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horses and one another, each abusing his neighbour in the grossest terms-all except Loory Looby, who prudently kept out of harm's way, keeping a loose in his hand, and giving the hair cutter's mare the advantage of what jockeys term a sob, a relief, indeed, of which the poor crea ture stood in the utmost need. He was thus prepared to profit by the accident which followed.

set upright on their legs, and led off to the neighbouring slope.

In the meantime Lowry Looby was observed returning from the winning-post, under the protection of Mr. Cregan, with the saddle torn to fritters between his hands, and his person exhibiting tokens of severe ill-usage. He had contrived to outstrip the mountaineers, and obtained the prize; but the adverse factions, irritated at beholding their laurels flourishing on a stranger's brow, had collected around, and dragged him from his horse, alleging that it was an unfair heat, and that there should be a second trial. Mr. Cregan, however, with some exertion succeeded in rescuing Lowry from their hands; but not until every man in the crowd had put a mark upon him, by which he might be easily distinguished at any future meeting.

The blacksmith's grey horse started at a heap of sea-weed, and suffered the nailer's mare to come down like a thunderbolt upon his haunches. Both steeds fell, and the process server, who rode on their heels, falling foul of them as they laid kicking on the sand, was compelled to share in their prostration. This accident produced among the fallen heroes a series of kicks and bruises, in which the horses were not idle. O'Reilly, clenching his hand, hit the nailer a straight-forward blow between the eyes, which so effectually interfered with the exercise of those organs, that he returned the favour with a powerful thrust in the abdomen of his own prostrate steed. For this good office he was rewarded by the indignant quadruped with a kick over the right ear, which made it unnecessary to inflict a second; and the quarrel remained between the process-server and blacksmith, who pommelled one another as if they were pounding flax, and with as much satisfaction as if they had never got drunk together in their lives. They were at length separated, and borne from the ground all covered with blood and sand, while their horses with much difficulty were Sept. 28, 1831. VOL. IV.SECOND SERIES.-No. 20.

Shade of immortal Wilkie! how would thy graphic pencil have pourtrayed the scene which is now so vividly revelling on my delighted imagination! The prostrated groupe the terrified victor, half alive, half defunctthe battered saddle-and the motley multitude what a subject for the canvas and the burin! If it were possible to give a pictorial illustration to what has been thus attempted by the pen, I will venture to predict that such an embellishment to the Sporting Magazine would confer a popularity more lasting than all the dogs and fishes (admirable as they are described) that have appeared in your pages for the last seven years.

SEXAGENARIAN.

L

SIR,

ADVENTURES OF A PARTY DEER SHOOTING.

IF you
think the following im
perfect sketch and desultory
remarks, drawn up after a plea-
sant ramble into Spain with an
intent to kill deer or wild-boar,
worthy a place in the Sporting
Magazine, they are at your ser-
vice on a future occasion I may
forward some observations on
goose-shooting in Cape Breton,
North America. I am no shot,
but fond of the dog and gun,
and of the manly and active exer-
cise necessarily exerted by the
individual who brushes the dew
from the heath, scours the
plain, beats covert, or tramps
the swamps in pursuit of game.
That man is not possessed of the
genuine spirit of a sportsman
who would kill game in a civi-
lized age or country for the mere
purposes of the pot or eating.

The difficulties, privations, and even hazard to life of the following up and destroying wild animals, and the great dexterity and strength often required in the use of the fatal weapons, constitute the principal source of pleasure to the sportsman when the labours of the day are crowned with success. The reflection that the bird or quadruped is good for food doubtless adds to the happiness of the hunter; but the satisfaction or pleasure thus derived is trivial if he is a thorough true sportsman. The case is widely different among savage nations, ranging untrammelled in their native wilds, the very continuance of life among them, in fact, hanging on the chase; and their amazing adroitness in the use of rude implements of destruction

Garrison of Gibraltar, August 30, 1831.
is a frequent cause of wonder
to the traveller of the desert.

