put in at morning and taken up at evening, and the day whiled away along the banks of the river, or amid the thickets and groves upon the margin. But when one means mischief in trimmering, the lines are to be looked at every hour, and then there is quite as much to do as any two can wish for, or even three accomplish.

I always felt the height of enjoyment in a good day's trimmering, and, in fact, prefer it in its season to trolling. There is the casting to begin with; and although it is now many a year since I first essayed to throw the bullets at once into a ring, and then to fit any hole among the weeds, the art itself has not lost one jot of its fascination, though I have bid farewell to the first and boyish feelings of pride in its accomplishment. Then come the cutting of the holes and setting of the trimmers. A man who is fond of the sport soon knows the river as well-its deeps and shallows, weeds and gravels, currents and lulls-as the forester knows every hazel bush and spreading tree, or the gunner of the marshes every fresh or shoal. This it is that fills his mind, and directs where the holes are to be cut or the bullets dropped down; a trimmer to be left at the first ozier-bed, or two on each side "the old boat-house pits." Next comes "the taking up"-the anxiety from seeing the rollers drawn across the river-the line as taut as a tight-rope-up the stream; a heavy splash twenty yards off, as the boat approaches the hole; and by and bye, after many an effort to take him safely in, a fish of 16lbs. in the boat-peck.

From the little that has been done in the spring, I have no doubt that such will be the case this season, and that '45 will rank one of the best in the trimmerer's journal for many a year.

June, 1845.

ON THE GAME LAWS, SHOOTING, &c.

BY CECIL.

Through the various paths of this chequered life it is observable that as man, in his strenuous endeavours to approach perfection, improves upon the management of his ancestors, something transpires to check his progress, and so far to disappoint his expectations. This is observable, in many instances, in the field. Since the invention of the comparatively unerring detonator, various trifling causes have combined to retard the murderous properties which, in skilful hands, that deadly weapon is calculated to wield. In fact, had all things remained in the same state as they were prior to the improvement in fowling-pieces, the various tribes of game would by this time have

been nearly annihilated. I am just old enough to remember the common use of the old-fashioned flint and steel, and can perfectly recollect the very different condition of the land upon which game (especially partridges) was then found. You entered a wheat-stubble which was nearly up to your knees, and the bottom was a thick mat of grass and weeds. This afforded good shelter for the birds, and they would, in the early part of the season, lie close, and wait for your approach; your dog having previously found them without being perplexed by their having run perhaps a quarter of a mile. But now it is very different: you find the same number of corn-fields, or rather stubbles, in such on altered garb, that a man who had been absent during the last twenty years would be, in all probability, so much in doubt as to exclaim, "What grain has been growing here!" The stubble is scarcely higher than your shoes; and such has been the advance in agricultural science, that scarcely a weed is to be seen, certainly nothing to present shelter for game; and the moment you enter the field, away flies the covey to some distant spot, or, if not disposed to take wing, they run to the farther extremity, and probably through the next fence. How marvellously, therefore, are your canine attendants puzzled, finding upon the game at the place where it has lodged, and soon discovering by the scent that it has moved; unless very steady indeed, the dogs begin to draw in the direction it has taken; or, if the dog who found them should remain at his point till the approach of his master, not finding any thing before him, he makes a cast as if the birds had taken wing; again he gets upon the scent, and is again deceived; and this repeated probably two or three times, the birds are either lost or flushed, without the possibility of obtaining a shot. Turnips, high grass, or potatoes, present the principal shelter; and even the former of these are very different to what they were in days of yore. On most well-conducted farms they are planted on ridges, along which the birds will run at an amazing pace; and thus the shooter and his dogs are baffled in the most perplexing

manner.

The natural wildness of the birds is thus increased, and, as a matter of course, the more frequently they are disturbed, the wilder they will become: it is therefore of the greatest importance that they should be kept quiet, and the molestations of cur-dogs and similar nuisances most scrupulously guarded against. These circumstances cause birds to be constantly on the watch, and consequently the opportunities of approaching them within range of shot is wonderfully diminished. Whoever attempts to lay down invariable rules where and how game is to be found will, in practice, find themselves egregiously disappointed. Partridges, in particular, are very capricious in their habits; change of weather, the proportion of food, the circumstance of their having been disturbed, and other causes which are not easily accounted for, will often induce them to resort to places and situations in which they are not usually found. This subject does not often engross the attention of the owner of an extensive and well-preserved manor, where he is sure to find plenty of game somewhere or other; but to those whose limits are confined, or the game is not very plen

tiful, it is an object of some consequence. No one would think of beating a fallow field, or one sown with wheat, in October or November, under an impression that he could obtain a shot; but I have very frequently found coveys in such situations, and, having marked them down where shelter was more propitious, have succeeded in my object. Having tried the most usual places unsuccessfully, it is a recourse perfectly justifiable to run the dogs over other ground; particularly if you are convinced there are birds in the neighbourhood. One reason may be assigned for partridges leaving an accustomed situation it is that they have been so often disturbed from their usual haunts, that they naturally endeavour to seek some place of peace and security.

