good sportsman, he has more important things to attend to than creeping after wild-ducks at sunrise; and we hope he will forgive us if our reminiscences expose him to the depredations of poachers.

The delights of shooting consist, in a great measure, in the poetry of feeling that the scenes of nature inspire. Without an object one cannot wander for hours amid wilds and woods, however grand and beautiful; and shooting supplies that object. And it was the mighty mountains, and the utter solitude around us, and the knowledge that the great poet Shelley had thought amid those scenes, that perhaps made the days we spent there so delightful; but we can assure our readers who may not sympathise with our feelings, that there are more sensual pleasures to be found there, and that though it was our fate to have a host-Welsh only in birth—there are several hospitable squires in the neighbourhood whose houses maintain the ancient reputation of the principality.

The fisher may enjoy himself there. Trout and salmon are plentiful in the lakes and rivers. The peasantry, however, are great poachers. Frequently at night they light fires, and spear the fish. One old gentleman (since dead), very fat, very irascible, proud of his Welsh blood, and like Shallow, "of some authority under the king," was constantly annoyed by seeing fires lighted, and fish caught, in a stream that runs through his own lawn. One night the fires were unusually bright, and the poachers unusually active, spearing away; he ordered out his servants, keepers, grooms, and himself led the van, at a thundering pace down the hill that led to the stream; the gentle descent added to his velocity, the coolness of the poachers, who quietly continued their operations, inflamed his fury, blinded him to all but the audacity of the spearmen, and the fat old gentleman heard a loud laugh as he tumbled headlong into his own river. The peasants had lighted the fires on the further side of the stream, and mimicked the operations of spearing fish purposely to entrap the Justice, who had often, at the head of his domestic army, sallied forth to attack them.

Nor are shooting and fishing all that render this remote place pleasing to the sportsman. There is more than one pack of harriers in the neighbourhood, and though they often hunt in the rugged mountains, wher horses cannot follow, we believe that in the flat country and the valleys the mountain hares show good sport. The gentlemen who reside there are very hospitable and liberal, in allowing comparative strangers the privilege of sporting over their lands. The snipe shooting is very good; the cock shooting first-rate. We were told, on unexceptionable authority, that in six consecutive days, three guns bagged ninety-three woodcocks, in covers of no great extent; but those guns were in the hands of the Honourable E. Lloyd Mostyn, and two relatives of his; and to him and his may be applied the description of the skill of the Master of Ravenswood

"When the master haulds out his piece, down goes the deer."

The geologist and the antiquarian may find many objects of interest in this neighbourhood. British camps, and traces of ancient glaciers, are not uncommon; but as these are not exactly the themes for a sporting magazine, we shall not do more than mention them.

The shooter, tired of pheasants and partridges, and flat fields and hedge-rows, may here see in a morning foxes (which, as there are no

fox-hounds near, are always shot), badgers, otters, pole-cats, cormorants, herons, grouse, snipes, wild-fowl, partridges, pheasants, quail, &c, and before November, land-rails; but he must rise early, and not dread rocks and briars and bogs.

If we have amused our readers, perhaps we may give them a sketch of Welch deer shooting in a future number. We bid them farewell, but before we conclude we may mention, though it has nothing to do with sporting, still, as a service to literature in general, that there is a gentleman residing at Tremadoc who has numerous letters from the poet Shelley, which letters he declines to publish, and intends to have burnt at his death. If any brother scribbler, who does not confine his labours to matters strictly sporting, feels inclined to persecute the worthy possessor of these interesting memorials of a great poet into publishing thom, the writer will be very happy to expose him to that annoyance by furnishing his name and address.

SHOOTING ON THE NILE.

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR, Although it is now so much the custom for our countrymen visiting Egypt to publish an account of their tour, 1 have never met with any information at all serviceable to those travellers who may wish to combine shooting with more scientific pursuits; and as I have lately boen as far as Gibel Birkel, some 300 miles above Wadi Halfel, I should be glad if the information I can furnish, touching the shooting on the Nile, can in any way benefit those who may follow me.