As both deer and wild-boar had frequently been killed here before by Gentlemen from the Garrison, and by indifferent shots too, we sallied forth fully equipped on the evening of the 29th of March 1830, with the full intention of making a number of the above quadrupeds bite the dust before the sun had revolved another day over their lairs, more especially as the double detonators of Wesley Richards glittered in the train. My double John Manton was brushing up at Paton's; but I had a single Johnston from St. James's Street, which I knew from experience would hit efficiently if properly directed by the man at the helm. As the shades of the first night approached we reached the second venta (a Spanish country inn or wine-house), nine miles from Landpart Guard. This venta is romantically situated on the skirts of the Cork Wood, along the meandering banks of the river Guadarangue, or First River.

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It will be necessary to notice here a young man, the mainstay of our party, John native of the Garrison, a half Spaniard, although of Genoese origin. Some days previously to our excursion he undertook the important task of providing food and drink, and of having posted in readiness on the 30th, in a certain district of the country (near a covert destined for the first scene of our movements), the men and dogs, the chief sinews in deer and boar shooting. John

was an original. Suppose a sharp, spare but muscular, very active person, of about 5 feet 6 or 7 inches, a very keen man for the dog and gun, a man whose countenance becomes illumined, and eyes prominent, piercing, and sparkling, as he moves slowly on game, and who, if he missed his bird, would prance and beat his forehead with the palm of his hand. Such was John, and such was the enthusiasm with which he was impressed.

After being fairly housed at the venta, the first object of attraction was the result of cookery, that is, seven or eight large domestic fowls roasted, and laid out on a tray (the brown tinge of roasting was hit to a nicety); mountains of brown Spanish loaves, packed up in hampers and sacks; pork (this by-the-bye was rather white and suety), herons, corned beef, mutton (raw and roasted), rice, salt, &c. These were the substantials. The luxuries were, sugar, wine, brandy, cigars, &c. &c. It is worthy of notice that the wine differed in quality-a good sort in a cask for the egregarious portion of the party, or the Gentlemen; an inferior kind in a huge skin, for the gregarious folks, the canaille. It struck me that all these preparations savoured more of good eating and drinking than a heart-felt desire to slay wild animals. About nine o'clock we sat down in good earnest to an excellent supper, by way of fortifying ourselves for next day's fagging. Besides animal food in plenty, the table groaned under wooden trenchers full of eggs and potatoes; and, after the cloth was removed, salads and other delicacies were handed up.

After supper we all felt pretty comfortable, but we looked as if there was something still wanting: accordingly an immense bowl soon graced the centre of the table; a lapful of delicious lemons from the nearest tree, sugar, and a bottle of brandy followed, and by a little adjustment of spirit, acid, peel, sweets, and water, we were soon in possession of a bulky and most delectable bowl of cold punch. On this side the grave the happiness of man is short-lived; for just as we had tasted the fascinating beverage, a Gentleman of our party-a tall, supple, active Fusilier, with blue eyes, overturned, by some mistake or other, a large brass Spanish lamp, when a pint of stinking oil floated instanter on the surface of the generous liquor. This accident, on such an occasion, would have put the patience of Job to a trial; but an individual of the party, to the astonishment of every one present, with perfect apathy remarked, "I am glad of it; for, had we drunk all the punch, our heads would have suffered tomorrow, which would have been against the chase." This speech conveyed caution and prudence, said to be characteristic of his country-for he came far North, was a hardy stout-made man, a Fusilier, standing 5 feet 9 inches, with a fine eye in his head, and would submit to any privation with his dog and gun. He roughed it well to, and could eat anything. What happiness would reigned in the breasts of the rest of the party had the arguments of this North Briton convinced them that the punch was quite unnecessary, and that the mixture of fetid lamp oil with it

have

was an event of no moment whatever! Their opinions and view regarding the sorrowful accident were widely different: they thought viva voce that the reasoning of our Northern friend was the most preposterous nonsense they had heard for a long time. "Zounds," continued they, "do you imagine that a bowl of punch that will not run above two or three ordinary tumblers a man can give a head-ache to people engaged in arduous exercises? If it does, they must be hot-bed plants, or men of straw!" I never can forget the disappointment, approaching to grief, the loss of the punch caused to a brave soul of the party. He was an immense brawny grenadier from the Welsh mountains, a man whose very weight on the field of battle would tell sorely against the enemy. If there is war, he will fight with a regiment whose banners are already decked with laurel. This Gentleman's countenance is the index to goodness of heart, unruffled temper, and a constant flow of humour. The loss of the punch, however, discovered in him a temporary burst of passion, but his former serenity was soon restored.

