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panying our admittance. With difficulty we made our way by torchlight to the posada, kept by a son of Abraham, yclept Benoliel: great was our rejoicing on sitting down to a good supper, and sound were our slumbers at the conclusion of that hard day's work.

The following morning, after visiting the delightful gardens in the neighbourhood belonging to the several European Representatives, we called on the British Consul General, Mr. Drummond Hay, who received us with his wonted politeness and hospitality, which we experienced to the fullest extent during our stay at Tangiers; whence in a few days we took our departure in the mail-boat for Ceuta, beat up the quarters of some friends in the Spanish Garrison there, and returned to Gibraltar after one of the pleasantest trips in the world, thus bringing to a close "the African Expedition*."

COMMENCEMENT OF CUB-HUNTING WITH THE QUORN.

THE reveille has once more sounded here, and truly it was a morning rouse and "no mistake," for the work of slaughter commenced at 5 A. M. The Master, men, horses, and hounds were all full of beans, and ready for anything.-Allons donc, en avant! le cors de chasse a sonné.

Monday, August 22.-Met at Allexton Hall.-Found a leash of foxes at the wood, and, after running an hour and thirty-six minutes in covert, killed one.-Found again a brace of foxes at Stockmerston wood; run hard an hour and twenty minutes in covert, and killed.

Aug. 23.-Rolleston.-Found two brace of foxes: run, with an indifferent scent, for an hour and a half, and killed.

Aug. 24.-Holt.-Found two brace of foxes: run hard about the woods for two hours, and killed.

Aug. 25.-Langton Cauldwell.-Found only one fox, and killed him immediately.-Went to Sheepshangs, and found five foxes: run very hard in covert for half an hour, and killed.-Went to Glooston wood, and found a brace of foxes: they soon went away in a bean field; stopped the hounds, and went home.

Aug. 26.-Bosworth gorse.-Found at Laughton hills: run for an hour from covert to covert, and killed.

Thus ends the first week of cub-hunting, having killed seven foxes in five days. The young hounds are entering very well, and I understand that Day, the Huntsman, is much pleased with their performances. It would really do any man good to see Mr. Greene and Day in their saddles: it might be truly said,

"Sure such a pair were never seen,

So justly formed to meet by nature :"

the former with not an ounce of superfluous flesh, yet looking the picture of health and firm resolution, seated with that perfect laisseraller air which shews the finished horseman; while the latter, supple and wiry as a Skye terrier, looks as if he had been born on a horse, For a more detailed account of the "African Expedition," vide Colonel Napier's "Excursions along the Shores of the Mediterranean," published by Mr. Colburn.

VOL. XXV.-SECOND SERIES.-No. 150.

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his hand is so native to the bridle. Mr. W. Scott, of London, has just painted an admirable portrait of Mr. Greene in his hunting costume : the likeness is most striking; the eye shews

"the soul's on fire, and eager for the field;"

and the lips are pregnant with one of those thrilling "tally-ho's !" Echo loves so dearly to repeat. Messrs. Brown, of the Market Place, Leicester, intend having it immediately engraved in the highest mezzotinto style, and, if one may judge from the list of subscribers already formed, it will soon be as well known as the highly-respected original he wot can go the pace.

"L'homme est né chasseur, je le soutiens," says Deyeux; and I affirm it also: that is, if one may judge from outward and visible signs. Par exemple: every stable, box, and stall are engaged at Melton for the ensuing season, and as many more could be let at a prix-d'or if they were there: the same in the neighbourhood, while the demand for houses is equally as imperative,

Sir Richard Sutton, who has taken the Cottesmore country, has been down for a fortnight's cub-hunting, and he intends returning from Norfolk, whither he is gone to shoot, on the 1st of October, to begin regular hunting six days a-week. He has taken Greetham Inn as a residence.

Sir Francis Holyoake, who has taken the Northamptonshire Hounds, has also been cub-hunting with considerable success. The three Masters, being such old friends, will no doubt render it a fine season for sport, as they will act in unison, uninfluenced by any envy or illiberal emulation so destructive of real hunting, sacrificing the amusement of the public to private resentments: here, on the contrary, it will be tria juncta in uno.

Mr. Story, of Lockington, a stanch Sportsman, has taken the Marquis of Hastings's country, and engaged Will Derry as Huntsman, who, I have no doubt, will shew good sport*.