:

In the commencement of the season, turnips and potatoes are the most likely places to find them in during the early part of the day; after which they usually seek the corn-stubbles-that is, towards four o'clock in the afternoon. If found basking in such situations, unless you come upon them very suddenly, they will generally run down the ridges; to obviate which in some measure, it is desirable to encourage the dogs to beat across them as much as possible. The middle or side of a corn-field is a very usual place of resort, and is no doubt selected as being most capable of observation, and to enable the birds to watch with greater certainty: these habits are, doubtless, acquired from experience. Nevertheless, they will sometimes be met with in the corners of fields, if such sites present attractive shelter, and are more commonly resorted to in turnip or potato-fields than in cornstubbles. They may also sometimes be found under the warm shelter of a hedge-row in windy weather, on which occasion they will frequently rise singly; but it requires a very steady, experienced old dog to find them they will lay so close that they are beaten over, and then rise when you have passed by them. The most certain way to get at them is for an attendant to beat with a stick, when, if there be two guns, by taking each side of the hedge the great probability is that one will obtain a shot. Brambles, fern, and long grass, are not now usually found in the borders of hedge-rows on highly-cultivated farms; but when they are, they present most attractive resorts. Partridges will also shelter themselves in dry ditches, which are covered with briers and other rubbish; they are difficult to find in them, as setters and pointers cannot, in general, make any progress along them; indeed, if they could, they would in general be out of sight: a wellbehaved spaniel is the best kind of dog for this purpose, and, if properly broke, is a most serviceable companion.

During the early part of the season, pheasants are commonly found in the open, especially under the shelter of thick hedge-rows, where, upon being found, they will often run a considerable distance, not unfrequently threading the hedge, by which the best dog on earth is sure to be puzzled. All cock pheasants will sometimes take straight across a field, and thus unseen escape; but, when two persons are shooting in company, the most effectual plan is for one to beat up the opposite side of the hedge to the other; the game must then either run the length of the fence or take wing, although

on

they will not all occasions rise even at the termination of the hedge. I have known them travel from one field to another without any chance of inducing them to present their beautiful plumage to the fowling-piece; in fact, it is their very general practice to run some distance before they will spring, even in covert. As the season advances, they take more constantly to the woods, where the usual method now adopted is that of forming battue-parties, and besiege the game of all descriptions which may be found therein after the manner of an enemy levying devastation on the inhabitants of a fallen city.

Among those objects of the sportsman's attention which have changed less in their habits than any other, are woodcocks and snipes. This is easily explained: they are wilder in nature than pheasants and partridges; their haunts are farther from the habitation of mankind; they seek the woods and marshy spots; are here to-day, and no one knows where to-morrow. They are not in any degree dependent upon man for their sustenance, neither is it possible, that I am aware of, to place food of any kind within their reach; if it were, it might be a means of rendering considerable attraction to certain spots. I apprehend it is in search of their food that they are induced to ramble, and are consequently so uncertain to find. Having arrived at a covert, either not meeting with a supply of food, or the quantity being short and quickly consumed, they find it necessary to depart in search of some more propitious spot. This appears to me to be the most rational way of accounting for their constant wanderings. In beating for woodcocks, a knowledge of the place to which they resort is of great assistance, as they are for the most part found very near the same spot. The vicinity of the wet soaks, or springs, are the most usual; especially during frost, when the ground in other parts is too hard to permit of their obtaining any sustenance. By going directly to those situations, and afterwards beating the covert throughout, should the object of pursuit not be found without, much time and labour may be saved. This is, in my opinion, the most interesting and exciting description of shooting which our island boasts of; especially if it be followed in the correct and legitimate way, with a clever team of well-broke spaniels. They are, however, difficult to meet with, and require much time and labour to bring under proper subjection. If they range too wide, they will flush their game beyond the range of the gun; and, if they are to be perpetually called to, the game will be continually disturbed, and run off before found, as in covert-shooting various other species may be sought for besides woodcocks: indeed, it is the diversity of those birds (pheasants), hares, and rabbits, that renders this kind of shooting so superlatively interesting. The most sportsmanlike and agreeable party that can be formed for this purpose is two or three guns-not more-and two beaters. That number of the latter are indispensable; but when the party is composed of half the rabble from the village, I must confess it does not coincide with my ideas of sport. It may be argued that, under such a course, more game may be brought to bag if pot-hunting be the incentive. I admit the efficacy of the plan; but, if sport be

the object, it cannot be had without the assistance of the canine race. In small coverts, thickly stocked with pheasants, it is very certain that many will get away without a chance of being shot at; but then they may be found again in the adjacent fields and hedge-rows, where the science and sagacity of the setter or pointer are most beautifully applied. In some instances, where the covert is on the outskirts of the manor, and the game which escapes cannot be followed, there may be some excuse for employing biped beaters; but they should be accompanied by a good steady old setter and a retriever.

(To be continued.)

NOTITIA VENATICA.

BY R. T. VYNER, ESQ.

We will now suppose the new entry to be recovered from the effects of the distemper, to have learnt to answer to their names in the kennel, and to have begun to go daily to horse exercise along the neighbouring roads, the wild ones in couples, the rest with a pr. buckled double on their necks, being occasionally taken for an hour at a time amongst sheep and cattle, in which way they must be employed until within a month of cub-hunting, when they may be taken every morning by themselves into a deer-park, or amongst hares. When this part of their education commences, they should be cross-coupled, and if they show any inclination to riot they should be severely chastised. In the course of three or four days they will be so accustomed to them, that they may be trusted amongst them without being coupled, taking care to enlarge only a few at a time; they may then be taken out with the old hounds, and thus exercised for about eight or nine hours each morning till the cub-hunting commences. With regard to showing the young hounds hares previous to entering them, huntsmen differ widely in opinion; it is the custom with some to show them riot almost daily for many weeks previous to cub-hunting-flogging them most severely for attempting to chase. Charles King, who lived so many years with Lord Althorp (now Earl Spencer), acted in quite a different way: his opinion was that it was not only useless, but that it tended considerably to dispirit and spoil young hounds, to awe them too much from riot before they were well entered and blooded; and with the exception of showing them deer in Althorp Park a few times (although the kennel was close to it), and two or three times finding a few sitting hares, to teach them to know the meaning of a rate, they were not broken from riot, until after they had killed two or three brace of foxes from the Brigstock