hedgerows in that part of the world are not such as are calculated to induce foxes to lie in unlooked-for situations. We drew from eleven, if I remember rightly, till about five; and, during that time, closely adjoining, if not actually on that estate, all we found was a miserable half-poisoned mangy fox, who did not run a hundred yards, and was killed ere he left the cover. Thus were between 200 and 300 people disappointed of a run, simply because servants were permitted to revel in their disobedience with impunity. In places where there is a good show of game, and the keeper, as a miser over a single guinea in the midst of a hoarded treasure, is jealous of the possession of every single head, I can understand some masters listening to his too highly coloured fancies; but on an estate, such as the one we drew on that day, where the amount of game is as scant as ever I saw, or as it could well be where there was no keeper at all, on the word of a gentleman, and for the life of me, I cannot understand why the remedy I have so often urged is not put into force; and why the master does not say to his men-"I must have foxes and game, or I won't keep you."

I remember, when hunting Bedfordshire, after drawing Kempston Wood, with twenty-five couples of hounds, blank, that a man, in the service of the gentleman who shot over that cover, declared, that soon after I was gone, five foxes came out either into a ride or a field adjoining the wood, and had a game of play; and more, the master expressed belief in the truth of the man's statement.

Now, in the first place, I rather think that this was in the middle of the hunting season; at least I am sure it was not till quite the end of November, if so soon; and after fifty or sixty horsemen, and a proportionate number of foot-people, a huntsman, twenty-five couples of hounds, proverbial for the way in which they drew, and two whippersin, had been riding, walking, hunting, and "noising" about not a very large cover, it would take a great many more men than the circle of my acquaintance contains, to make me believe that foxes, had they been there, would have come out under such circumstances, and at such a time, to celebrate a species of triumphant thanksgiving that they had eluded observation.

I refer to this simply to show what may be said in regard to the presence of foxes, and as to the extent of imposition to which some masters will submit. In the preservation of the fox, and in his opinion of it, I would have the proprietor of a cover judge by his own eyes, and if not in a position individually to make his observations, let him then be guided by the work of hounds. In the preservation of game, as well as in that of the fox, it is my invariable rule to believe no reports made by servants till they stand tested by natural results. When I go upon an estate, for instance, I do not ask to be shown the game; I ask to look at the ground, and by the using of the game alone will I tell its extent and nature. I once ordered one of my keepers, at Teffont, in Wiltshire, not to kill any rabbits till I arrived. I had newly rented the place, and previous to anything except the smaller vermin being destroyed, I wished to form my own opinion as to what there was there. I intended to have more foxes than ever the estate held before, as well as game, and to achieve that, a certain quantity of rabbits was necessary. My old deer-dog and retriever, Wolfe, reached Teffont from

Harrold Hall before I did, and this gamekepeer was ordered to walk him out about the lawn ONLY, for exercise, till my arrival, whenever that might be.

Some time after this, when I first came to reside at Teffont, I wanted to kill some young rabbits, and to this end I repaired to some large stone quarries. Going on the summit of them, and looking on the green below, was the best way to obtain a shot, and on my first doing this, my attention was drawn to Wolfe, who, whenever he saw me begin to creep to the edge of the quarry, and to prepare for a shot, invariably began to creep off in another direction. I wondered once or twice, before I watched him, why, when I had failed to get a shot, the dog was always forty or fifty yards off me, as his usual wont was to stick close to my heels. The cause was soon ascertained; the first shot I had off the summit of the quarry, I killed a rabbit, when I immediately became aware that Wolfe knew that there was only one place at hand by which he could reach the spot where the rabbit was likely to be, and near that path he took care to place himself against the report of the gun.

"Oh ho, old boy! you know more of these places than I do!" was my natural inference; "and you have seen other people shoot rabbits before this!"

"On this hint," though "I spoke not," I profited, and in a very short time I discovered that my keeper was in no way to be trusted as to his obedience of orders, or abstinence from rabbits, and he was dismissed accordingly, on a moment's notice, it being my rule never to give a keeper warning.

(To be continued.)

SPRINGING THE WILD DUCK.

THIS engraving, by Mr. J. W. Cook, is after a clever painting by G. Armfield. It is not for us to eulogize the productions of our artists the work we regard as having merit, of course, or it would not appear where it does at all events, it serves as a fit companion to the article on wild fowl shooting, by Captain Lacy, which is given in the present number.

GLEANINGS FROM MY TRAVELLING JOURNALS.

BY LORD WILLIAM LENNOX.

(Continued from page 260.)

SPORTING EXCURSIONS IN THE MISSOURI COUNTRY-NORTH AMERICA.

TOUCHING, one afternoon, at one of the old villages founded by the original French colonists, we were visited by a renowned Kentucky patriarch, the very Nestor of hunters and backwoodmen. Among other anecdotes he recounted the adventures of a hero of the wilderness, one John Colter, who had accompanied Lewis and Clarke in their memorable expedition. He had recently made one of those vast internal voyages so characteristic of this fearless class of men, having come from the head waters of the Missouri to St. Louis in a small canoe. This distance of 3,000 miles he had accomplished in thirty days. Among the hairbreadth adventures of this rover of the wilderness, the following story deserves particular record. Colter, with the hardihood of a regular trapper, had cast himself loose from the party of Lewis and Clarke, in the very heart of the wilderness, and remained to trap beaver alone on the head waters of the Missouri. Here he fell in with another lonely trapper, named Potts, and they agreed to keep together. They were in the very region of the terrible Blackfeet, and were obliged to lie concealed all day in the woody margins of the rivers, setting their traps after nightfall, and taking them up before daybreak. It was running a fearful risk for the sake of a few beaver skins; but such is the life of a trapper. Early one morning they ascended a small river that empties itself into the Missouri, to examine their traps. The banks on each side were high and perpendicular, and cast a shade over the stream. As they were softly paddling along, they heard the trampling of many feet upon the banks. In a second, frightful whoops and yells burst from each side of the river, and several hundred Indians appeared on either bank. Signs were made to the unfortunate trappers to come on shore. They were obliged to comply. Before they could get out of their canoe, a savage seized the rifle belonging to Potts. Colter sprang on shore, wrested the weapon from the hands of the Indian, and restored it to his companion, who was still in the canoe, and immediately pushed into the stream. There was the sharp twang of a bow, and Potts cried out that he was wounded. Levelling his rifle, he shot one of the savages dead on the spot. The next moment he fell himself, pierced with innumerable arrows. The vengeance of the savages was now turned upon Colter. He was stripped naked, and, having some knowledge of the Blackfoot language, overheard a consultation as to the mode of despatching him, so as to derive the greatest amusement from his death. Some were for setting him up as a mark, and having a trial of skill at his expense. The chief, however, was for nobler sport. He seized Colter by the shoulder, and demanded if he could run fast?