Sir Francis Goodricke has, I understand, recently purchased Mr. Newman's hounds to add to the Pytchley kennels; so that, taking all things into consideration, the prospects of the season are most gratifying.

If it be true that the horse influences society in France to the degree stated in the following extract, how much more mighty is the influence it exercises over the young Aristocracy of England, as is clearly seen at least here!

"The horse has taken the place of everything: he is indispensable to impart to you the intelligence of the age. The horse is the grand supériorité of the day; he is a power that alone counterbalances all the other powers of this world; he is a patent of gentilhomme and homme d'esprit; in short, the horse is the commencement of all fortunes and all reputations in times when reputations and fortunes rise and fall so promptly."-French Paper.

We understand that the Donnington pack will be hunted by subscription under the Mastership of Mr. Story. The Marquis lends the hounds and the kennels, subscribes £500 per annum, and has generously offered to give more if required to hunt the country with spirit. The hounds have had some good sport cub-hunting, -ED.

If such is the influence of the horse in France, mon Dieu! what is it in England? A thousandfold more potent: to be convinced of which, one has only to visit Payne's establishment at Harborough, for there the elite of the Chase hold their supreme court, and there will be seen some of the finest hunters in Europe, to be had for a consideration," but by no means an extortionate one, Payne being an upright dealer on all occasions.

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They have been hunting in the Forest since the 29th of August, and found a good supply of foxes. Indeed it is admitted that the "animal" is by no means deficient in any of the coverts.

As soon as business commences quite "reg'lar," and the gallant Nimrods assemble, you may rely on the best and earliest information

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"A PREFACE to a Magazine article!" Well! I never!......Such, I doubt not, most courteous Reader, will be your exclamation on beholding this heading. One word, I pray ye, in the way of explanation, if not extenuation.

Some eighteen months since, two unpretending little volumes, intitled "The Sportsman in France," were obtruded on the notice of the public, and (as I have been informed by the publisher) some twenty or thirty copies were ACTUALLY sold!!! The fact of so many discriminating persons having invested a portion of their capital in the purchase of my book was extremely gratifying to me-seeing that I was the Author. At the same time, my arithmetical acquirements enabled me to come to the conclusion that "the tottle of the whole," as far as the interest of the aforesaid publisher was concerned, must have produced but an unsatisfactory result. To avoid therefore the possibility of loss to any one of the many influential, affluent, and respectable Bibliopolists in this literary Metropolis, i have determined to follow the example of my more able Contemporaries, by doling out my narrative in monthly instalments through the medium of an attractive and favorite Periodical.

I confess to having made a mental selection, but had some few mis givings as to the realisation of my hopes. These were soon removed upon my wishes being made known to the Proprietors of.........the identical Magazine you hold in your hand, good Reader; and to their kindness and liberality am I indebted for the flattering distinction of being permitted to submit to your notice through its pages my sport ing adventures in North America.

In justification of the attempt, I may be permitted to state that I was quartered for upwards of four years at Quebec, and had both time and opportunity for exploring the Upper and Lower Provinces of the Canadas; and my predilection for field sports, as well as being an ardent worshipper of the rod and gun, gave no slight impetus to the excursions I undertook; and I availed myself to the utmost of the resources to be met with in the woods, lakes, and rivers of our Canadian possessions.

To borrow the grammatical phrase of an erudite gentleman, who was induced in a fit of enthusiasm one fine morning to make the remark to me "The Canadas is a fine country, Sir!"

"They is," was my reply. The worthy man was right-I think so to this hour; and, whether taken individually or collectively-in the singular or the plural number-offer a wide field of enjoyment to an active and enthusiastic Sportsman; and I hope in the course of the following narrative to hold out some additional inducement to the Halfpay Officer, the Settler, and the Emigrant, to make choice of this land of lake and mountain wherein to pass the remainder of their days in peace, quietness, and contentment. A happier lot no man need desire, and it will be my endeavour to point out to those who may honor these pages by a perusal, that few beings are more to be envied than "The Sportsman in Canada."

London, September, 1842.

