have as much to do on the morrow as our bodies could stand; and as it was wearing late in the day, we would take what conveyance we could meet with. Accordingly we sallied forth, leaving behind us my gamekeeper, who had for his companions our dogs. After a tedious hunt through the hamlet (or town, as it calls itself), we found that no option was left us, and that, if we wanted to reach our destination that night, we must travel à pieds, as there was not to be found in the whole place a vehicle steady enough to convey with any ease our already wearied bones over such roads as the Highlands of Scotland afford. Again we held a consultation, at which, after many arguments pro and con, it was finally determined that we should set forth then. Neither of us had been upon these moors before; so we had the pleasing thought before us, that there was a cottage for our mansion; but where it was we knew about as well as our dogs.

Well, we set out upon our walk, and had proceeded about five miles, when one of the mists, for which Scotch mountains are proverbial, came upon us so suddenly that we had to walk, like the "babes in the wood," hand-in-hand, for fear of losing ourselves. But so thick was the mist, and so bad and difficult to find was the road (which quite bore out the bard that sung

"The way was long, the wind was cold, ")

that, though we did not quite lose ourselves, we entirely lost our way; and had wandered some considerable distance, when, having lost our tempers at such an untoward event happening at so critical a time, we determined to turn into our domicile, for that night at least—a shed upon which we suddenly came. Wet and weary, we were glad of this, lowly as it was; and entering, we divested ourselves of our wet stockings, &c., replacing them by dry ones, which we had taken the precaution to provide ourselves with before starting; and plied ourselves to the brandy-flask, to prevent evil consequences. We discovered, too, that it was eleven o'clock; so, expecting a hard day on the morrow, we rolled ourselves in our trusty plaids, and I, for my part, was fast asleep in a very short time. W- -e, I found on inquiry the next morning, had slept scarcely less sound, for he, like myself, had been somewhat " done up" by our walk on the previous night. Applying again to our brandy-bottle, whose contents, eked out with a few hard biscuits, we were compelled to breakfast upon (or rather, what we thought would be our breakfast), we continued our walk. We could not have gone much more than three miles, when we fell upon the very cottage which was destined to be our abode during our stay upon this wilderness of a moor. Our joy was not a little alloyed by our chagrin at our having spent the night where we did, when less than an hour's walk would have deposited us in our proper quarters.

But here we were at half-past six in the morning, with what was likely to prove a good day for shooting before us, very hungry, and rather head-achy, for our scanty fare of yesterday had by no means kept the "vapours" out of our bodies; but in the basket of provisions which a boy had brought upon a Shetland pony from Fort William, we discovered a very fine piece of beef, to which we applied ourselves in

good earnest. This completed, we went out, and bought a sheep from a farmer, who bargained to have it slaughtered for us.

If any are interested in this (and it does not profess, believe me, to assume any higher than a narrative of facts), they may not, perhaps, find a description of this cottage in which we were to dwell uninteresting. One room formed our parlour, kitchen, larder, and scullery; and there was another, much smaller, the only approach to which was through the larger. Then, adjoining the cottage was a small shed, which, with a little covering, served as a kennel for our dogs. In the larger of the two rooms myself and friend took up our abode, having for a companion (but as far removed as possibly could be) the carcass of this sheep which we had bought; and the smaller we appropriated to the use of our ganıekeeper and the boy. On surveying our comforts (for even old sportsmen are fond of that commodity), we discovered that we were deficient, wanting one which perhaps was more a necessary than comfort-we had no beds! and the clayey floor of a Highland cabin is by no means a pleasant couch, as he who has experienced it can bear me witness. Well, what was to be done? We were twelve miles from any town, and then little chance of being able to meet with what we wanted; and e'en now

"Suasit placidos nox humida somnos,"

slumbers which our wearied bodies most certainly cried out for. We determined to pass that night in our plaids, upon a little dried heather, and in the morning to send our boy on the pony to Fort William, to procure some pallets (if he could), and an extra plaid or two. Morning came, and with it very heavy rain; and we were obliged to keep within the hut. The lad returned from the town about two in the afternoon; and glad were we to discover that his search had not been in vain. As it cleared up then, we determined not to go on the moor that day, but to a little stream which ran hard by (for I call myself a votary of that old hero-Izaak Walton). We succeeded in taking a few nice though small trout, which, with the black cocks we had killed the previous day, made us a substantial supper. It is needless to trace our proceedings any farther; and perhaps the patience of my reader is worn through already, and exclaims: "What a stupid article!" Suffice it to say, we spent a fortnight very pleasantly in shooting and fishing, which even the hardness of our pallets, despite the heather, and rudeness of our fare and general mode of living, could not alloy.

