NOTES OF A SPORTING RAMBLE IN THE NORTH OF GERMANY.

MY DEAR FRIEND.

As you visited this country some years ago, I think it probable you will be glad to hear some account of many of those German sportsmen with whom you were acquainted, and of whose hospitality you partook; and I can assure you, my experience of the hospitable friendship with which the Mecklenburg magnates receive a brother sportsman, proves, beyond contradiction, that they are in no degree fallen off since your days, either in ability, or inclination to merit the gratitude of strangers.

Before however I get the length of Mecklenburg, I should like to give you a peep at the Harz. No one who ever visited Brunswick has failed to acknowledge the distinguished courtesy of its Duke. His palace, stabies, horses, and breeding hara, and his princely table, at which he presides, with mingled condescension and socia bility, you have seen and appreciated; but I do not think you have ever seen the splendid chateau de chasse of Blankenburg, in the Harz. His highness did me the honour to invite me for ten days, in the middle of October, to join him there and a shooting party of about twenty-four sportsmen. The castle is very large, and has a most imposing appearance, being built on a very high hill, which rises precipitously from the small town of Blankenburg, giving to the castle a peculiarly feudal character-the carriage approach is excellent, though very steep, and certainly no treat to tired posters; you may form some idea of the size of the castle, when I say that all the guests and their servants were lodged in it, each having two rooms for his separate use. We had here a "chasse" of four days' duration of wild boar, and red deer, the three other days roe and hares. For both sorts of shooting the sportsmen were stationed abont sixty yards asunder, in a sort of semi-circle, and the beaters, in number about three hundred, drove the game towards the guns. Most gentlemen have two guns, and a chasseur or servant to load, I think there were about one hundred and fifty wild boars, roe deer, and stags killed in the four days, and probably six or seven hundred hares. There were also a good many unhappy foxes killed, but not so many as usual, a disappointment which I bore more tranquilly than most of my friends. Altogether I spent a very pleasant ten days, and certainly the courtesy and kindness of the Duke could scarcely be exceeded.

From Blankenburg I proceeded by Hanover, towards Mecklenburg, and wishing to take the shortest route, in defiance of better counsel, I went through Lunenburg, and crossed the Elbe by a ferry, to go

direct to Ratzbourg; but I advise you, as an old friend, never to think of a short cut in the north of Germany, for no imagination can paint the horrors of the cross roads there ;-do not allow yourself to be decoyed by the appearance of a broad road, or by the bugle at post stations, to mark them as such on the carte de routes. After September, I pronounce the country roads to be impracticable, and that patient old martyr, Job, would have sunk under the suffering. It is in vain to urge the postillions,-fruitless to bribe them,-needless to swear at them. They are willing, and their horses, though slow, are good and willing also, but steam itself could not force a carriage through a ploughed field, studded with huge granite rocks, and only varied by pits nearly deep enough to swallow up both horses and carriage. In short, for the future I determined to travel by the macadamized, or paved, chaussée, at whatever sacrifice of distance.

I staid several days at Zierow, with Baron Biel, a most agreeable, comfortable, and thoroughly English house. I found him in great force in the stable department, and saw a capital set of (I think) fourteen English brood mares in their paddocks, all apparently as they "should be," and some of them already the dams of good winners here, and in England. Baron Biel was, like myself, engaged to Count Hahn for the opening of the German hunting season, and we travelled together to Schloss Basedow. At Varine, a small town about half way, he showed me his racing establishment. Barons Malzahn and Biel are confederates, and train their horses there, under the direction of an English trainer; the ground (a sandy soil) is dry and hilly, without being hard at any season. There were about fifteen or sixteen twoyear-olds in gentle work, and a fair proportion of yearlings breaking, The whole arrangement seemed as if the proprietors knew what they about, and the number of cups and purses which I saw at their houses, proved that Messrs. Biel and Malzahn draw their full share of prizes in the chances of the German turf. When I say purses, I refer to a singular custom of the country, which requires that the stakes which are always in double louis d'ors, be paid to the winner, in a neat silver case, having their value, and the name of the winning horse, together with the date engraved thereon-these cases are kept as agreeable souvenirs, frequently long after the departure of their contents.

We found the route to Count Hahn's much too long for one day, and were glad to sleep at Güstrow, where a race meeting is held about the middle of May, which is, I believe," the Spring Meeting" of Mecklenburg, and is also very numerously attended by the lovers and patrons of agricultural improvement, for there are at the same time shows and prizes for superiority in farming implements, stock, &c. But whatever charms or cheerfulness Güstrow may possess in May, I found none there in November, and therefore Schloss Basedow was indeed a joyful sight to me.

The 3rd of November, the Fête of St. Hubert, is looked forward to by all keen German hunters as is the first meet at Kirby gate of the Meltonians. They are both days often more distinguished for show than sport.

The weather, previously cold and stormy, gave place on St. Hubert's Feast, to as fine a morning as could be desired; and the day was ushered in by bands of brass instruments parading around the château. The place of meeting was the great court of the Schloss; the hour, eleven. Precisely then, at that hour, the huntsman, attended by his two whips as piqueurs, smartly dressed in new coats of bright yellow plush, and the most correct leathers and boots, brought their pack into court, and on their well tuned hunting horns executed numerous stirring airs-Meanwhile, the gentlemen all in scarlet, and many really most creditably turned out, even in the difficult department of leather unmentionables, were crowding in; but being myself in nowise prepared for such a classical toilette, and feeling my own deficiencies, I crept into a corner to observe what was far more interesting to me, how the ladies would appear. Three caleches, each with six horses, drew up successively to the door of the castle, and were immediately occupied by the fair guests. Then came a beautiful little empty carriage, drawn by two thorough bred horses, and driven by a light postillion, and after this, two horses with side saddles, which were mounted in an instant by two of the most charming and graceful amazons, clad in well-fitting scarlet. Count Hahn's four children were not the least interesting group of the party, each mounted on a donkey, with scarlet housings, and led by a groom. The cavalcade left the court, the ladies escorted by about thirty well mounted cavaliers, and followed by their grooms; the hounds and piqueurs proceeding in front.