It may be in the recollection of some respectable middle-aged Gentlemen that in the year of Grace one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, the Ladies, God bless them, wore their petticoats most captivatingly short, at least all those who were blessed with small feet, well-turned ankles, and good legs; and it came to pass that, being a susceptible youth, I fell deeply in love with as pretty a pair of extremities as ever supported a lovely form, and a face to match. Fathers and sons, however, occasionally differ in these affaires du cœur et des jambes, and I was not exempt from paternal interference, inasmuch as my excellent and worthy governor, being proof against the attractions of shape and make, and clean legs to boot, disapproved of my choice, cut short my love-making and gentle dalliances-firstly, by certain threats of disinheritance, and secondly, by depriving the War Office of one of its idlest clerks-and shipping me off to Brussels, there to think of my "Ladye Love," and be disposed of as the chances of war or an ounce or so of lead might determine. As no friendly bullet put an end to my sufferings, I fed upon grief (and Flanders beef) like a true love-sick swain, until the post brought me intelligence one fine morning, some ten weeks after the Battle of Waterloo, that I was appointed to a Staff situation in Canada, and that I was to make the best of my way to the paternal mansion, there to take possession of a liberal outfit which had been prepared for me, and bid a long farewell to the best of mothers and a host of sorrowing relatives. Within an hour of the arrival of the post, the old family butler presented himself at the Hotel d'Angleterre, where I had taken up my quarters. It required no extraordinary penetration or stretch of imagination to guess at the motive which induced my prudent sire to send this trusty domestic on such an errand. It was feared, probably, that the lady with the legs would be uppermost

in my thoughts on approaching the shores of England again; in short, that love would take precedence of filial duty, for such reprobate thoughts will creep into the brain of hot-headed youths. Whether such would have been my case it behoveth me not to mention at this moment: here was a regular stopper to any stolen march (had I been so undutifully inclined) in the person of the portly, wheezing, burly butler. He was constituted a sort of respectable family spy, and, as I knew the old fellow to be the most conscientious of cork-drawers, bribery was out of the question. Making a virtue of necessity, I appeared delighted to see the trusty guardian of my hospitable father's wine-cellar, and expressed, with much apparent sincerity, the satisfaction I felt at having so respectable and trust-worthy a guide to lead me home again. I blush to own, even at this distant period, that I gave the old fellow as much trouble as possible, and chuckled with demoniacal glee when that impartial invader of men's stomachs-sea-sickness-laid him flat on his back on board the packet which carried us over from Ostend to Dover. I allowed him, nevertheless, to hug his basin in peace, and left him to the tender mercies of the steward. Poor old Sadler! he lived for nearly half a century in my father's service, and died, as all well-conditioned butlers ought to do, of gout in the stomach.

On being delivered up in a state of good preservation, morally and physically, to those who were good enough to own me, I was-after having been duly lectured on the enormity of my crime, that of betraying a partiality for a pretty woman-informed that a passage had been provided for me by Government on board a transport named La Lune, A. 1., copper-fastened, carrying a surgeon and other conveniences usually enumerated in nautical phraseology by those disinterested shipowners who advertise for passengers inclined by nature or compelled by duty to leave their native shores. Within eight-and-forty hours of my arrival in London I was posting down to Woolwich in the old family carriage, with the most affectionate and solicitous of parents, a brother, and a sister. Was my symmetrical dulcinea forgotten during the journey ? Forbid it gratitude, gallantry, and true-love knots ! and if the truth were penned, it is probable that more affectionate thoughts and fond regrets were bestowed upon the fair enslaver, the undoubted owner of the taper ankles, than on kindred and friends at that moment. To bring this little love episode to an end, I must observe, that from the moment our tender passion was nipped in the bud we have never met. I have sought in vain for the legs that captivated my youthful fancy; but since the dowdy introduction of draggle-tail dresses, which effectually hide the understandings of our fair countrywomen, I despair of discovering my little "Venus de Medicis."-But revenons à nos moutons. Arrived at the Ordnance Wharf at Woolwich, I was conveyed on board The Laa Loon as the boatmen christened the transport, with my kind relatives, who had supplied me with an equipment which would have served for half a dozen more younger sons. Having been regularly installed in my floating cupboard, some twelve feet by eight, and which by the way the Captain dignified by the name of state-room," the mournful ceremony of leave-taking was got through, and to those who have been subjected to the same painful ordeal I need not describe the agonizing moment.

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