but this it is impossible for the slowest hounds to execute, if run out of wind by the disproportionate speed of hounds fleeter than themselves. It is not sufficient that a hound is enabled to run up (which a good hound will labour hard for), but they should all be able to lay easily together, with a retention of wind and spirits, having their tongues at command : as it can never be expected that any scent can be well followed by hounds that do not carry a good head. With modern 145 modern sportsmen of opulence and fashion it is too frequent a practice to have their kennels overburthened ; some are kept for their music, others retained for their beauty, many of whom are trifling favourites without either steadiness, nose, or sagacity; such a plan is nugatory and expensive; for it is a certain and well-founded maxim, that every dog who renders no service, serves only to foil the ground, and confound the scent by scampering every where, but where they should be, perpetually interrupting their betters at all points, and in the most critical scene of action. Ten couple of trusty hounds will prove more effective in the chase, than thirty couple of an opposite description. In some counties, beagles both rough and smooth have their admirers also, if properly selected, and well matched ; their tongues are musical, and their indefatigable and unremitting bustle truly entertaining ; they are somewhat faster than the southern-hound, but if they have too much of the southern ■blood in their composition, they hang back and tail considerably : though they have one advantage, which is, that in running so close to the ground, they im- bibe and enjoy the scent sooner and better than taller dogs, especially when the air is dense, and the atmosphere compressed. In an enclosed country beagles show most to their own credit, as they are patient in trailing, alert at a fault, and persevering in shaws and hedge-rows ; but they require a very steady phi- losophic subject to hunt them, as sometimes five-and-twenty couple may be classed together, with not ten of them to be depended upon. The properties necessary to be considered in the choice of hounds, are too numerous to expect an aggregate of the whole ; probably it may be with the canine, as m'c are taught to believe of our own species, that " perfection is not in human nature." All, therefore, that can be done by the most judicious and industrious sports- man who may wish to obtain a pre-eminent pack, of which ever sort they may be, is to prefer the dog of mediocrity in size, with his back rather broad than round, nose wide and flat, with open well -distended nostrils, chest deep and capacious, fillets firm and prominent, haunches large and muscular, hams straight, feet round, the sole hard and dry ; claws large, ears wide, silkily pen- dulous, thin, and more round than pointed at the extremities ; eyes full, fore- head broad, and upper-lips thick, and deeper than the under-jaw. In the breeding of hounds for the unison of tongue, symmetry in size, and uniformity of figure and speed, too much care and inspection cannot be bestowed upon the choice of sires and dams from whom the propagation is to proceed ; a single VOL. II. u degree 146 degree of carelessness and inattention in respect to a cross from which much is expected often spoils the litter, the whole of these, probably, degenerate in consequence, although from as high a bred dog and bitch as can be brought to- gether, and even where every chance of a spurious contamination is thought to have been completely guarded against. Amidst the various sorts of hounds, and the different modes of keeping, as well as of hunting them, it may not prove inapplicable to introduce, from a periodical publication, a well-authenticated proof, that, in the hands of an ceconomist, so gieat a field of luxury as the chase may be enjoyed without a liability to the accusation of extravagance. With half-a-dozen children, as many couple of hounds, and two hunters, did INIr. Osbaldeston (clerk to an attorney) keep himself, family, and these dogs and horses, upon sLvti/ pounds a year. This also was effected in London, without running in debt, and with always a good coat upon his back. To explain this paradoxical concern, it must be observed, that after the expiration of office-hours, ]\Ir. O. acted as an accomptant for the butchers in Clare-Market, who paid him in offal ; the choicest morsels of this he selected for himself and family, and with the rest he fed his hounds, which were kept in the garret. His horses were lodged in the cellar, and fed on grains from a neighbouring brewhouse, and on damaged corn, with which he was supplied by a corn-chandler whose books he kept in order. Once or twice a week in the season he hunted, and by giving a hare now and then, to the farmer over whose grounds he sported, he secured their good-will and permission, and several gentlemen (struck with the extraordinary oeconomical mode of his hunting arrangements which were so well known and much talked of) winked at his going over their manors. Mr. O. was the younger son of a gentleman of good family, but small fortune, in the north of England ; and having imprudently married one of his father's servants, was turned out of doors, with no other fortune tiian a southern-hound, big with pup, and whose offspring from that time became a source of amusement to him. Having deviated a little from the exact line of canine delineation, for the intro- duction of a sportsman of some singularity, as a remarkable instance of an invin- cible attachment to the chase, and of parsimony in a hunting establishment to pur- sue it; it becomes no less in point, to take a retrospective survey of a sportsman of the preceding age, as it will evidently demonstrate, that however we may have excelled 147 excelled in our fashionable polish, in an imaginary approach to perfection, it has not been without the total abolition of a most worthy set of men, who proved for centuries, the very cement of society, and constituted the chain of friendship and hospitality from one extremity of the kingdom to the other. This character, un- der so many degrees of infatuating refinement, seems, like the southern-hound (upon which we treat), to be worn down, and nearly obliterated ; it was the truly independent country 'squire of three or four hundred a year (the very basis of the king and constitution), who plainly appeared in his drab, or plush-coat, with large silver-buttons, and seldom without boots. His hours of leisure and relaxation