ground. Whenever the fire blazed up, the long grass carried it on by the help of the wind; and in a few minutes the half of the island was in a blaze, so rapidly did the fearful element spread itself. We looked perfectly bewildered at each other for some time, when, to our unspeakable joy and great surprise, the fire had effected what we had in vain attempted-namely, the dislodgment of the swine. The melée became general: such a scene of grunting, squeaking, barking, hallooing, and rushing about I never before beheld. It was the work of a few seconds to pick up our guns and give chase. Seven fine pigs had broken cover, and a random shot from one of the party had broken the hind leg of one of them. This slackened his speed, and let in the pack, running, with bristles up, for his blood, consisting of old Pilot leading, and two bull-terriers bringing up the rear. Away went the wounded boar, and after him we all charged as well as we could for about half-an-hour through the tangled intricacies of the "diddle-dee." At length he turned to bay, as he posted his back under the lee of a heavy stone, and seemed resolved to die game, if die he must; so, showing a famous pair of ivory tusks, he made a charge at the dogs, which were in the act of pinning him, rolling them all over. However, a second ball from my rifle through his head put a stop to his intended mischief, and saved the destruction of our little pack. This species of amusement seemed not only to have animated us, but to have instilled a thirst for blood into our canine attendants, who were not content with the pleasures which sporting in the day-time afforded them, but actually waged war on their own account, after night had set in, against the animals which came in their way; and one morning they were discovered devouring a wild deer which they had hunted into a bog and killed, not a quarter of a mile from the tent.

We were now ordered away to another of these islands, which at first seemed a sad grief to us, as we had hoped to have stayed a few days longer to prosecute our war against the boars. However, we were eventually compensated for any disappointment, we had experienced in being obliged to leave Hog Island. We knew that wild cattle abounded here, and it was necessary to procure beef for the ship; so we landed fifty men under the command of myself, aided and assisted by six other officers. Upon our landing we marched inland about two miles, when we observed by unmistakeable symptoms that the wild cattle had very recently occupied the very place where we then stood. We held a council of war, when it was decided to divide our forces into three-the centre composed of twenty men and two mids, under my command; the right under another officer, who had twelve men and the gunner, who was a good shot; the left was commanded by another lieutenant and eight men. There was also a picked body of men stationed in ambush, to shoot any stray beast that might present itself. The two parties composing the right and left took ground, and when distant from the centre about half a mile we all moved on up the side of a hill, when we had crowned which the herd were in view, feeding in a valley below, and stretching partly up the opposite hill. The sentry, an old bull, gave the alarm, and immediately five or six patriarchal old gentlemen stood in front of their charge, tearing and tossing up the turf most

foundland dog, which he always took with him; and after it was dark, the foxes, with which animals the islands abound, had used to come down and pay Mr. Pilot a visit. I suppose he had a natural antipathy to the whole race, let their sex be what it would; for he used to lie very still until they were within reach of his chain, and then pounce out upon them and shake them to death. We also shot a great many. They are very large, and handsome in colour, but more silvery about the neck and breast than the English fox. It has often been disputed whether the fox will breed with the domestic dog; and I have no hesitation in saying that, as far as the inclination of the fox was concerned, they would, for the bitch-foxes undoubtedly came with the intent of making overtures of an amorous nature to Pilot, laying their ears and frisking round him in a most "insinivating" manner; but he rejected all their addresses, and not unfrequently repaid their tender kindness by a grip across the back that finished their career. I frequently amused myself by watching these manœuvres from the tent by moonlight. On one of these open-boat trips we accidentally came upon a quantity of seals breeding, of that description known as the sea-elephant and lion. They are very savage when hard pressed, and when intercepted from the water will charge ferociously, and with their flippers cast large quantities of stones and gravel at you, so as to hurt you exceedingly and nearly blind you. They will not unfrequently carry away three or four rifle-balls, and bleed to death under water. We shot one, and captured a young one, which lived some time on board, and then was presented with his liberty, owing to his growing too large and most insufferably dirty. A man belonging to a party which preceded us a year, whilst walking leisurely along the shore, amongst the long grass which grows in places to the high-water mark, was surprised by a male seal of immense size, sitting on a kind of terrace just above him. On viewing the beast's head, with wide staring eyes and grinning tusks, he became perfectly paralyzed; and the seal, opening his mouth, seized him by the scalp, and bit his head half off. You can judge how capable these animals are of doing even more than this, from the jaw-bone and teeth I gave you.

