William, Duke of Cumberland, caused a tiger and a stag to be enclosed in the same area; and the stag made so bold a defence, that the tiger was obliged to give up the contest. But this is not wonderful, as we have heard of a jackass beating off a tiger with his heels.

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"It is a strange mistake that Bewick and some other English zoologists fall into, in saying that the flesh of the stag is poor and ill-flavoured.' These gentlemen, by saying so, only prove that they have never had the good fortune to eat a bit of red deer venison in good season, such as used to be shot by the late Duke of Athol. Certainly no carrion can be worse than red deer venison when it is out of season; but when the animal is killed in proper season and in good plight, his flesh is as far superior to that of park venison as can possibly be conceived. The fat is then several inches thick, and the flavour of both that and of the lean is quite enough to endanger the life of any alderman who may be seated before it.

"The stag used to afford royal sport in the olden time, by being driven with hound and horn.' Nothing can be more true to Nature, or more enlivening, than the description of the stag-hunt with which the poem of The Lady of the Lake' opens. It is exquisitely beautiful, and better describes the ancient mode of hunting than anything we have met with in prose; but it is much too long to quote in this place. Another poem, of smaller dimensions, but of merit little inferior, has fallen into our hands accidentally. As the gentleman to whom it really belongs has not chosen to give it to the world himself, perhaps we shall be accused as being guilty of a piece of presumption in now producing it here. But as our present editorial capacity gives us large licence to poach upon the manors of others, we shall perhaps be forgiven by the highly-gifted poet and historian, Mr. P. Tytler, who, we believe, is its author; and we are so sure of the thanks of the reading world for having rescued so beautiful

a morceau from oblivion, that they must greatly overpay us for any censure we may incur for our boldness.

"William Barclay, in his treatise Contra Monarchomachos, gives us the following picture of a royal hunting with which the Earl of Athol treated Queen Mary. In the year 1563,' says he, the Earl of Athol, a prince of the blood royal, had, with much trouble and vast expense, a hunting-match for the entertainment of our most illustrious and most gracious queen our people call this a royal hunting. I was then a young man, and was present on that occasion. Two thousand Highlanders, or wild Scotch, as you call them here, were employed to drive to the hunting-ground all the deer from the woods and hills of Athol, Badenoch, Marr, Moray, and the counties about. As these Highlanders use a light dress and are very swift of foot, they went up and down so nimbly, that in less than two months,' (we cannot conceive how it could have taken so long a time, for more could now be collected in less than as many weeks, with the same force,) they brought together two thousand red deer, besides roes and fallow deer. The queen, the great men, and a number of others, were in a glen, when all these deer were brought before them. Believe me, the whole body moved forward in something like battle order. This sight still strikes me, and ever will strike me, for they had a leader whom they followed close wherever he moved. This leader was a very fine stag, with a very high head. This sight delighted the queen very much, but she soon had cause for fear, upon the earl's (who had been from his early days accustomed to such sights) addressing her thus: 'Do you observe that stag who is foremost of the herd? there is danger from that stag; for if either fear or rage should force him from the ridge of that hill, let every one look to himself, for none of us will be out of the way of harm; for the rest will follow this one, and having thrown us under foot, they will open a passage to this hill behind us.' What happened a moment after confirmed this opinion; for the queen ordered one of the best dogs to be let loose on one of the deer: this the dog pursues; the

leading stag was frighted, he flies by the same way he had come there; the rest rush after him, and break out where the thickest body of the Highlanders was; they had nothing for it but to throw themselves flat on the heath, and allow the deer to pass over them. It was told the queen that several of the Highlanders had been wounded, and that two or three had been killed outright; and the whole body had got off, had not the Highlanders, by their skill in hunting, fallen upon a stratagem to cut off the rear from the main body. It was of those that had been separated, that the queen's dogs and those of the nobility made slaughter. There were killed that day three hundred and sixty deer, with five wolves, and some roes.' Of this species of hunting, called the tenchel, Sir Walter Scott has given us an admirable description in Waverley.

"But the mode of hunting the red deer which is now most in use is that called deer-stalking. A party of deer-stalkers should be as small as possible, in order to secure success; because there will be the less chance of their being detected by the animals they wish to approach; and youth, activity, patience, and a thorough carelessness of encountering cold, wet, and hunger, are qualifications absolutely necessary to the individuals. Much will depend upon the accurate knowledge of locality possessed by the keeper who attends the party, as upon his information the motions of the whole must in a great measure be regulated. It is his business to direct his telescope to the sides of the hills, and carefully to examine them, so as to ascertain what deer may be grazing in the corries or hollows of its surface. A herd is discovered, a council of war is held, the various lines of approach are well considered, and finally, the plan of operations is determined on. Much caution is necessary; for, independent of the wonderful powers of seeing, hearing, and smelling, with which the red deer are gifted, they always take the precaution to establish a sentinel, generally a hind, in such a position as

she may be enabled to give an early alarm; and the moment she gives the signal, the whole herd disappears with the rapidity of lightning. It is absolutely necessary to approach them up the wind, otherwise they would nose their coming enemy a great way off. Unbroken silence, also, must be preserved, for the smallest noise would alarm them; and it is equally essential that the party should be entirely concealed. The whole members of it, therefore, must take such a route as may afford most inequalities of surface, under cover of which they may advance unseen; and where no such inequalities exist, they must creep on their bellies through the long heather, like serpents. It very often happens that the deer-stalker must make a circuit of some miles ere he can hope to approach the herd; and not unfrequently, when almost within shot of them, he meets with some piece of plain ground, over which he cannot hope to pass unnoticed; in which case he must wait sometimes for hours, till the deer happen to change their position, so as to permit him to advance with some hope of success. Again, it occurs, that as his heart is beating with eagerness, as if it would burst his breast, and when a few yards of nearer approach will place him within the reach of the grete harte,' suddenly, alarmed by some unknown cause, every horned head is thrown into the air, and in a moment every winged heel is bounding over the mountain's brow.-Such are the blanks in the lottery of deer-stalking; but it has its prizes also. Suppose the sportsman, after hours of labour, and strange vicissitudes of hopes and fears, at last arrived within a reasonable distance. The rifles-for each has generally more than one-are carefully examined; and while each conceals himself as perfectly as he can, each takes his independent aim, and all fire as much at once as possible. Some of the deer fall dead; others, perhaps, are wounded; but whilst these, as well as the other uninjured individuals of the herd, start with amazement, and stand for a moment doubtful in which way to fly, a second volley is given, and,

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