were dedicated principally to the sports of the field, and his travels never exceeded the distance of the county-town, and that only at assizes and sessions, or to attend at an election. A journey to London from a remote part of the kingdom was then considered almost as great an undertaking as is at the present time a voyage to the East-Indies, and undertaken with little less pre- caution and preparation. In the duties of life he was every way an example to his neighbours, and every description of people who surrounded him ; act- ing conscientiously, he conceived his presence at church could not be dispensed with, and therefore he never failed to appear ; cards he never played at, or per- mitted, Christmas excepted; at which season he also exchanged his usual beverage of ale, for a bowl of potent brandy-punch, garnished with toast and nutmeg. Thus much is introduced, by way of outline, to convey some idea of the old English sportsman, but that a more minute description may convey the charac- ter to every comprehension, a correct representation of the Honourable Wil- liam Hastings, from the pen of Lord Chancellor Shaftesbury, cannot prove unacceptable. *' In the year 1638 (says the noble Earl) lived Mr. Hastings, at Woodlands, in the county of Southampton ; by his quality, son, brother, and uncle to the Earls of Huntingdon. He was, peradventure, an original in our age, or ra- ther the copy of our ancient nobility in hunting, not in warlike times. He was very low, strong, and active, with reddish flaxen-hair. His clothes, which when new, were never worth five pounds, were of green cloth. His house was perfectly old-fashioned, in the midst of a large park, well stocked with deer and rabbits ; many fish-ponds, a great store of wood and timber, a bowling- u 2 green 148 green in it, long, but narrow, full of high ridges, never having been levelled since it was ploughed ; round sand-bowls were used, and it had a banquetting- house like a stand, built in a tree. Mr. Hastings kept all manner of hounds that run buck, fox, hare, otter, and badger ; hawks both long and short-winged. He had all sorts of nets for fish ; a walk in the New-Forest, and the manor of Christchurch : this last sup- plied him with red deer, sea, and river-fish ; and, indeed, all his neighbours' grounds and royalties were free to him, who bestowed all his time on these sports, but what he bonowed to caress his neighbours' wives and daughters, there not being a woman in all his walks, of the degree of a yeoman's wife (and under the age oi forty), but it was extremely her own fault, if he was not in- timately acquainted with her. This made him popular, always speaking kindly to the husband, brother, or father, and making them welcome at his mansion, where they found beef, pudding, and beer, and a house not so neatly kept as to shame him, or his dirty shoes ; the great hall strewed with marrow-bones, full of hawks, perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers ; the upper side of the hall hung with the fox-skins of this and the last year's killing, here and there a martin-cat intermixed, with game-keepers and hunters poles in abundance. The parlour was a large room as properly furnished. On a hearth, paved with brick, lay some terriers, and the choicest hounds and spaniels. Seldom less than two of the great chairs had litters of kittens on them which were not to be disturbed, he always having three or four cats attending him at din- ner ; and, to defend such meat as he had no mind to part with, he always kept order with a short white stick that he kept laying by him for that pur- pose. The windows, which were very large, served for places to lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other such accoutrements. The corners of the room were full of the best-chosen hunting and hawking-poles ; an oyster-table at the lower end, which was in constant use twice a day all the year round, for he never failed to eat oysters, before dinner and supper, through all seasons. In the upper part of the room were two small tables and a desk ; on the one side of the desk was a church-bible, and, on the other, the Book of INIartyrs. Upon the tables were hawks-hoods, bells, &c. two or three old green hats, with their crowns thrust in, so as to hold ten, or a dozen eggs, which were of the pheasant 149 pheasant kind of poultry; these he took much care of, and fed himself. Ta- bles, boxes, dice, and cards, were not wanting ; and in the holes of the desk was store of old used tobacco-pipes. On one side of this end of the room, was the door of a closet, wherein stood the strong-beer and the wine, which never came thence but in single glasses, that being the rule of the house exactly observed ; for he never exceeded in drinking, nor ever permitted it. On the other side was the door into an old chapel, not used for devotion. The pulpit, as the safest place, never wanted a cold chine of beef, venison pasty, gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pie, with a thick crust extremely baked. His table cost him but little, although it was well supplied. His sports furnished all but beef and mutton, except on Fridays, when he had the best of salt, as well as every other fish he could get, and this was the day on which his neighbours of the first quality visited him. He never wanted a London- pudding, and always sung it in with, " my pert eyes therein a." He drank a glass or two at meals, very often syrup of gilliflower in his sack, and always a tun-glass stood by him, holding a pint of small-beer, and this he often stirred with rosemary. He was affable, but soon angry, calling his servants bastards, and cuckoldy knaves, in oiie of which he often spoke truth to his own know- ledge, and sometimes both of the same person. He lived to be an hundred years of age, never lost his eye-sight, but always read and wrote without spec- tacles, and got on horseback without help ; until past four-score years old, he rode up to the death of "a stag as well as any man in existence. A portrait of this gentleman is now at Winbourn St. Giles, Dorsetshire, the seat of the Earl of Shaftesbury. Although it is universally known that hunting has, for some centuries past, been a pleasure of the most general attraction, yet there have not been want- ing individuals of cynical rigidity who have industriously laboured, but in vain, at its obliteration, to which, however, the beautiful poem of Somervile's " Chase," and Beckford's justly celebrated " Thoughts on Hunting," have proved a most