placed; in fact, the health and comfort of the dwellers therein were well considered and cared for, though the buildings themselves might not strike the eye of the fastidious. The horses, however the horses, Linton, they all appeared to be of one stamp and one cast-powerful, well-limbed, well-shaped, well-bred animals; not over high, or conveying to eye any of the slap-dash, bang-tailed, weedy style, too prevalent in the hunting field; but animals fit to carry fourteen stone, best pace across the heaviest portion of the Vale, with hounds running to a burning scent; and no less useful in the Cheltenham country, topping walls and rails as the eagle flies. In fact, the horses are well selected, showing breed and bone. I also observed two carriage-horses, and of clever hacks enough and to spare methinks for master and men; though two whips, in addition to Squire Ayris-for by St. Hubert, a man who has retained his position as an upright servant for a quarter of a century is better entitled to be Esq., than half the mobility who presume to it— and also four extra men, whose horses being unused are ever ready when required, for master, huntsman, or whip in need. Here then, Linton, is in fact a hunting establishment worthy the proudest peer in England, be he who he may. But for the sake of those who desire to see with their own eyes, and follow this gallant pack, I would add that they have two battle-fields-the one yclept the Berkeley country is hunted during the months of October, December, and February; good accommodation may be found at Berkeley and other places near at hand; and by railway he may journey there in less time than I could write these details. The other field of action is denoted the Cheltenham country, where the hounds may be found during the months of November, January, and March, and part of April; and there when the excitement of the morning chase is over, all is to be had in the way of mental recreation that man in his most ardent desire can wish. When in the Cheltenham country about twenty couple of hounds generally appear at the covert side, when in the Berkeley country about twenty-four. Oh, in the days when I was young, how the very thoughts of such meets would have caused my heart to beat, and my spirits to rise! and even now, that I, Pigskin to my acquaintances, and Piggy, perhaps Ichabod, to my familiars, stretch forth my slippered foot, and feel the muscles of my leg not less elastic than they were, when at the head of a gallant company of Light Bobs, I followed my friend Nicholls, the first man in the British army to cross the Douro-I feel-yes, Linton, I feel that I could grace a pair of boots and breeches even now. And by the heather of my native mountains, and its salmon pools, I swear, to lead the Berkeley hunt from Sharpness Point gorse to Stinchcome, please God I live next winter. But listen, I have not yet told you all-for, alas! when the light of other days shines o'er me, I run wild-I have not told you how these galiant Berkeley hounds hunt four days weekly in the Cheltenham and Broadway countries, and five in that of Berkeley; moreover, that the Berkeley country is about two-and-twenty miles in length and about seven in width, while that of Cheltenham is well nigh eighteen by twenty, and the Broadway not much smaller-so you see there is no lack of battle-ground.

"And now I have told you what we saw and what we heard, and a more agreeable day I rarely passed than that on which, with my friend Louth and Leybourne I steamed away for Berkeley; but having so far

employed our time in thus visiting the abodes of dog and horse, to say nothing of Vatels descendent, we proceeded to the Berkeley Arms. Vol au Vent, why had you ad interim not have visited this hostelry for the hungry and tired, and having cast the spell of your genius on the amiable fat individual who called herself a cook, have enabled her to have provided some delicacy for the dear creatures who had accompanied us. As it was, the cold sirloin and the bottled porter were by no means despised by those who are gifted with nature's good breeding and good taste, and we soon found ourselves ready for action. While the party eat, however, Linton-and few men or animals like to be disturbed at feeding time; indeed, should it ever be your ill fortune to meet the editor of that illustrious magazine, for whose impertinences the name of Fraser is made to answer, further tell not to the world how the lion feeds, or your doom is fixed for ever. So while the ladies eat beef, and the male sex drink bottled porter-leaving them to their pleasant pastime I will tell you a tale connected with a hound appertaining not lang syne to the Berkeley pack, whose instinct was remarkable, not more so than numerous others of the canine race, ever the attached, undeviating friend of man.

"Thus was the story: I give it as it was told to me; but the teller was a truthful man, and a clever one to boot; it may be, therefore, that I, Ichabod, may lose to you something in its repetition; however, tis a simple matter, and the more simply told the better. There lived beyond the wide and somewhat muddy waters of the Severn, in that land of leeks and equestrian lasses called Wales, a Saxon sportsman of good repute, a keen lover of the chase, and a worthy man of buckram. The Earl who lives in that vast castle, on whose ancient walls the mitred crest speaks of days when fat abbots, like those of Bolton, loved to look on fish and venison each morning brought fresh from river and wide park, to aid their hospitality and increase the rotundity of their persons, had a fellow-sportsman's affection for the hearty Saxon; and on being applied to for a couple or two of hounds in aid of a pack which the good man was about to form to chase the varmints in our neighbour's land, he forthwith acquiesced, and sent accordingly, with kind greetings, among others a dog of high breeding, a very pet among the pets, which dog I shall here name Know-the-way. Now the hounds thus courteously provided for the good sportsman who lived in Wales, were duly sent and as duly received and acknowledged with many thanks. A considerable period had elapsed, and the Earl, as was and is his wont, went forth to chase and kill the fox-that is, if he could, which his gallant pack generally enabled him to do, without the aid of salt to put on his-what was Ichabod about to say ?"

