The voyagers, meanwhile, had sprung a leak, and with great difficulty got into Whitby, where the vessel underwent a thorough repair, and then proceeded successfully to Forres. The cargo was conveyed over the mountains in forty-nine small carts of the country. Sledges were prepared for the carriage of the 'boats, but were in the end found unserviceable, and the boats came perfectly safe without them.'

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We regret that we cannot afford room for the details of a memorable exploit, atchieved on the 30th of July, when the Colonel, Captain Waller, and their attendants, finally succeeded in bringing on shore a huge pike, a famous fellow,' weighing between forty-seven and forty-eight pounds. Suffice it to say, in the author's own words, he was completely spent, and, in a few moments, we landed him, a perfect monster! He was stabbed by my directions in the spinal marrow, with a large knife, which appeared to be the most humane manner of killing him, and I then ordered all the signals with the skyscrapers to be hoisted; and the whoop re-echoed through the whole range of the Grampians. On opening his jaws, to endeavour to take, the hooks from him, which were both fast in his gorge, so dreadful,a forest of teeth, or tushes, I think I never beheld: if I had not had a double link of gimp, with two swivels, the depth between his stomach and mouth would have made the former quite useless. His measurement, accurately taken, was five feet four inches, from eye to fork.'

The ensuing very important communication was issued on the 17th August. Orders. That Jonas and Jack, with one of the baggage-waggons, do proceed with the necessary apparatus, as by order, to Avemore, and there. remain for farther instructions. The general orders of the 25th August are not less indicative of the skill and spirit of the commander:

Mr. Lawson will observe, that the encampment is to be pitched according to the plan given, without the least deviation.

Further; as the ancient mode of encamping seems greatly to excel the modern, he will follow that, as nearly as may be, for a model.'

The invaluable maxim of allowing ample time in gorgefishing is thus enforced with exquisite wit and humour: 1 recommend it to every fisher in this way to read a sermon between the times of striking at his fish and his striking at the bait; and, in failure of a sermon, possibly a chapter in the Pilgrim's Progress might be found a pretty substitute.'

Col. T.'s havock among the moor-game ostensibly ceased on the 2d of October, a cold and very windy day, when the birds had become very wild, and the fire was constantly blown from the powder: yet he retires from the heath in truly gallant style.

• My

My last shot,' says he, on taking leave of the moors, I am convinced was at the distance of a hundred and ten yards, on horseback, and at a trot. I hit my bird, and thinking, as it was so far off, it was only slightly wounded, ordered the devil to be flown; but, on coming up, found that the bird, though an old one, had her wing broke, and was otherwise so much cut, that she could not fly.'

I determined now to take my final adieu, being near Raits, with this coup d'éclat ;'-and here we determine to close our account of the sericus operations that are recorded in the Sporting Tour. The last epithet will still be found applicable, in its most extensive sense, if we reflect on the laughable incidents which so pleasantly beguile the recitals of destruction. early example of merriment occurs on the banks of the Teviot:

An

I raised and killed a few tolerable trout: my companion was not so fortunate, and blamed his bad luck; when, desirous of seeing his cockney mode of fishing, I perceived that he fished with a fly as he would with a worm. I was polite enough to look as grave as any Sy-fisher could be supposed to do, till he walked down the stream, not without taking a view of the paltry trout I had caught with a mixture of surprise and envy.

As soon as I conceived him fairly out of hearing, I gave vent to my hitherto stifled emotions, and, laughing immoderately, my foot slipped, and I had nearly gone headlong into the river. He, it seems, had heard me, and, very good-naturedly, came and asked me, what the d- I was laughing at, and whether I had seen a female, or any other cause of such extraordinary mirth. I begged he would forgive me; and then plainly told him my mirth was occasioned by his style of fly-fishing. He looked rather disconcerted,'

&c. &c.