powerful counteraction. In the month of September, 1781, hunting underwent a severe censure in the Monthly Review, nor would any thing satisfy the acrimony of the critic less than its total abolition. He recom- mends feats of agility to be practised and exhibited instead of it. Whether the amendment proposed by the learned gentleman be desirable or not, Mr. Beckford 150 Beckford observed, he should forbear to determine ; he, however, took the liberty to remind him, that as hunting had stood its ground from the earliest times, been encouraged and approved by the best authorities, and practised by the greatest men, it can no longer be supposed to dread criticism, or to need support Hunting originates in nature itself, and it is in perfect correspondence M'ith this law of nature, that the several animals are provided with the neces- sary means of attack and defence. Of this Somervile is so firmly persuaded, that, in his preludatory remarks, he adverts to it most sublimely : " Nature, in her productions slow, aspires By just degrees to reach perfection's height : So mimic art works leisurely, 'till time Improve the piece, or wise experience give The proper finishing." And as emphatically describes the pre-eminence we possess in our enjoyment of field-sports in preference to those of any other country : " Hail, happy Britain ! highly favour'd isle. And Heav'n's peculiar care ! To thee 'tis given To train the sprightly steed, more fleet than those Begot by winds, or the celestial breed That bore the great Pelides thro' the press Of heroes arm'd, and broke their crowded ranks ; Which proudly neighing, with the sun begins Cheerful his course ; and, ere his beams decline, Has measur'd half thy surface unfatigued. In thee alone, fair land of liberty ! Is bred the perfect hound, in scent and speed. As yet unrivall'd, while in other climes Their virtue fails, a weak degenerate race." Most of those writers of learning and celebrity who have condescended to promulgate their opinions upon this subject, have uniformly adverted to the antiquity of the chase. The reverend compiler of " Rural Sports" says, it can be traced back upwards of two thousand six hundred years before the Chris- tian aera; observing likewise, that sacred history describes the first warriors under the name of hunters. Nimrod is represented " as a mighty hunter be- fore 151 fore the Lord." In the sequel, he made soldiers of his companions, who had assisted him in hunting the savage beasts that laid waste the country about Ba- bylon and employed them in extending and establishing his conquests. Mr. Beckford, in his introductory matter observes, it would be needless to enu- merate the horses of antiquity who were taught the art of hunting; or the many great men (among whom was the famous Galen) who have united in re- commending it. That celebrated hero, Henry the Fourth of France, made it his chief amusement, and his very love-letters, strange as it may appear, are full of little else ; and that one of the greatest ministers which our country ever produced, was so fond of this diversion, that the first letter he ever opened was generally that of his huntsman. From the earliest times, hunting has, in most countries, been a principal oc- cupation of the people, either for use, or amusement, and many princes have made it their chief delight ; a circumstance which occasioned the following bon- mot : Louis the Fifteenth was so passionately fond of this diversion, that it occupied him entirely ; the King of Prussia, who never hunted, gave up a great deal of his time to music, and played himself upon the flute : a German, during a former war, meeting a Frenchman, asked him very impertinently, "Si no7i maitre chassoit toujoursf — ^' Oui, Oui,'" replied the other, " il ne joue jamais de la flute.''' The reply was excellent, but it might, probably, have been as well for mankind, if that great man had never been otherways em- ployed. Hunting is almost universally admitted the very spirit and soul of a country-life; it gives health to the body, invigoration to the system, and con- tentment to the mind : and is one of the few pleasures we can enjoy in society, without prejudice to either ourselves, or friends. In his " Thoughts" upon this subject, Mr. Beckford has introduced some very forcible reasoning; from which much entertaining reflection may be de- duced. Amidst his remarks, he says, that the Spectator has drawn, with an infinite deal of humour, the character of a man who passes his whole life in pursuit of trifles ; and he doubts not but other Will Wimbles might still be found. Triflers there undoubtedly are of every denomination, and the question may be asked — are we not all triflers ? and, are we not daily told, by the cle- rical emissaries of a supreme power, that all is vanity ? The Spectator felt, no doubt, in his lucubrations, great compassion for Mr. Wimble; yet he might 152 might not have been a proper and much distinguished object of it; since it is more than probable he was a truly happy man, if the employment of his time in obliging others, and pleasing himself, can be thought to have made him so. He farther observes, that whether vanity misleads us or not in the choice of our pursuits, the pleasures or advantages which result from them will best de- termine. He fears the occupation of few gentlemen will admit of nice scru- tiny; occupations, therefore, that amuse, and are, at the same time, innocent; tliat promote exercise, and are conducive to health ; although they may appear trifles to the jaundiced eye of cynical rigidity, they are certainly not so to those who have the happiness to enjoy them. Amongst these, hunting seems to lay universal claim to priority, and of this opinion is the Spectator, already men- tioned, from whose elegant and sublime pages the following lines are extracted in confirmation, where he says, " for my own part, I intend to hunt twice a week during my stay with Sir Roger; and shall prescribe the moderate use of this exercise to all my countryrfriends, as the best physic for mending a bad constitution, and preserving a good one." The inimitable Cervantes also descants most favourably upon the chase, and affords Sancho an opportunity to say — " Mercy on me, what pleasure can you find, any of ye all, in killing a poor beast that never meant any harm I" that the Duke may reply — " You are mistaken, Sancho ; hunting wild-beasts is the most proper exercise for knights and princes ; for in the chase of a stout noble beast, may be presented the whole