flushed and captured in the same manner, by flying the hawk over them before putting them up. In these cases the falcon always makes shorter work of it, and secures its prey within a very short distance of the spot from whence it is sprung.

To be continued.)

UP THE PASS."

ENGRAVED BY J. H. ENGLEHEART, FROM A PAINTING BY A. COOPER, R.A.

There's a bit even for the professional tourist with knapsack, sketching book, and all complete. But how much more gratefully it must come to the sportsman, who will long remember that turn in the Pass, and the black cock he bagged there, and although he doesn't put it to paper. Still he too may even have such a thing as a pencil about him.

People who do not understand sportsmen, are apt to set them down as sad Goths, with an eye for nothing but the birds they kill, and the number they count up. Whereas, without descending to the dreadful business of "sight seeing," there are few who more successfully unite two agreeable oceupations. Only recollect what a site they will pick out for luncheon; or how they will dwell, gun in hand, to old Juno's manifest annoyance, on a fresh break in the view, as it turns up in their beat. We have just now an especially good example of this before us. None of those who have read Hawthorne's letters on grouse shooting but will rememember how equally enthusiastic he has ever been in speaking not only of the sport itself, but of the scenery amongst which he has enjoyed it. Long though he may have lived amongst them, the grandeur of the hills never tires in him, and he writes season after season with as keen a relish of his "prospects," as if about for the first time to wind the Grampians of Glencoe. We are once more armed with his letter in anticipation, which carries with it all the authority of coming direct from head-quarters. It is thus Hawthorne advises us :

On Monday, the 11th of July, we took up our quarters for the night at the little village of Cruff, which is close to the foot of the Grampians, and on the following morning, ere the bright orb of day had tipped the mountain tops with his red sheet of gold, we had penetrated many miles over the wild scenery of our native hills. The morning was lovely, with a nice refreshing breeze, and as we gained the summit of a stupendous mountain, we sat down to contemplate the solitudes by which we were surrounded, and the mind naturally went back to the many pleasant days that we have enjoyed among these heath-clad hills. The silence which reigned around gave a pleasing melancholy to the mind; not a sound caught the ear, save the occasional bleat of the mountain goat, or the harsh croak of the raven, towering to the clouds, and eyeing with suspicion the vast solitudes which he deemed invaded by the hostile stranger.

The scene was magnificent: to the west rose the mighty Ben Voirlich, with his deep deep corries, where many a glorious day's sport we have had with the feathery-footed bird of the moors, when our blood was young, and the red grouse as plentiful as blackberries on these old mountains and deep deep glens. Away to the left lay the far-famed forest of Lord Glenartney's-Hazelshade, where

"The antlered monarch of the waste

Sprang from his heathery couch in haste
But ere his fleet career he took,

The dew-drops from his flank he shook,
Like crested leader proud and high,
Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky;
A moment gazed adown the dale,
A moment snuffed the tainted gale,
Then bounding forward free and far
Sought the wild heaths of Uam Var."

Yes, on this far-famed forest, so beautifully described by "The Mighty Minstrel of the North," the red knights of the forest are in prime condition; and the packs of grouse numerous and strong on the the wing. Few, very few, barren birds are to be seen. On the Invergeldy, Glen Turret, Monzie, Glen Almond, and Logie Almond moors, the grouse are to be equally good. Indeed, we may freely say that a better season than the present, as regards grouse, on the front range of the Grampians, has not been known for the past half-dozen years. Still, remember brother sportsmen, that this only relates to moors that have had a sufficient supply of breeding birds left on them. We know, from the very best of authority, that many of our best shootings in the North are very different in game; for where there were few birds left to breed, these grouse shootings are still bare, and will continue so for years to come, if the slaughtering system is kept up, and not a sufficient stock left.

The grouse family, we are aware, has been much on the decrease of late years, and many causes have been assigned for this. Disease among the parent birds has done much to lessen their numbers: but late breeding seasons, and the broods being found on the 12th of August so simple and young, that any one could make a very good bag with a steady old dog and a good stick, have done more for the decrease of the red bird of the moors than anything else. To bring the glory of grouse shooting back to what it used to be, when our blood was young, the opening day should be deferred till the first of September. Indeed, we could name many good sportsmen in these wild mountain lands that do not begin grouse shooting till the last week in August, or first of September, and they have their reward in a good stock of birds; and now that we have had a good breeding season in the present, they will have a most plentiful supply, having left a sufficient stock of old birds on their moors at the end of the past season.