We may add that Colonel Thornton, with much good humour, condescends to hoax; and when he wishes to amuse himself or his readers, he decoys his companions into the belief that they have shot a ptarmigan or a roebuck. He possesses, moreover, the singular felicity of sporting with orthography and grammar, both in French and English; as when he writes gutteral, Berduce for Bardorvie, Gunoch for Guroch, Stilliards for Steel-yards, Auch Lorn for Auchloyne, Cree in la Roche for Crienlarick, revellie and revellié for reveil, toute ensemble for tout ensemble, bon bouche for bonne bouche, fasçade for façade, Glen Orgue for Glen Orchy, Arbenless for Ardkinlas, Finlaster for Finlayston, Netherton for Netherby, hern for heron, Bamoly for Barnaby, &c. &c. &c. The dislocation of the following sentence presents a lively image of the bustle described: I had no defence, but parrying, as skilfully as I could, with my whip and my hat: the latter I took off to allow him to seize it, when he had broken the whip, which he soon did, and intended, as REV. MAY, 1807.

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soon as he had fairly seized the hat, by some violent kicks, on the tender parts of his belly, to defend myself, or rather to defeat my antagonist; a way, when at college, and finding myself on this métier, I have often effected, under that very superior master, in this mode of fighting, Mr. C-n.' Other sentences are susceptible of two or more interpretations, and thus denote fertility of genius. For instance: 'Saw the skeleton and jaws of a trout, destroyed, as I suppose, by an otter, which, at least, must have been ten pounds weight.' The ladies now came up to me, whom Captain Waller had politely conducted,' &c. As we proceeded, considering whether we should return and sleep at Rothemurcos, or how we should act, I discovered the boat, by the faint light we had of a partial moon, and, coming up to her, found she was padlocked, and almost full of water.'-In general, our humane tourist prefers killing syntax to merely wounding it; as when he informs us that each pointer were,' the wind and hill was against,' the general appearance-is such. as beseem,' anxiety and terror destroys,' &c. A Caledonian word or phrase is sometimes allowed to creep into the text, very slyly, and without explanation; such as scart, bley.berry, heather, blink, wizened, stook, muratt (though more correctly, therot), &c. The author has also frequently recourse to a mo. dern foreign term, when an ordinary writer would have been contented with a vernacular one; as auberge for inn, métier for business, abîmé for immersed, &c. Another cunning device is to sport with hackneyed Latin quotations, and so impart to them a novel and ludicrous appearance: e. g.

"Per varios causas per tot discrimine rerum tendimus.”
"Credit qui vult."

"Incidet in Scyllam cupiens evitare Carybdim.”

A still bolder deviation from the beaten track is an easy and careless sporting with matters of fact; of which, instances occur in transferring a phænomenon observed in Loch Tay to Loch Awe, in the definition of whiskey, in the profound remarks on plumbago, and in the assertion that Smollett erected his own monument, in defiance of the inscription, which bears testimony that it was a grateful tribute from his cousin-german.In closing our enumeration of the peculiar excellencies of the Sporting Tour, we cannot refrain from celebrating the wonderful condescension of the author, who is pleased to acquaint us when he breakfasted, and when he dined, when he wrote letters, received guests, sprained his ancle, or got wet with rain. When we add that his draftsman has executed his views in a very masterly style, we feel no hesitation in pronouncing the whole work unique, and worthy of a distinguished niche

in the libraries of the opulent and the curious.In the next article, we shall notice a Sporting Tour in France, by the same author.

ART. III. A Sporting Tour through various Parts of France, in the Year 1802 including a concise Description of the Sporting Establishments, Mode of Hunting, and other Field Amusements, as practised in that Country. With general Observations on the Arts, Sciences, Agriculture, Husbandry, and Commerce: Stric tures on the Customs and Manners of the French People, with a View of the comparative Advantages of Sporting in France and England. In a Series of Letters to the Right Hon. the Earl of Darlington. To which is prefixed an Account of French Wolfhunting. By Colonel Thornton, of Thornville-Royal, Yorkshire. Illustrated with upwards of eighty correct and picturesque Delineations from original Drawings from Nature, by Mr. Bryant, and other eminent-Artists. 2 Vols. 4to. 31. 13s. 6d. in extra Boards. Longman and Co. 1806.