art of war, stratagems, policy, and am- buscades, with all other devices usually practised to overcome an enemy with safety. Here we are exposed to the extremities of heat and cold, ease and laziness can have no room in this diversion ; by this we are inured to toil and hardships, our limbs are strengthened, our joints rendered supple, and our whole body hale and active : in short, it is an exercise that may be beneficial to many, and can be prejudicial to none." Notwithstanding such solid and unshaken ar- guments in favour of what Providence has so benignly, and attractingly placed before us, there never was, or ever will be wanting, pedantic poppinjays, and snarling critics, who confidently oppose and condemn every sport, pleasure, and gratification in which their retrograde dispositions will not permit them to engage. Pride induces some men never to associate but where they can enjoy the power of uncontrolled dictation, to the total annihilation of every opinion but their own ; and these are a set of imaginary and self-confident monitors, who 153 who place at defiance the thoughts of every other individual, and impudently affect to know wliat others wish to pursue, better than they know themselves. Although there are not many well-authenticated instances of singular saga- city, or peculiar penetration in the hound part of the species, yet there can be no doubt, that if they were domesticated, and individually caressed, in the same manner as most other kinds of dogs are, but they would acquire similar habits, and the same modes of displaying fidelity, tenderness, and attachment to their masters and employers, as dogs of another description. In corroboration of so fair and candid a suggestion, the following transaction (seemingly well attested) may be applicably introduced from the sporting anecdotes of j\I. de St. Foix's history of Paris. Aubri de IVIondidier, hunting in the forest of Bondi, was mur- dered, and buried under a tree. He was always attended by a favourite hound, attached to him in a most extraordinary degree. This dog would not quit the grave of his master for several days, 'till at length compelled by hunger, he went to the house of an intimate friend of the unfortunate Aubri's at Paris, and by his melancholy howling, seemed desirous of expressing the loss they had both sustained. He repeated his cries, ran to the door, then looked back to see if any person followed him; returned to his master's friend, pulled him by the sleeve, and with dumb eloquence entreated him to go with him. The singula- rity of all the actions of the dog ; his coming there without his master, whose faithful companion he had always been ; the sudden disappearance of his mas- ter, blended with other circumstances, induced the company to follow the dog, who conducted them to the fatal tree ; where he renewed his howl, at the same time scratching the earth with his feet, pointing out as well as he could, the spot they should search : and where upon digging, the body of the unfortunate Aubri was found. Sometime after, the dog accidentally met the assassin, the Chevalier INIacaire, when instantly seizing him by the throat, it was with great difficulty that he was compelled to quit his prey. Whenever he saw him afterwards he pursued and attacked him with equal fury. Such obstinate virulence in the dog exhibited only against Macaire, appeared most extraordinary to those who recollected the dog's attachment to his master; and, at the same time, several instances wherein Macaire had manifested his envy and hatred to Aubri de Mondidier, with other additional circumstances, increased suspicion, which was, at length, communi- cated to the royal ear. The king ordered the dog to be brought before him, tliat he might have opportunity to make his own observations; but nothing VOL, II. X singular 154 singular or uncommon appeared, 'till perceiving I\facaire in the midst of twenty nobles, he ran instantly at him groM'ling, and attacked him as usual. In those times, wlien no positive proof of a crime could be procured, an order was is- sued for a combat between the accuser and the accused. This was denomi- nated The Judgment of God, from a persuasion that Heaven would sooner work a miracle, than suffer innocence to perish with infamy. The king, struck with such a collection of circumstantial evidence against INIacaire, resolved to refer the decision to the chance of war, and commanded a combat between the Chevalier and the dog. The lists were appointed in the Isle of Notfe Dame, then an uninclosed place. Macaire's weapon was a large cudgel ; the dog had an empty cask allowed for his retreat, in order to recover breath if necessary. The combatants being ready, the dog no sooner found himself at liberty than he ran round his adversary, avoiding his blows, and menacing him on every side 'till his strength was exhausted ; then springing forward, he seized Macaire by the throat, and brought him to the ground, where he confessed his crime before the king, and afterwards suffered death for the murder of the dog's master. This circumstance, on account of its singularity, is recorded by the pencil of a celebrated artist in the castle of JNIontarsis, and has the confirmation of Scaliger and Father Montfaucon. Oliver de la Marche says, this truly faithful animal lived in the reign of Louis the Eighth. Having had occasion in various parts of the work, and under the heads of different dogs, to advert to the caprice and variegated fancies of those who are incessantly engaged in crossing, and endeavouring to improve their breed (either in conformity with the furor of fashion, or the country in which they live), it becomes the more in point to enlarge a little upon the contrariety of opinions in respect to the chase itself; upon which, the most energetic sportsmen do not invariably agree. In those who have written largely upon the subject, we find a diversity so great, that when animadverting upon hare-hunting and fox-hunt- ing, they do it in very different — nay, in almost opposite terms. Mr. Beckford, in communicating his " thoughts" to his friend, has these words : "By incli- nation, I never was a hare-hunter ; I followed this diversion more for air and exercise, than for amusement; and if I could have persuaded myself to ride on the turnpike-road to the three mile-stone, and back again, I should have thought that I had no need of a pack of harriers." Some kind of melioration, however, appears in the following words : " Excuse me, brother hare-hunters ! I mean not to