The disaster attending the punch was likewise felt acutely by another Gentleman, a native of Hibernia. He was a warmhearted, friendly, active, middleaged man, of some standing in the army, as sharp as a flint; his present corps fought bravely at Gibraltar and Seringapatam. Such was his knowledge of the art of cookery, that, instead of roughing it," we fed like Princes. It would have puzzled Kitchener to have imitated his

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Irish stews; and anything in the way of moistening the clay, or mortal part of our constitution, as sangaree, punch, negus, down to humble lemonade, he could hit to a tittle. It was now too late to brew another bowl, so the majority of us swallowed the disappointment in a glass of brandy and water.

We next turned our thoughts to sleep; straw was placed on the floor; over this were spread blankets, evidently requiring washing; the sheets were, however, clean. One of the Gentlemen preferred sleeping on three chairs. This warrior was a Fusilier from Wales, a man standing 5 feet 9 inches, possessing great muscular strength with symmetry of figure, as active as a roebuck, and capable of enduring any fatigue; was the best shot of the party, and has often floored his bird in the East Indies. He and the two other Fusiliers-viz. the spiller of the oil, and the man of the Northwere fast asleep in a few minutes. A worse fate, however, attended the grenadier and myself; for just as we were about to fall into the arms of Morpheus, those pests of society fleas-began their well-directed attacks. We tossed and turned all night; the snoring of our sleeping companions, and the rustling of the grenadier in the straw, turning every moment from the right side to the left, and from the left to the right, mingled occasionally with the oath, "d-n the fleas," was all that met the ear. The sharp son of Mars, the cook, slept in a room below, and likewise fought hard with the fleas. Under these trying and biting circumstances day-light was a wel

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thing for fifty asses, or mules, with half the number of Spaniards, to put up for the night at this said venta. The innkeeper and chief domestic were of the shooting party, and too much engaged to light fires and boil kettles: we, therefore, set-to, made a charcoal fire, and had tea in a few minutes. A Gentleman who will not work like a coalheaver, eat anything, sleep any where, need not shoot in Spain. A Spaniard mentally is a very independent character: he may be led, but not easily driven; accordingly it requires a knack to make him work or assist you. They very naturally dislike the overbearing haughtiness and vanity of British travellers in general; and pray who would not? Our provender and other necessaries being arranged on the back of a mule, we bent our course towards a chasm or gap in the hills, north-west of the First River, leaving the Cork Wood on our right. As we travelled on the gentle slope of the hills along the banks of a rill, we lost sight of the muleteer, who had missed his way in a clump of trees. Ferdinando was despatched to bring him up as going into the interior of a hilly des trict without provision for man and dogs would have been madness in the extreme. We stretched ourselves on the grass by

the edge of the brook, when the Fusilier (the three-chair sleeper) commenced a work of carnage seldom witnessed even by old soldiers. Soon after leaving his bed he experienced a stinging sensation over his whole frame; he smelt a rat, and instantly stripped to the buff, and put to death, in our presence, fifty fat overgrown fleas, averring, on slaughtering the fiftieth flea, that at least thirty stout active animals of the same family got clear off.

After this efficient warfare the Fusilier felt comfortable; and the mule having arrived, we all passed the gap of the mountain, losing sight of the Bay and Rock of Gibraltar. On continuing our route we cleared the thicket of wood, when an extensive plain, surrounded by hills, opened to view. By the intersection of the hills many beautiful valleys were formed, clothed with wood: these glens were the abode or retreat of the deer and wild-boar. The

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surface of the plain was studded with clumps of trees, flowering shrubs, and plants, interspersed with streamlets, affording ample scope for botanical study. Looking down on the picturesque landscape, we thought it could not easily be surpassed, more especially as it was moulded by the hands of Nature. scending towards this romantic level, which composed the area of an extensive amphitheatre, we reached a thicket of trees and brushwood, the spot fixed upon as the place of rendezvous for the hunters. It was now near nine o'clock: in a short time eight or nine rough-looking Spaniards, with nine or ten dogs, arrived from different quarters, men

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