The shootings are mostly occupied, and not many changes have taken place since last season; and with good weather at the 12th, we anticipate a most glorious opening day on the front range of the Grampians. So

"Up, sleeper! dreamer, up; for now

There's muirfowl on yon mountain brow."

Of all animals coming under the denomination of "cattle," the horse properly ranks first.

Buffon well says that he possesses along with grandeur of stature the greatest elegance and proportion of parts of all quadrupeds: and to see him in his wild state in the prairies, where he is without control, must be grand indeed.

"His head, now freed, he tosses to the skies;
His mane dishevelled o'er his shoulders flies;
He snuffs the females in the distant plain,
And springs exulting to the fields again."

Scripture, as we know, makes frequent allusion to the horse, and the strength of the horse is repeatedly mentioned therein, as it is by the bards of old.

"he beats the trembling ground,"

says old Homer; whilst Job says, "He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength." And verily his strength is great : did he but know it, few of us could control him; but with bit and bridle and gentle means we make him go where we desire. I have particularly noticed gentle means for all roughness and harshness is as unnecessary and as much out of place in the treatment of a horse as a child. The Arab well knows this; and experience has taught him, that his horse may be as companionable as his dog.

Most of our readers are doubtless aware that the Arab horse lives in the same tent as his master, the children lie close to him without experiencing injury, and he is in every way part of the domestic circle. Surely this is a system more to be admired than the one we pursue, where the animal's education commences with rough treatment. Humanity is esteemed one of the choicest characteristics of man; would I could say it forms a leading virtue of our colt breakers; but though there may be exceptions, they upon the whole, are a rough and most intemperate race, and it is always a matter of surprise to my mind that more horses are not ruined by them than are.

The farmers are in themselves much to blame in this matter, for they show but little dissatisfaction with the system; they put a colt into the hands of a breaker, and they expect him to turn it out accomplished in a certain time, for a certain amount (which amount is by no means adequate to the risk they run), and they care no further. "He is a good colt breaker," said a farmer to me the other day, "but he is rather lungeous;" the meaning of which term, for the information of my readers, I will explain, is simply that the fellow (I speak from per

sonal knowledge of the man) was especially given to knock his colts about. When he was drunk-being sober was an exception to the rule -it was awful to behold the manner in which he treated his pupils, and yet he was on good terms with his employers, and I believe they thought him clever in his profession.

I am of opinion that if a steady sensible man was to set up as a horse-breaker he would be supported, though doubtless the farmers would be some time before they could see what was for their good.

Many horses, I am persuaded, are rendered impatient and irritable by the bad treatment experienced at the hands of the very men who should have made them docile and tractable. It is quite an error to suppose that horses are naturally bad-tempered: few are born so; and when they become vicious, the master or his man has to thank himself for what he by his own bad management has brought about.

I have seen a pony made quite vicious, which was perfectly quiet, from being teased by children. I mention this as an example to prove the justice of what I have asserted. True it is, that many horses go through the breaker's hands, and come out unscathed; but though such be the case, numbers are spoiled, and then it is unjustly placed to the account of a naturally bad disposition.

How often we see a groom or a boy worry a horse in his stall by tickling or pinching him! This they do for what they term fun or play, but they forget the animal does not understand a jest; the consequence is, that to get rid of what he considers a nuisance, especially if he is just commencing a nice feed of corn, he bites or kicks out; and when he sees the self-same nuisance come into the stable next time, he naturally concludes that the same imaginary bit of fun is going to be repeated, and out he kicks. Nuisance not being prepared for this, gets a hit on the ribs, and perhaps not being at the time in such a very lively humour as he was on the previous occasion, immediately hits him with the fork, and most probably calls him a brute, by which he intends to imply his being vicious. From this time war commences, retorts lead to retorts, and probably incurable vice is the result. Each time that the man enters the stable the horse is expecting a thump; consequently he screws himself up, puts his tail between his legs, which has the effect of confirming the opinion of the owner, who just then enters the stable, that John was correct when he said the animal was a kicker. He, therefore, gets well on the other side the stall, to secure his valuable person from harm, and poking his nose prudently round the post, looks upon the nag very much as Gordon Cumming might have done, when the very big lion he used to talk about was taking his "wee drops." If ever you see a horse look uneasy in his stall when the groom approaches him, be assured that though you may not be aware of it, he has been subjected to the treatment I have described, and the sooner you get a new attendant for him the better.

BREEDING.

In choosing the sire and dam, we should carefully inquire if either have any cause to make us fear hereditary disease. People in general do not take sufficient pains to ascertain this important information. Farmers especially are careless on this point; their system nine times