offend ; I speak but relatively to my own particular situation in the country, where hare-hunting is so bad, that it is more extraordinary I should have 155 have persevered in it so long, than that I should forsake it now. I respect hunt- ing in whatever shape it appears ; it is a manly, and a wholesome exercise, and seems, by natui-e, designed to be the amusement of a Briton." From the " Essays on Sporting," a work of some former celebrity, the fol- lowing is extracted ; the writer of which seems to be of a contrary opinion in saying, " Every man is, or would be thought a lover of hunting ; but twenty in the field, when pursuing a hare, find more delight and sincere enjoyment, than one in twenty in a fox-chase ; the former consists of an endless variety of ac- cidental delights, the latter little more than hard riding; the pleasure of clearing some dangerous leap, the pride of striding the best steed, and dis- playing some of the best dash of the bold horseman, and (equal to any thing) of being in at the death ; after a chase very frequently from one county to another, and, most probably, half the time not within sight or hearing of the hounds. So that but for the name of fox-hunting, a man might as well mount at his stable- door, and determine to gallop twenty miles an end into another country, and it cannot be doubted, but at the conclusion of such an imaginary chase, he came to his inn safe, he would enjoy all that first and chief satisfaction several gentlemen do in their hearts after a fox-chase, from the happiness of having cleared many double ditches, five-bar gates, and dan- gerous sloughs, without the misfortune of one broken-rib, notwithstanding two or three confounded falls in taking flying-leaps, and some of those unne- cessarily. In hare-hunting these accidents are not usually encountered; the diversion is of another sort : When puss is started, she seldom fails to run a ring ; the first is generally the worst (for either horse or foot) that may hap- pen in the whole hunt. For the fences once broken down, or the gates once opened, make a clear passage oftentimes for every turn she is likely to take afterwards. The case is well known to be otherwise in the chase with stag, buck, or fox; for when either of the two first is roused, or the latter unken- neled, it is ten to one, that after a few short turns to take a view of the country, he goes off an end, and leads the most dashing and energetic sports- men into a progressive succession of new and unexperienced dangers : if in the midst of these, he becomes unluckily unhorsed, there lies the fallen hero of the day undistinguished — unassisted; if he is so fortunate as not to expe- rience such "ills, he has still the pleasure, at the end of the chase, of being t«n, fifteen, or twenty miles from his own habitation.'' x2 Thus 156 Thus it is, that the philosophic reply of Sir Roger do Coverly (" much may be said on both sides,") may be rendered applicable to almost every disputed occurrence of life; for evident it is, that even the sports of the field, in their different branches, are not equally gratifying to every expectation. Each dis- tinct kind of chase having its individual votaries, who very reluctantly become partakers of, or converts to any other. Having already adverted to the par- ticulars of stag, as well as hare-hunting, and having the minutia of fox-hunting to follow of course, it may neither prove inapplicable, or unentertaining to in- troduce a concise description of the chase so common with our continental neighbouis, in which there is some reason to believe, the very dog now under consideration is principally engaged. Although it is well known that England is not encumbered with wild-boars, yet they are so numerous in the forests of Germany and other countries, and afford so noble and lasting a chase to the hunters, that the following observations upon the manner of conducting the di- version must prove acceptable to the majority of our readers. This animal is farrowed with the whole number of teeth that nature has allotted him ; they con- tinue to increase in size, but not in number: among these they have four called tushes, or tusks, the two uppermost of which do no injury when he strikes, but serve only to whet the two lowest, with which they frequently defend themselves, and kill their opponents, as they are larger and longer than the rest. A boar will attain the age of from twenty-five to thirty years ; the male and female associate for propagation during the month of December, and do not en- tirely separate 'till towards the latter end of the ensuing month, when they with- draw themselves into their retired holds, and do not move much for three or four days, especially if they can fortunately fall into a lot of fern, the roots of which they consider as one of their best articles of provision ; their general food being corn, fruits, acorns, chesnuts, beech-masts, and roots of almost every kind. The boar usually lies in the strongest holds and thick bushes, and will stand the bay before he will forsake his den. The hunting him is a dan- gerous, but common amusement of the great in all countries where he is to be found ; and the slow, heavy sort of hound described to be used in the sport, greatly corresponds with the old English, or southern-hound of this country, so truly represented in the plate annexed. When the boar is fairly roused and on foot, he goes slowly forward, and seemingly not much afraid, and not very far before his pursuers. During the chase, he frequently turns round and listens, at 157 at length stops 'till the hounds come up, and often summonses up resolution to attack them ; after keeping each other at bay for a while, the boar again moves slowly forward, and the dogs again renew the pursuit. In this way the chase is continued, 'till the boar becomes quite tired, and refuses to go any farther : the dogs then attempt to close in upon him behind ; and in this attack the young ones, being generally most forward, frequently lose their lives ; the old seasoned dogs keep the animal at bay 'till the hunters come up, who kill him with their spears. Wild-boars are not gregarious ; but, while young, live together in families, and frequently unite their forces against the wolves, or other beasts of prey. When likely to be attacked, they call to each other with a very loud and fierce note ; the strongest face the danger, and form themselves into a ring, the weak- est falling in the center. In this position, few beasts dare venture to engage