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HOUGH several of our remarks on the Sporting Tour in Scotland will equally apply to this brace of splendid volumes, the two publications differ in more respects than merely in that of quantity of matter. In the course of the present narrative, our interest is seldom exerted by perilous adventures among bleak mountains, we are less frequently presented with the symmetrical details of the table, and the precision of military orders is wholly suppressed. The Colonel seems to have hunted a saleable estate with more solicitude than he pursued the wolf or the boar; and yet he returns to England without concluding a bargain. To compensate these defects and disappointments, the embellishments are more numerous and diversified; and the episodes, in general, are more lively and appropriate.

For the ensuing impressive passage we are indebted to a friend of the editor:

"We descended by a path called le sentier de Rousseau," says this gentleman, "and taking a circuit, round the lake, returned by the other side of it to the village, to procure a guide to conduct us through the park; the objects of curiosity in which, we had been informed, were too numerous to be all discovered without such assistance, as well as too deserving of attention to hazard the missing of any of them. We passed by the château, which is the usual country residence of the Marquis de Girardin, to whom Ermenonville belongs. It stands on a river, and its situation in the midst of water, was all we observed remarkable in it. Two pavillions, as the French call them, standing in a line, about thirty yards on each side from the body of the house, serve as wings to it. In that on the right hand as we faced the house, died Rousseau. He had resided there but a

little time before his death. We made several enquiries about his manner of living, and were informed that he got his meat from the market of Ermenonville; his table, as may be supposed, was modest and frugal, suited to the simplicity of his taste, and mediocrity of his circumstances. He sometimes dined with the Marquis de Girardin, but much less frequently than his noble patron would have wished. He had conceived a fondness for his younger son; he called him his little governor, and as he brought him every day to walk with him, he used to shew great impatience, if the boy delayed too long coming to him of a morning. He instructed him in the first principles of botany, and took pleasure in opening his mind to the beauties of nature. He also gave lessons in music to Mademoiselle de Girardin, and this was to him a favourite amusement. We enquired of our guide if he was affable, and if he conversed much with the inhabitants of the village. He told us he did, particularly with those that were poor, whom he delighted to assist by his instruction and advice. We made several other enquiries, and the answers we received, tended all to confirm us in the opinion we already entertained of him. But as the last moments of life are those alone in which the situation and sentiments of the human heart appear without disguise, and constitute therefore the best criterion, by which the virtues of the man can be ascertained; in justice to Rousseau's memory, I shall beg leave to subjoin the following aecount of his death, written by an eye-witness, with that air of candour and sincerity, which sufficiently warrants the truth of the circumstances related in it.

"In the afternoon on Wednesday, July 1st, 1778, he (Rousseau) took his usual walk with his little governor, as he called him; the weather was very warm, and he several times stopped and desired his little companion to rest himself (a circumstance not usual with him) and complained, as the child afterwards related, of an attack of the cholic; which, however, was entirely removed when he returned to supper, so that his wife had even no suspicion of his being out of order. The next day he arose at his usual hour, went to contemplate the rising sun in his morning walk, and returned to breakfast. with his wife.

"Sometime after, at the hour she generally went out about her family business, he desired her to call and pay a smith that had done some work for him; and charged her particularly to make no deduc. tion from his bill, as he appeared to be an honest man. His wife had been out but a few minutes, when returning she found him sitting in a straw-chair, and leaning with his elbow on a nest of drawers. What is the matter with you, my dear, says she: do you find yourself ill? I feel, replies he, a strange uneasiness and oppression, besides a severe attack of the cholic. Madame Rousseau upon this, in or der to have assistance without alarming him, begged the porter's wife to go to the château, and tell that her husband was taken ill. Madame de Girardin being the first whom the news reached, hurried there instantly, and as that was with her a very unusual hour of visiting Rousseau, she, as a pretext for her coming, asked him and his wife, whether they had not been disturbed in the night by the noise made in the village?" Ah! madame," answered Rousseau, in a tone of