Afterwards we went into Lincolnshire, where we succeeded in killing 180 brace of partridges in one week.

T.

FLOREAT ETONA.

BY AN OLD ETONIAN.

FRAGMENT I.

[Continued from page 418, Vol. IX.]

The castle of Donkeythorn, with its few adjoining acres, was the only remnant of what had once been a fine property, extending over a space of many leagues, belonging to the Donkeythorn family. Each Duke, as he succeeded to his patrimony, managed to curtail instead of ENtail it a little; each had some hobby or mania, which tended in no small degree to diminish the rent-roll. The first had a mechanical turn, and tried various means to discover the art of making man a flying animal; and even went so far as to establish "The Grand Aërostatic Society-Capital, Twenty Thousand Pounds." Numbers of gentlemen (but unfortunately coming under the genus of men of straw) were too happy to become members, and perfectly coincided with the Duke's views, as they very well knew their lordly president would have to stand the brunt did a failure occur. After having managed to break one man's arm and another's leg, they contrived to break themselves; and when the books were examined, heavy sums were on the Dr. side, while on the credit page NOTHING seemed to be the prevailing word. The Duke being the only responsible party, he had to pay all the expenses, and part of the unentailed property must be sold; and so on, Duke succeeding Duke spend the hordes of their ancestors. The one preceding the present owner had most wantonly encumbered the estate, by giving fetes, balls, and parties, both in town and country, while the present Duke was bent upon electioneering; and the Marquis! his son's chief delight was in thorough. breds, a good Melton stud, and shooting, in the propagation of which he spared neither care nor expense.

Besides the Marquis, there were five daughters who had run successively the gauntlet of more than one London season, all unhappily without success; for they all remained in that blessed state called virginity. The three eldest had begun to forswear the pomps and vanities of a London life. They patronised the Reverend Gowl Thunderer, distributed his tracts, founded a school on the Chesterfieldian plan, which caused little clod-crushers to become disciples of that famous mannerist; besides which they were taught that England was an island, and America a quarter of the globe, while the weightier matters of digging and writing were neglected. The young ladies also wrote articles for the "Evangelical Reformer's Magazine," edited by Mr. Gowl Thunderer; together with pamphlets purporting to be the thoughts of the little busy bee-curious thoughts verytogether with making card-racks, pincushions, and a hundred other

things, all having in reality this one object in view, namely, the keeping of Mr. Thunderer in comfort and idleness.

It was a night or two subsequently to the election that the Duke of Donkeythorne and his son were seated over their port and olives, the ladies having retired to the drawing-room.

"My pamphlet did not take well," began the Marquis of Brandybottle," although I gave Shatzscatsky twenty guineas to make it one of his finest productions; and as he wrote that speech of Lord Chatles W- -'s, which went down so well in the House of Lords last year, I surely thought he could produce a composition that would suit the limited capacities of the honest people of Hookey Snivem. I told him to be so particular about it that, although it was only for a set of boors to read, he must write it so that even the cleverest critic extant could not gainsay it; and I called his attention to that main point in all popular and political writings of the present day, namely, consistencies; for it is a rule laid down by our great men, that the substance which you assert in one page must be totally contradicted in the next. But, alas! the stupid fellow did not obey my injunctions; and I am half inclined to think we lost the election through that cursed pamphlet. But, n'importe, I am more fitted for a jockey than an M.P., and could study the Racing Calendar' better than a debate. The upshot of this is, that you must get me some fat sinecure; for, to be candid with you, my present allowance does not near meet my expenses, and my book this year on the Derby is rather heavy; and, if Rattletrap wins, I shall, to use a homely phrase, have kicked over the traces."