them, but leave them to pursue a less dangerous course. When the wild-boar is arrived at a state of maturity, he walks the forest fearless and alone. At that time he dreads no single foe, nor will he deviate from his intended track, for even man himself; and what is rather more extraordinary, he gives no of- fence to any other animal, though he is admirably armed with tusks which render him a terror to the fiercest. The wild-boar, which is, by the most celebrated naturalists, considered the original of all the varieties of animals of the hog kind, is much smaller than domestic swine ; and does not, like them, vary in colour, but is uniformly of a brindled or dark grey, inclining to black. Ani- mals of this kind seem to possess a middle nature, between those that live upon grass, and such as are carnivorous ; and unite in themselves most of those dis- tinctions which are peculiar to each class. Like one they will feed upon ani- mal substances, and do not ruminate ; like the other they are cloven-hoofed, live chiefly on vegetables, and seldom seek after animal food, except when urged by necessity. The complexion of different countries vary so much, that very few, if any, admit of sport similar to what is the basis of ecstatic enjoyment in our own country ; a want of the same game, or a want of the same means to pursue it, seems to have given the laurel of sporting pre-eminence to Britain, in prefer- ence to every other part of the globe. And although the natives of every island, as well as the whole continent of Europe, are destitute of the exhilarating advan- tages with which our distinct chases are pursued ; yet the principal object of hunting, 158 hunting, in its most extended sense, is enjoyed and persevered in, with as much energetic alacrity in one, as in another. Amidst others, the mode of bear- hunting in Russia seems entitled to description. To encourage the peasants not to destroy these animals clandestinely among themselves, for the skin, hams, "rease, &c. (all articles of considerable profit), at least not to destroy them in a certain district round Petersburgh, within the range of the imperial hunt, an edict offers, for every bear pointed out by a peasant, a sack or cool of corn for seed with ten rubles in monejf, which he receives at the grand huntsman's office in St. Petersburgh ; and when it is considered what they lose by not killing it themselves, the destruction of their corn, and by the time employed in coming to town, and attending the chase, the reward cannot be considered extrava- gant. Some few winters since, a peasant having given information at the grand Ve- neur's office, of a bear's having been found in a wood about twenty versts be- yond her Majesty's country-palace, the Veneur Potemkin, the second in the de- partment of the imperial hunt, set out in pursuit of it, with a number of hunts- men, armed as usual on these occasions, with guns, spears, and cutlasses, or couteux de chase. The A^eneur was accompanied officially by the two senators. Count Alexy Rosomossky, and Mr. de SadouofFsky, with the master of the horse, General Ribender, and IVIr. John Farquharson, a North Briton, and a keen sportsman. On the arrival of the party at the wood, the peasant pointed out tbe winter habitation of the bear, which at that season is remarkably lazy ; the hunters immediately took two pieces of thread-net, such as is used to catch partridges, and after cutting a little avenue through the brush-wood with their cutlasses, for some distance behind and before the bear, lined the walk they had thus cut out for the animal with one of the pieces of net at each end of the avenue ; a fence, weak as it may appear, which that strong and furious animal never ventures to break ; so that they are sure he will endeavour to escape in the direction of the avenue, at each end of which certain death awaits him, either from the gentlemen hunters at one end, or the official hunts- men at the other. This preliminary arrangement being made, the huntsmen begin to make as much noise behind him as possible, to drive him in the oppo- site direction, where the gentlemen were silently waiting to shoot him on his ap- proach ; supported by a rank of spearmen, who advance if the hunters miss their aim, and are assailed by the furio*s animal, always rendered so by the discharge of a gun, especially if he should be wounded with the contents. No- thing happened in this first chase, except that the bear, instead of running to the 1S9 the expected direction, from the noise, and towards the noble sportsmen, turned short and suddenly upon the hallowing huntsmen, and overturned one of them (though without injury) before he was dispatched by the others. It is curious however to observe, in the above simple arrangement, the won- derful effect of the thread-net, which as effectually sets bounds to the liberty and course of such a vigorous animal, as if it had been made with bars of iron ; such is his instinctive aversion to what has the appearance of a toil I Indeed, it is rather singular that Russians should have discovered this trait in bruin's cha- racter. About an hour after, a monstrous bear was met by a single huntsman, when he was at a distance from his companions, beating about for game. The noise made by the huntsman and the newly-discovered animal, diew the party of gentlemen to the spot, and they beheld with astonishment a large bear on his hind-legs, fighting with a man, who happened to be without his couteait de chase, the usual and useful weapon upon such occasions. The fellow held the bear, though taller than himself, by the ear, at arm's length, with his right- hand, and with the left M'as striking him on the opposite side of the head, every time he offered to bite, or claw the extended arm, which prevented his being hugged. Count Alexy Rossomofsky, much alarmed for the safety of the hunts- man, desired he would let go the animal, that some of the party might shoot him, or the man would himself be destroyed ; but the hardy Russian said, the bear zvas only in joke, though he had then clawed his face in such a manner, that none of them knew which of the men it was who was thus engaged in single combat. At this moment a number of his companions came running up, and instead of attempting to kill the bear, instantly took off their belts, and coming behind him, still struggling with their comrade, and growling as they always do when attacked, slipped one belt into his mouth, and a couple more about his body, completely conquered, and took him off