"Why, his brush to be sure," replied Linton; "but I am anxious to hear of this Know-the-way."

"Exactly. The Earl-that is, the Earl's hounds, generally obtain a brush; but where was I? Just give me a trifle more water—that will do-I was off the scent, this Schiedam has so high a flavour. Well, the hounds were sent, arrived, were acknowledged, and so forth; time passed, Know-the-way was almost forgotten; how could it be otherwise? the kennel contained eighty-four couple; and where all, or nearly all were good, one, even though of the best could be spared. One morning, however, when the pack were in the Cheltenham country, and about

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shortly to return to that of Berkeley, the feeder was employed in making some arrangements, or in cleansing the kennel, or what not, when he fancied that he saw a hound, apparently fatigued and all bespattered with mud and mire, approach the kennel-door, give one look in, and then turn off again; on this he ran off to the main gates, which I have already named as being the entrance to the stable-yard, and there, true enough, he saw a hound running at a rapid pace towards the town of Berkeley. Dang it,' said the man, on seeing one of his fellow-servants, " was I not certain that Know-the-way wor in Wales, I would swear that I seed him here this moment agone.' On the afternoon of the same day the feeder at Cheltenham was preparing for the hounds, who, according to the custom of years, were on that day, being Saturday, hunting the Broadway country, when he also declared that he saw this dog Know-the-way, enter the kennel; he instantly endeavoured to secure the dog, but without effect, as he had bolted and escaped him. On the evening of that day the noble owner of the pack arrived, the sport being over, at the inn at Broadway, where it was his custom to quit his hunter for a carriage. On his return to Berkeley, as he alighted he observed a hound almost entirely exhausted-in fact, an animal whose physical powers had been so tried that the breath of life was almost extinct--lying on the door-step. He looked at the poor dog, when, to his utter astonishment, he recognised his ancient comrade in many glorious days' sport, his poor hound Know-the-way; he raised him in his arms, he conveyed him into the house, and gave him restoratives, and then-smile not at such kind and sportsmanlike an act, ye Pharisees to all that is noble and generous in field sports-ye ignorant compilers of the Western Miscellany,'a periodical heard of, fortunately, only by the publisher, save by accident, and I fear most unfortunately for the poor editor, who fancies that because a man can love horse and dog better than the generality of twolegged animals like himself, he must needs be brought up in a stable. Let him bear in mind that even our good Queen Victoria loves the animals dog and horse; and more-she loves to see her royal husband, himself a first-rate sportsman, enjoy all sport to the utmost of his desires. But it really makes the blood of me, Ichabod, some of which has been spilt in my country's cause, rush from my heart when I hear of quill-drivers and critics setting themselves up to abuse a man and his manners, forsooth, because he loves nature and nature's enjoyments instead of humbuggery. So the Earl took Know-the-way into his well cushioned chariot, and conveyed him in all honour and due comfort to his former kennel, and his old companions welcomed him, and for several seasons afterwards this sagacious dog did good service in the Berkeley pack, and when his age permitted him no longer to join in the chase, warmth and comfort and kindness were bestowed on him; and when he died, a monument was erected to his memory, on which the virtues of the poor brute are set forth; and those who visit Berkeley may see proof of the fact I have here told—a tale well known in the Vale of Berkeley, and near the broad Severn, yet I would fain hope new, and therefore interesting, to thousands. Recollect, Linton, the distance from Wales to the Berkeley hunt it would be impossible to ascertain; as the crow flies, however, from point to point it is very considerable; but even the distance is less a source of astonishment than the fact of this hound having swam the river Severn, at a point where it is by no means narrow, and where

the current is extremely rapid. Arrived at Berkeley, he thence proceeded to Cheltenham without rest or refreshment, a distance of eighteen miles, and then to Broadway, twenty more. In fact, the instinct, cou

rage, and powers of this animal can only be surpassed by his extraordinary reason, which told him that the hounds not being at Cheltenham could be nowhere else but at Broadway, the day being Saturday. When I think of this sagacious animal, the beautiful lines written by Eliza Cook come back to memory—

'I am glad that my own eye watched thy dying,
For I know thy lot, old brute;

And none can spurn thee where thou art lying,
Deep under the cedar's root.

Thou wilt not meet a savage hand

To smite thee to the dust;

Thou canst not pine with starving whine

For a morsel of wasted crust.

I'd rather look on thy grave, old hound,
Than wonder what hard fate thou hadst found.

I cherished thee long and liked thee well,

As the tears-aye, the tears-I have shed will tell:
There is nothing of shame in the lids that are wet,
When the drops are wrung by an honest regret.'