In the first place, the traveller must not fail to procure a small boat, to tow behind the daahbeeh, which will row well; this will prove very useful for other purposes besides sporting, and should be bough: or hired at Alexandria. I saw a very good one which was got there for about £3 sterling; unfortunately I was not aware how useful this would have proved before it was too late to get one.

Whilst sailing up the river the tourist may get occasional shots at pelicans, geese, herons, and other water-fowl. About Beni-IIassan the crocodiles begin to show themselves, basking on the sand-banks; theso require, if of any size, an ounce ball to produce much effect, and many are hit without being at all injured, whilst not uncommonly those mor tally wounded disappear for a time; they are also very watchful, and, as far as my observation serves, seldomi allow a large boat to approach within 200 yards of them. I got one day a shot at 150 yards at a very large one, and apparently hit him under the arm. He rushed about with his mouth open in shallow water for some seconds before he dived, and as my rifle carried but a half ounce ball, I dare say he was not much the worse as he did not show himself again, which they generally do when severely hit.

It seemed to me that if I had possessed a small boat I could have landed on the sand-banks a considerable way from them, and by making a circuit have crawled within shot, or they would probably allow a small boat to float or row within distance; in this way many geese and other large birds might be shot; and I should have found a heavy gun, that would kill at a longer distance than a common fowling-piece, of very great service, for even above Wadi Halfeh the geese (although perhaps never before fired at) calculate the range of a gun with great precision, and fly away unharmed just as the sportsman imagines he is getting

within distance.

Near Thebes the water-fowl of all sorts are very numerous in the marshes between that place and Erment; but the shores are flat, with no reeds to screen one; so unless one crawls naked through the mud, as the natives do, one has not much chance of sport. I shot here several gutta, a handsome bird of the grouse species, on the desert side of the marsh, and also a few snips. Good sport is also to be had here with the quails in March; by taking two of my boatmen to walk on either side of me through the barley and other crops, I used to get forty or fifty shots a day.

At Edfoo I saw the water-fowl much more numerous than at Thebes. There is here a raised embankment reaching from the village to the edge of the desert, and by walking on one side under the cover of this, and sending a boatman to wade through the marsh on the other, I got several shots at geese and ducks; it also seemed to me that with one of M'Intoshes air boats, one might float about the marsh and get shots at the birds flying over-head; on the edge of the desert gutta were plentiful, but I found them very wild.

From Wadi Halfeh to Dongola one must ride on dromedaries; the route along the eastern bank, though longer, is much more interesting. I should recommend the sportsman always to make a start before the baggage camels, and he may thus not unfrequently got a shot at gazelles early in the morning; occasional geese are on the river and gutta (here sand-coloured) about the desert. One can easily sling a gun and riflo on either side of the dromedary saddle, and I sewed several pockets on the outside of my saddle-bags, so I had my ammunition ready at hand without being troubled with carrying it about me; but to say the truth, neither the sporting, the scenery, nor the remains of antiquity, repay one for the trip to Gebel Birkel, about eighteen days journey from Wadi Halfch. On this excursion we should have found an air-boat of great service; we could thus have visited Soleb and other ruins on the western bank without returning by that route, which is a most unpleasant one for man and beast; in fact, the latter were nearly starved.

I must here relate a ludicrous incident which happened this year to some Frenchmen, who used to turn out shooting, dressed in the most fanciful costumes; one day the boat of some friends of mine passed that of the French, who were making a most uproarious jubilee over a largo crocodile lying on a sand bank, which they imagined they had killed; my friends went on, leaving the others to secure their victim: towards evening the Frenchmen came up with them again, and on being asked where their trophy was, were reluctantly obliged to confess "it smelt so badly they could not touch it." It proved to be ono mortally wounded

by a Mr. Robertson a few days before, but which, as is often the case, he failed to bring to bag."

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Should this be found worthy of your publication, and it meets the eye of any gentlemen about to visit Egypt, I feel assured that by following my advice they will often meet with success where others have and will fail for want of due preparation. Powder must be taken from England or Malta, and I should also say swan-shot: that of common size is plentiful at Cairo. I am, sir, your obedient servant,

Aldermaston, near Newbury, 1849.

HIGFORD BURR.

LITERATURE.