alive. Since the above, an old superannuated huntsman, who had retired upon a pension and lived in a hut not far from Pauloffsky, the summer palace of the Great Duke, killed another large bear, when quite alone, with his couteau de chase. The old sportsman had fallen unexpectedly on a bear, whilst he was sauntering in the woods in search of other game. The noise of his gun, pro- bably, fired close to the animal without knowing it, brought him upon the old man, unable to save himself by flight ; he therefore, drew his side-arm^ and as the bear rose to hug liim, plunged it so fortunately into his belly as to lay it dead 160 dead at his feet. He then returned home, and having procured a boors cart, conveyed his prej' to his in)perial highness, who was so charmed with the vete- ran, that he gave him a hundred rubles for his aged prowess, and ordered him to keep the skin as a trophy of it, which he did, and, as it may be truly ima- gined, is not a little proud of showing, and reciting the adventure. When no more than three take the field in pursuit of a bear, the following mode is adopted : as soon as the bear is found, these three take their stations at a cer- tain distance and direction from each other ; one of them fires at the animal, on which he immediately makes towards him ; the second then fires to draw him to the other side ; and the third does the same to give him a third direction. By the time these manoeuvres are executed, the first sportsman has time to load again ; and in this manner they fire and load alternately 'till they have dispatched their game. There is still another curious circumstance attending the Russian bear-hunt, which is the manner in which the peasants trace them out in summer, by what may be called, in sporting language, their form; with the method they have of judging of his size by it, though, properly speaking, it is only the form of his hinder parts, and not of his whole body. The bear is remarkably fond of corn, and makes great havoc among it by the quantity he consumes, as well as the still greater quantity he treads under foot : but his manner of feeding on it is remarkable, as in that act he leaves what the peasants call \\\&form in the earth, and by which they trace him from one part to another during his feeding season. When this animal finds a field of corn to his taste, either in the milky or ripe state of the grain, he chooses a soft spot amongst it free from stones, where he sits down on his buttocks, and eats all around him as far as he can reach, turning on his seat as a center, so as to make a hole or print in the ground, round and smooth like a large bason. This ascertains to the peasant the size of his hind-quarters ; and measuring from that to the cropped circle in the corn all around, they judge of his length; as the lazy animal never quits his seat to eat further than the utmost reach of his muzzle and paws, but re- moves to a fresh spot when all is consumed near him, and begins the same business over again. These prints, or forms, by the comparative freshness of their appearance, apprize the peasants of their approach to the enemy they are tracing. So that the discovery of the bear in summer depends upon this second remarkable trait in bruin's character, which is absolutely new to the writer, and may, most probably, be so to many of his readers. The 161 The Finnish peasants, a very different race from tlie Russians, mark tlie dif- ference of their character by the less dangerous and active mode of their hunting beai- ; and though it is believed their stratagems are better known in Europe than those already mentioned, yet it may not be a deviation to report them as practised in Russia. The Fin erects, about the middle of a tree, in the bear's favourite haunts, a species of small round scaffold, much in the style, with respect to form and position, of one of the tops of a ship : on this he sits secure, and waits with patience the arrival of the animal at the foot of the tree ; attracted by honey, or some other favourite food, placed there as a bait, and shoots at him tlirough holes made for that purpose in his stage. But should he only wound, instead of kill the bear, the animal is stopped in its furious course up the tree (which he climbs like a cat) by the round-top, which obstructs him in his pursuit, and gives the se- cure hunter a still more favourable opportunity of dispatching him. He is like- wise always armed with an axe to chop off his paws, should they appear above the stage in attempting to mount it ; so that this species of hunting, practised among the Fins subject to Russia (much inferior to their Swedish brethren), may be almost said to be unattended with danger. Campbell, in the account of his tra- vels in North America, says, that in his occasional excursions many stories were told him of the bears in that country, of all which, the following he thought most entitled to recollection and recital. On an island, called Spoon Island, which he had passed a day or two before, there were seven bears killed in one day. A gentleman and his son, near a house in which the author then lodged, had been out at hay-making, and were luckily armed with pitch-forks and rakes ; and seeing a monstrous bear quite close to the river, they pressed so hard upon him, as to drive him into the water. They then thought they had him secure, as there was a boat near them, to which they immediately ran ; and having pursued, and come up with him, they struck and pelted him with the pitch-forks and shafts 'till they were broken to pieces. The exasperated monster now, as they had no weapon to annoy him, turned the chase on his adversaries, and fixing his paws on the gunnel of the boat, attempted to get in. They did all they could to keep him out ; but their efforts were in vain. He got in : thus circumstanced, they had their choice, either to jump into the water, or continue in the boat to be torn to pieces ; they chose the former, and swam ashore. The bear now master of the boat, whence the enemy battered him, was so severely galled with the strokes and wounds he had received, that he made no attempt to follow, but continued in the boat ; otherwise he might easily have over- VOL. II. y taken 162 taken them, and had ample revenge, as he could swim three times faster than they. Seeing him so calm, they ran immediately to the house for guns, and upon their return found him sitting in the boat, dipping one of his paws now and then in the water, and washing his wounds ; on which, levelling their pieces, they