Having arrived at Falkland Sound, we anchored off Swan Island, which is close to Hog Island. Here we landed to see if the islands merited their names. There were plenty of hogs on Hog Island, but we saw no swans; perhaps it was not the season of the year for these birds to visit the locality. These hogs came there in the first place from a yankee whaler which was wrecked on the coast, and her stock of pigs escaped and were unmolested for some years, during which time they bred plentifully, and now afford capital sport and make excellent pork. Hog Island was covered with long dry grass when I was there, and made a very good shelter, with the "diddledee," for the half-wild animals that inhabited the place. Upon one occasion we had been out "boar-hunting" for several hours without success, and at last, wearied with our walk, sat down to regale ourselves, and roast some wild-fowl which we had shot. For this purpose we lighted a fire on the lee side of the island, without thinking for a moment that any ill consequence would ensue. The wind, however, blew the lighted grass inland, and thus set fire to the whole

ground. Whenever the fire blazed up, the long grass carried it on by the help of the wind; and in a few minutes the half of the island was in a blaze, so rapidly did the fearful element spread itself. We looked perfectly bewildered at each other for some time, when, to our unspeakable joy and great surprise, the fire had effected what we had in vain attempted-namely, the dislodgment of the swine. The melée became general: such a scene of grunting, squeaking, barking, hallooing, and rushing about I never before beheld. It was the work of a few seconds to pick up our guns and give chase. Seven fine pigs had broken cover, and a random shot from one of the party had broken the hind leg of one of them. This slackened his speed, and let in the pack, running, with bristles up, for his blood, consisting of old Pilot leading, and two bull-terriers bringing up the rear. Away went the wounded boar, and after him we all charged as well as we could for about half-an-hour through the tangled intricacies of the "diddle-dee." At length he turned to bay, as he posted his back under the lee of a heavy stone, and seemed resolved to die game, if die he must; so, showing a famous pair of ivory tusks, he made a charge at the dogs, which were in the act of pinning him, rolling them all over. However, a second ball from my rifle through his head put a stop to his intended mischief, and saved the destruction of our little pack. This species of amusement seemed not only to have animated us, but to have instilled a thirst for blood into our canine attendants, who were not content with the pleasures which sporting in the day-time afforded them, but actually waged war on their own account, after night had set in, against the animals which came in their way; and one morning they were discovered devouring a wild deer which they had hunted into a bog and killed, not a quarter of a mile from the tent.

We were now ordered away to another of these islands, which at first seemed a sad grief to us, as we had hoped to have stayed a few days longer to prosecute our war against the boars. However, we were eventually compensated for any disappointment, we had experienced in being obliged to leave Hog Island. We knew that wild cattle abounded here, and it was necessary to procure beef for the ship; so we landed fifty men under the command of myself, aided and assisted by six other officers. Upon our landing we marched inland about two miles, when we observed by unmistakeable symptoms that the wild cattle had very recently occupied the very place where we then stood. We held a council of war, when it was decided to divide our forces into three-the centre composed of twenty men and two mids, under my command; the right under another officer, who had twelve men and the gunner, who was a good shot; the left was commanded by another lieutenant and eight men. There was also a picked body of men stationed in ambush, to shoot any stray beast that might present itself. The two parties composing the right and left took ground, and when distant from the centre about half a mile we all moved on up the side of a hill, when we had crowned which the herd were in view, feeding in a valley below, and stretching partly up the opposite hill. The sentry, an old bull, gave the alarm, and immediately five or six patriarchal old gentlemen stood in front of their charge, tearing and tossing up the turf most

viciously. For a short time we were at a loss how to proceed. However, I determined that to separate the herd was our best and safest chance; so I ordered the party on the left to circumvent the hill, and appear on the opposite height. This done, the right advanced down the steep into the valley in a steady, business-like way; and this movement created no small commotion in the ranks of the enemy. They appeared undecided whether to charge us or take to flight; they, however, very soon came to the conclusion that "discretion is the better part of valour," and, allowing prudential considerations to prevail, they decamped down the valley as though "the foul fiend" himself were amongst them. The right wing, perceiving this, charged into the valley, and succeeded in dividing them into two parts, which, as they passed in their hurry between the parties, received the fire prepared for them with right good effect. One great bull, four cows, and two fine calves lay prostrate; and I am sorry to add that several went away wounded, to die at a distance. The astonished herd scampered away over hill and dale, and we saw them no more. Part of the men I left to bleed, skin, and quarter the game; and hastened forward with the remainder to see what had become of the affrighted herd, and to try and kill one or two more of them. And now a ludicrous scene occurred. The sergeant, who had before performed such good service in shooting the bull when it was within ten yards of him, and in the act of charging him with his horns down, stumbled over a half-grown calf in the long grass, which, springing up from its lair, was exaggerated into a second bull. The sudden appearance of this formidable beast quite staggered the man, who fired his gun without any effect; and the poor calf, strange to say, escaped after running the gauntlet of every musket and fowlingpiece in the party. Our success having been perfectly satisfactory, and after having walked about a mile without seeing anything of the herd, I returned to the ship, highly pleased with the day's sport and mine own generalship. The ship now returned to Port Lewis, where we remained for two days, during which time we had some good wild-fowl shooting, and then returned to Rio Janeiro. Thus you see that a sailor's is not such a bad life, after all; for we see many curious sights, and visit many strange places, that you landlubbers have no notion of. We certainly have our share of fun; nevertheless, we earn it when we are at sea, buffeted about, and where "the winds of heaven visit" our faces far "too roughly."

(To be continued.)