"Humph, humph!" said the Duke, having attended but little to the conversation; "too flowery that pamphlet. Humph! a very burlesque on plain speaking. Humph! likely to lose on Rattle-trap, eh! Those that bet in the long run generally lose. Humph! corked bottled of port. Humph! received plenty of advice from me about racing. Advised you, humph! to give up the turf, eschew your sporting friends, and give your heart and mind to your country. Humph! ring the bell, and we will have another bottle of port.'

My dear Frederick," began the Duke as soon as the butler had left the room, "while you were making comments on your pamphlet, Rattletrap, your allowance, and your defeat, I beg your pardon, but I am sorry to say I did not attend to oue word of it: I am thinking of coming events; they have haunted me by day and night. To the election. Our defeat, as you justly observed, is of serious importance: one vote at this critical moment is of unspeakable consequence. The Prince Regent is going to assemble Parliament about November. The dismissal of Lord Fitzwilliam from his lord-lieutenatcy is to be discussed; the murder, as the Whigs call it (and I am sorry to say I consider it but little better) of the never-to-be-forgotten sixteenth, is also to be brought before the House; and, my Lords Grey and Erskine will bring all their talents into play, and endeavour to condemn us before the country: then most likely a general election will follow. The island is in too great a ferment, too much on the side of the Whigs for us to allow (can we but prevent it) such an event to take place. All our energies must be brought forth to dam up this deluge

of an opposition; for, alas! I fear our rule is tottering, and our reign limited; and should we fall, I fear 'twill be some time ere we shall rise again. To frustrate our opponents at this important crisis everything must be sacrificed-self, children, lands, home; but to the point quickly-your sister Sarah is still

"Ah, ah!" said the Marquis, delighted at a loophole to escape from discussing the state of the country, as Lord Grey and Lord Fitzwilliam's deeds were about as interesting to him as the achievements of Rattletrap and the state of the odds had been to his father; "Ah, put Sarah into parliament-petticoat rule? and, as I have heard her argue so learnedly with Warburton on theology, why should she not beat Lord Althorp in a political controversy?"

"Frederick," answered the Duke, "the subject I am about to broach is not to be treated in that light and flippant manner in which you treat most things; I therefore request, my lord, you will give me your deep and undivided attention. Humph! poke the fire, and pass the bottle. Humph! cold night. It is-it-it-is your sister's marriage.'

"Sarah's marriage? Why, I thought Lord Arthur Cole's affair was at an end. Is it again on the tapis?"

"No, Frederick, this is another person. Whew! How cold! poke the fire again. It is-it is-it is-the-the-new member, Mr. -Mr.-Mr. Treacle."

"The new member, Mr. Treacle?" roared the Marquis in accents which pourtrayed no little rage and surprise; "and has he dared to think of such a thing for a moment, much less propose it. Is the noble blood of the Plantagenets to be contaminated by a Liverpool merchant? By-to-morrow I will horsewhip him round the market-place."

"Cool yourself, Frederick; you are young, hot, and rash: cool yourself, my boy. He never made any proposal of the kind. It is a plan of my own."

"Yours? Yours? What! Remember his birth, remember his education, remember his breeding."

"Ah! aristocratic recollections, very," said the Duke;"" and do you remember the levelling days of the French revolution? We are all now nearly on an equality, or fast approaching to it. France has bitten the British Isles. Family?-phish!"

"But, my dear father, it is your own child; her future happiness may depend upon our conclusions to-night. O, hear my prayer. I am thoughtless, I am voluptuous, I am extravagant; but I have feelings, my better spirit has not yet been quite damned in the whirpool of dissipation. Oh, hear me! for not only her blissfulness in this world, but in the next, is now at stake. Consider, and I am sure you must agree with me in repudiating this horrible alliance."

"The eminence to which I have sacrificed my talents, my health, and my wealth is not yet gained," said the Duke; "but I am determined it shall be. Do you think that the gambler, who has staked his fortune and happiness on one filicitous hundred, cares for the fifty pounds he loses at a friendly game? or do you think the strong-headed, false-thinking patriot, who thinks he lives but to free