shot him dead. The landlord of the house where this recital Avas given, shewed one of the paws of this bear, wliich, on account of its great size, he kept as a curiosity ; and added, that the bear, when alive, was as big as a yearling calf. So it is easy to conceive the havoc and destruction committed in a countiy so much infested with such monstrous and ravenous animals, especially on sheep, tlie simplest and silliest of all creatures, who fall an easy prey to beasts of far less sti-ength and magnitude. Numbers of these harmless, yet useful animals, were destroyed by bears in this very neighbourhood, where one man sustained the loss of thirty of his sheep within a very short space of time ; and even young cattle were often devoured and canied off by them ; though they prefer swine when they can get them, to any other animal whatever. That a consistent uniformity may be preserved, and every possible infonnation communicated that can possibly be collected upon the subject before us, an accu- rate description of the magnificent and splendid manner of hunting in India can- not prove unacceptible ; more particularly when put into comparative retrospec- tion with the chase of our own country. Hunting (we are told by the best writers upon the affairs of India) was a favourite diversion of the great and bloody con- queror Jenghiz Khan, if, indeed, we can apply the word diversion to a monster whose mind was set upon the destruction of his own species, and who only en- deavoured to make the murder of brutes subsei^ient to that of men, by keeping his soldiers in a kind of warfare wth the beasts when they had no human ene- mies to contend with. His expeditions were conducted on a plan similar to that of the Mexicans ; and were, no doubt, attended with still greater success, as his numerous army could inclose a much greater space than all the Indians whom the Spanish viceroy could muster. The East-Indian princes still show the same incli- nation to the chase ; and Mr. Blanc, who attended the hunting excursions of Asoph ul Dowlah, vizir of the Mogul empire, and nabob of Oude, in 1785, and 1786, gives the following account of the particulars upon this occasion : — The commencement of the hunting season for the party is about the beginning of December, and the diversion is enjoyed 'till the excessive heats in tlie first weeks of March occasion its termination. During this time a circuit of between 400 163 400 and 600 miles is generally made ; the hunters bending their course towards the skirts of the northern mountains, where the counti^ is wild and uncultivated. The Visir takes along with him not only his court and seraglio, but a great part of the inhabitants of his capital also. His immediate attendants amount to about two thousand ; but besides these he is followed by five or six hundred horse, and several battalions of regular sepoys, with their field-pieces. Four or five hundred elephants are likewise included in his retinue, some of which are used for riding, others for fighting, and some for clearing the jungles and forests of the game. About as many sumpter horses of the beautiful Persian and Arabian breeds are taken also. A great many wheel-can-iages drawn by bullocks likewise attend, which are chiefly used for the convenience of the women ; sometimes, also, he has an English chaise or two, with the addition of a chariot ; but all these, as well as the horses, are merely for show, the Visir himself never using any other convey- ance than an elephant, or occasionally, when fatigued or indisposed, a palanquin. The animals used in the sport are principally greyhounds, of which there may be about three hundred ; he has also about two hundred hawks, and a few trained leopards for hunting deer ; with many fowlers who provide game, as none of the natives of India know how to shoot game with small shot, or to hunt with slow hounds. A vast number of matchlocks are carried along with the company, widi many English pieces of various kinds ; forty or fifty pair of pistols, bows and arrows, besides swords, daggers, and sabres without number. There are also nets of various kinds, some for quail, and others very large for fishing, which are canied upon elephants, attended by fishermen, so as to be al- ways ready for throwing it into any river or lake the cavalcade may happen to fall in with. Every article that can at all contribute to luxury or pleasure is likewise taken under protection of the army. A great many carts are laden ^vith water of the river Ganges, and even ice is ti-ansported for cooling the drink. The fruits of the season, and fresh vegetables are daily sent to him from his gardens by bear- ers stationed at the distance of every ten miles ; by which means each article is con- veyed, day or night, at the rate of four miles an hour. Besides the animals al- ready mentioned, there are also fighting antelopes, buffaloes, and rams in great numbers ; also several hundred pigeons, some fighting-cocks, with a vast variety of parrots, nightingales, &c. To complete the magnificence or exti'avagance of this expedition, there is always a large bazar, or moving town, which attends the camp; consisting of shop-keepers and artificers of all kinds, money-changers, and dancing-women : so that, upon the most moderate calculation, the whole Y 2 number 164 number of people in, and dependant upon his camp, cannot be computed at less than bventy thousand. The nabob himself, and all the gentlemen of his camp, are provided w ith double sets of tents and equipage, which are always sent oa the day before, to the place to which he intends to go ; so that by the time he has finished his sporting in the morning, he finds his whole camp ready pitched for his reception. The nabob, with the attending gentlemen, proceed in a regular moving court, or durbar, and thus they keep conversing together and looking for game. A great many hares, foxes, jackals, and sometimes deer, are picked up by the dogs as they pass along ; the hawks are can-ied just before the elephants, and let fly at whatever game is sprung for them, which is generally partridges, bustards, quails, and different kinds of herons ; these last affording excellent sport with the falcons or sharp-winged hawks. Wild-boars are sometimes started, and either shot or run down by the dogs and horsemen. Hunting the tiger is, however, looked upon as the principal diversion, and the discoveiy of one of these animals is accounted a matter of great exultation. The covert in which the tiger is found is commonly lon