London:

THE STEEPLE CHASE CALENDAR. By Henry Corbet. Henry Wright, Haymarket; Fores and Co., 41, Piccadilly. This is one of the earliest of the practical sporting works of the season announced for publication. The great popularity which steeple-chasing has attained makes a work of this character as essential as the Racing Calendar to those interested in the Turf. It contains a return of the sport in Great Britain and Ireland for the season 1848-49, arranged with a copious index, for facility of reference. It gives lists of the winners, the rules, "the names and weights" of the most esteemed jockeys, and all the information necessary, either for those professionally connected with the steeple-chase, or interested in it as amateurs. It is, in fact, a hand-book of the sport, an authority upon all points likely to arise in relation to it, and a guide for those about to enter horses or speculate upon those belonging to others. It is very carefully got up.

PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS OF THE METROPOLIS.

Managerial announcements in every quarter clearly indicate the commencement of the winter season; indeed, it may be said to be already on the point of commencement, for the evening of our publication is selected for the opening of the principal houses, amongst which, foremost stand the Haymarket and Lyceum.

At the HAYMARKET, an already powerful company is considerably strengthened by the addition of performers of long and tried merit. The engagement of Macready argues well for the sound and sensible kind of policy which is invariably shown by Mr. Webster in all his arrangements for the amusement of the public. Mr. Macready's appearance will be invested with interest of no ordinary description, for independently of the assurance of this being the farewell engagement of a

popular actor, there attaches considerable curiosity to witness the first metropolitan appearance of our talented countryman since the occasion of his happy escape from the sanguinary and demoniacal ruffianism of a mob of American miscreants. In addition, it cannot fail in being a matter of general satisfaction to learn that the lessee has succeeded in re-engaging performers of eminence like Mr. and Mrs Kean, whose truthful and impressive dilineaments are the theme of universal praise.

The LYCEUM will be opened under the excellent management of Madame Vestris, with, save a few exceptions, that array of talent which distinguished this house on former occasions under the same enterprising dynasty.

The latest novelty at ASTLEY's is Mazeppa, which there is no gainsaying had a run in its day, but under very different auspices; for then Ducrow was manager, and he had an eye to artistic effect. Matters are completely altered now; for the present lessee, it is generally admitted, is utterly devoid of all the essential qualifications of one who aspires to the arduous and difficult post of management. With Mrs. Malaprop's definition of comparisons vividly before us, we cannot help the idea suggesting itself that Batty is to Ducrow what Cuffey is to Napoleon. The same laudable desire to become great being apparent in both nstances, with an equally lamentable absence of all fitness for the eminent position aimed at by one and the other. The present appearance of this house offers a flat contradiction to the popular assertion that "you can't have too much of a good thing," proving beyond all doubt that the inhabitants of Lambeth rest perfectly content with the illustration of Mazeppa presented some years back by those who were in all respects more capaictated than the present inefficient members of Mr. Batty's company.

Mr. Watts has commenced his season at the MARYLEBONE, where he intends to remain until Christmas, when he removes to the new Olympic Theatre. Mrs. Mowatt has appeared as Beatrice, an impersonation she contrives to invest with some degree of interest, albeit it is not altogether the character that Shakspeare painted. Miss Beaufort has made her debut, and in light comedy she will unquestionably prove an accession to the corps dramatique. With regard to the new play called "Velasco, it should be mentioned that Mr. Davenport and Miss Fanny Vining distinguish themselves favourably. Of the piece itself, it would be difficult to offer an opinion without the assistance of the author, an American, to elucidate many of the intended "points," as at present, it must be be confessed, it is beyond common comprehension.

CREMORNE GARDENS have been well attended by those who affect al fresco amusements. Equestrian entertainment has been provided most liberally, and the fun and merriment, occasioned by the fiery steeds running here, there, and everywhere, and breaking down all barriers, and through every conventional rule, should have been witnessed by all who require a strong antidote to melancholy. The poses Aérien could hardly have been better received at the Champs Elysées. Altogether the catering for the public has been of the most unexceptionable kind, and it is a matter of congratulation that Mr. Ellis has experienced that which his deserts so indubitably entitle him to, a very successful season. VAUXHALL has terminated another unprosperous season. Year after