As the procession entered the village, a troop of twenty-five or thirty young girls, after presenting wreaths to the countess, walked in front of her sister and herself, singing a hunting chorus in honour of St. Hubert, the words of which I was told were very creditable to the poetical vein of their sylvan author.

Truth however compels me to acknowledge that with all this preparation and display, the chase was but a timid hare. I should hardly say little, for a German hare is enormous, often weighing fifteen pounds.

The day remained fine, and every one was happy,-Countess Hahn, and her sister, Countess Mathilde, after the first hare, being tired, I suppose, got into their phaeton; and how their postillion managed, I know not, but certainly over ditch and brake they flew, and as I have formerly seen Lady Wilton in Leicestershire, appeared generally better placed than most of the red coats (please to observe that my coat was an old dingy brown one!). St. Hubert's day finished off well with one of the most superb dinners I ever assisted at, and if the saint himself

be as enthusiastic an admirer of good cheer, as he is reported to have been of hunting, he must have looked down from, I suppose heaven, with singular complacency. The party consisted of sixty, and the room had an extremely novel and pleasing appearance, being decorated with large exotic plants, and fine orange trees; whilst a fountain which played perpetually, nearly to the ceiling, made us suppose ourselves as cool as so large a party could well be. The harmony of the feast was kept up by a very effective band of musicians, who were afterwards brought into play in a still more prominent manner, for a ball succeeded our feast, and well and long was the merry dance kept up, in the shape of galops, waltzes, mazurkas, and palkas, the mysteries of which English legs are totally incapable of penetrating, without the initiation of a residence in Germany.

Throughout the whole week there was no cessation of sporting and revelry. Many guests came from the neighbourhood besides the multitude in the Schloss, and these mutually assisted in keeping the game alive, so that hunting, coursing, wild boar and stag shooting, and steeple-chasing, succeeded one another each day, finished off by a ball every night. In fact such was the general excitement that I had some difficulty in getting the count to find leisure to let me see his racing and breeding stud. The hunting establishment, I was well acquainted with, as the count mounted me and many others daily on horses that I should like to have ridden in the green fields elsewhere, and Baron Biel had also some capital nags in the hunting line. The stables at Count Hahn's are the handsomest I ever saw in any country-they form a very ornamental building, about a hundred yards from the Schloss. They are built in a square, the façade containing on each side of a centre porch, a double stable upwards of thirty feet high, and each containing forty well filled stalls. From the mangers about six feet upwards the walls are inlaid with handsome green china tiles. Beyond each stable are eight loose boxes, and over these are, on one side, the apartments of the over stallmeister, and on the other those of the head groom and trainer. The rest of the square is occupied by a very fine riding school, with boxes and stables for yearlings, and horses in training. About two hundred yards beyond are the paddocks, in which were twenty-three brood mares, four by Whalebone, and four by Sultan, the others by sires of the first character, and all purchased in England. I also saw Grey Momus and Gondolier, but the count had this year put most of his mares to the Grey.

After passing ten days here as agreeably as you can imagine, I reluctantly bade adieu to my kind friends and made my way to Cummerow, where Baron Maltzahn received us with true Mecklenburgh hospitality. He seemed well pleased to find that I had seen his racing stables at Varine, and showed us at home a very splendid

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lot of thirteen brood mares and their foals of the year-also Bloomsbury, whom he had lately brought over, and old Gustavus, who looks as fresh in the legs as ever.

The day following my arrival the baron took me to visit his brotherin-law, Count Plessin, who is, I believe, one of the oldest sportsmen in Germany. He has a pack of fox-hounds which, in the two days I hunted with them, seemed to do their work well, and notwithstanding most tempestuous weather they each day killed their fox. The count told me that his father and grandfather had always kept a pack of foxhounds, and that the huntsman, who seemed a quick fellow, was great grandson of the original huntsman of the original pack.

Ivenach is a very fine old place, having some of the largest oaks I ever saw in the park. There is a magnificent lake close to the house. I know no country where there are finer lakes or finer woods than in Mecklenburg. The country is flat, and principally in grass. The manner of living at Count Plessin's was quite in the Basedow style, and Ivenach was still full of sportsmen assembled there for the Fête of St. Hubert. Count Plessin, like his brothers and neighbours, is a great supporter of the turf, and has generally great success. He told me that this year he has gained upwards of 20,000 dollars in stakes, which ought to pay his expenses and leave a good profit, a consummation which few turfites can boast of. He had sixteen or eighteen well-bred brood mares, with Prince Llewellyn, Zany, and North Star,

as sires.

Ivenach was my last halt, and I left the Count and Countess with a grateful sense of their hospitable attention, and having taken leave of all my Mecklenburgh friends, I shall now say good bye to you also, Brother Sportsmen.

M. W.

SPORTS IN THE FAR WEST.

"YESTERDAY (says the Little Rock Gazette, of the 27th August),

two of our antiques went out to the Fourche Bar, just below town, and killed 900 pigeons at 15 shots. This may seem rather a tall one, but the Bar was densely covered with pigeons, and it was so foggy immediately above and below the Bar, that the pigeons could not see their destroyers, until within the very jaws of destruction."

BIGGER YET.-A pike was taken at Bellows Fall last week, weighing eighteen pounds and three quarters;-it took two men to pull him out, and ever so many more to hold him down-we mean,-to eat him. -New Hampshire National Eagle.