"It was a bright warm morning in early spring time that I found myself slowly mounting that well-known pedestrian burster-Park-street, in the good old city of Bristol. Now, friend Linton, be it known to you that a desire for piscatorial pastime had taken possession of my bachelor senses, and once more, though I confess no talent for the art, for the time being I had located myself, and my pormanteau à l'auberge de Monsieur H- -y. Business or pleasure-I know not which, and it importeth little had caused me on that memorable day of the year of our Lord 'forty-seven, to visit the heart of the Bristolian capital, and I had returned so far towards the scene of more aristocratic abiding places, when, as I slowly paced my way up the well-paved mountain-a mountain, by-the-bye, which is somewhat trying with the thermometer at 80, and the person-pressure like my own, none of the leanest-I beheld before me an individual whose person was a most familiar one: where I had seen him before, and when, at the moment I could not bring to mind; but that I had seen him I was convinced, solely that before or since I had never witnessed such a pair of legs, and those legs belonged to W. Shanks, Esq., M.D., the clever surgeon of the -th Hussars, a firstrate gallant Peninsular officer, a true friend, and a good sportsman. I halted, friend Linton, as I neared the brow; and as with one eye I followed the almost imperceptible legs before me, with the other I gazed at a new and admirably appointed shop, in the window of which appeared an affiche setting forth that there were iced soda water and iced lemonade, and that everything could be iced from a bottle of champagne to a baker's oven, by the patent refrigerator. When just at the very moment I was about to turn in and refresh from the offering of this cooling temple, my mind carried me far away from home to foreign lands, and I once more felt as if I were mounting the rugged Pyrenean mountains, or gazing on the plains of France; and with these thoughts came others, convincing me that Shanks, and Shanks alone, was the man before me. With this assurance I bolted from the shop, the steps of which I had already gained,

instead of bolting the refrigerated draught, and making a still more vigorous bolt, reached the rear of my slim friend, and saluted him with a hearty slap on his back, rather too hard to be agreeable I fancy, for my hand still tingled as my mouth pronounced the words-Shanks, my boy!' He turned sharply round, and giving me a look which time can never obliterate from memory, he cried out- Shanks-Shanks indeed!—who the devil are you, that thus presume to insult an officer of her Majesty's service when quietly walking through the streets of a free city? At first I own that I had my misgivings as to whether I had not been somewhat too hasty in my friendly mode of recognising an individual whose person was still doubtful; and it did certainly occur to me that if I, Ichabod Pigskin, had been thus assaulted, the blood of the Pork family would have risen in anger; but no sooner had the owner of the well-known spindles faced about than I was satisfied it was hemy long-lost friend Shanks, with whom I had last parted on the bloody plains of Vittoria. Shanks,' said I, offering him the hand with which I had assaulted him- God bless you, Shanks, I am heartily glad to see you; it is long years since we parted, but altered you are not, either body or legs, for by my faith they are as they ever were almost invisible. Do you recollect that morning as we crossed the Bidascoa, when Cyril offered his bear-skin as a lather-brush to the Hussars, if you would lend your legs as razors. By St. Hubert, the only saint I swear by, those were pleasant days when you and I went campaigning a long time ago.' But you will say, with reason too, What was Shanks, whose shoulder doubtless ached, doing all the time that I was talking? Why, in the first place, the little man curled the moustache which he loved to retain in recollection (as he said) of those glorious days when the gallant Heavies were as jealous of this hairy ornament as their lady love; and then looking me full in the face he said, with a voice of suppressed ire, Sir, I do recollect the absurd allusion which you have made to other and glorious days, and it is with the assurance that you were one of that gallant body of men who bled and suffered for their country, whom a set of Chartist vagabonds would now calmly look on, and see such veterans starve, or you would never have heard it; and such being the case, I am assured you did not intend to insult me, but rather mistook me for another, or Sir I would have kicked you-yes, kicked you, Sir,' said he, raising his little leg-from the top to the bottom of Park-street.' This assertion was so absurd that I literally went into convulsions of laughter, naturally increasing his rage. Well, Sir,' he continued, you must be altered, if, as you say, we were once acquainted, for all I can recognise in you is your insufferable rudeness; I have well scanned your face, and there is but one man I ever saw to whom you bear the slightest resemblance, and he was as noted for good breeding and kindness of heart as you are'-but I stopped him ere he had uttered impolite words, and said To Ichabod Pigskin, ci-devant a Light Bob, subsequently a Lancer; born in a kilt, with the heather for his bed, believing himself a laird till he obtained an ensigncy and breeks, then learning at the mess-table that he was only flesh and blood like other men, and in the battle-field feeling much inlcination to run away.' 'No, no,' exclaimed the kind-hearted Shanks, If you are my ancient comrade Ichabod, come to my heart; for such as he was never turned his back on man or woman in his lifewhether an enemy or friend in distress.' I really thought the good fellow