beating Mr. Saxon's Antonia (2), Mr. T. Vernon's Menzie, two years old (3), and six others. This closed the Newton Summer Meeting. The Nottingham July Meeting was run on Thursday and Friday, the 20th and 21st ult., " under the same rules and regulations as last year." The opening race was the Scarborough Stakes ; one mile and a half. It was run a trio, between Lord W. Powlett's Sharavogue, Mr. Montague's Burlington, and Mr. Store's Wingenund. 5 and 6 to 1 on Sharavogue; and he warranted such odds, winning in a canter by three lengths. The Robin Hood Stakes, for two-year-olds, brought out four runners ; the issue in favour of Mr. J. Osborne's gr. c. Lord Alfred, sire Chanticleer, dam Agnes, despite of 7lbs. extra. 5 to 4 against Lord Alfred, who won by a neck; the second and third finished close together. For the Nottinghamshire Handicap nine ran, and four were placed. Mr. Bailey's b. c. St. Andrew, four years old, 6st. 71b., first; Lord Chesterfield's b. f. Typee, four years old, 7st. 13lb., second. 6 to 5 against Typee, 5 to 1 against Barrel, 7 to 1 against King of Trumps, 8 to 1 against Orestes, 12 to against Lady Vernon, and 100 to 6 against St. Andrew—the winner ; a warrant for the practical production of handicapping. Plate of £40, given by the County Members, won by Mr. Montague's b. c. Motley—at 5 to 4 against him—in a canter by a length. The Sherwood Handicap ; six ran, on the following terms :-Mr. E. Bevill's br. g. Garforth, aged, 11st. 6lb. (Capt. Little), 1...... Mr. Saxon's br. g. Friendless, 6st. extra (Clement), 2...... 3 to 1 against Garforth, the same against Freedom. Won by half a length. The Short Stakes, six subscribers, Jenny Wren, with 6 to 4 on her, won by a neck. The Castle Handicap, Domino, with 5 to 4 on him, won in a canter by a neck; and so the first day closed. Its policy and detail have been given with precision so “ long drawn out," that it may not pass without an apologetic cause being pleaded in mitigation. So soon as the practical racing season is over, I purpose a general analysis, and a comparative consideration of the system that has been substituted for the British turf-in its instituted system-as a legitimate and serviceable national sport. Friday opened with the Bunney Park Stakes, for two-year-olds. Mr. H. Lewis's Helena, 9st. 12lbs., ridden by Whitehouse-5 to 4 on herwon by three lengths, in a canter. The Grand Stand Stakes, T.Y.C., Mr. Bearup's Dogobert, ridden by Palmer-at 3 to 1 on him—won from the Post to the Chair, finishing first by a length. The Chesterfield Handicap Mr. Barber's br. c. Domino won, with 3 to 1 on him, in a fast-run race, even for the short distance. The Portland Handicap Mr. Blyth's b. c. Florist, ridden by Kendall, won by a head. Her Majesty's Plate, Domino, ridden by Clement—with 7 to 4 agst. him-won by half a length. The Forest Stakes of £5 each, £25 added, Gabriel walked over for, and the meeting ended. "THE OPENING DAY," ENGRAVED BY J. H. ENGLEA EART, PROM A PAINTING BY A. COOPER, R.A.' A reference to the communication of “our own reporter,” Mr. Hawthorne, will show that the opening day" is hardly expected this year to be quite so good as usual. For a wonder, too, the northern papers even admit that the grouse' are by no means so plentiful as they have been. The sportsman, then, who has made up his mind for the moors, must also prepare for far more to do. His bag may not sound so astounding when he comes to count it over, and he may altogether have his genuine love of sport rather hardly tested. There are few though, we trust, who take their shooting on the same calculation as a butcher might his sheep-at so much a head. They have something more to appreciate than just the mere amount of carnage committed-something more to enjoy when Dido gives her first sig. nal of there being one or two, at any rate, to be accounted for on“ the opening day." THE APPROACHING GROUSE SEASON IN SCOTLAND. BY HAWTHORNE, D'ye like, brother sportsmen, the hills wild and free, “ Scotland," in the words of a popular writer on field sports, “ surpasses every other country of Europe in the abundance and variety of its animal life. The country seems to have been made for the production of birds, beasts, and fishes; it has every imaginable requisite for the maintenance of a prodigious number of wild animals, and every single requisite in the highest possible perfection. It has seas that teem with fish, and salt-water lochs that seem to be so disposed as to bring the ' finny tribe' to the very door of the human population. It has rivers of unsurpassed beauty, alternating with pool and stream, swarming with the silvery salmon and beautifully and brightly speckled trout. It has lochs where there are large trout, burns where there are small ones ; it has sea rocks, where the round-headed and half intelligent-looking seal basks lazily in the sun, and rocky shores where the otter may be seen plunging in startled haste into the briny refuge; it has cliffs, where the birds of prey hold habitation, like castled robbers watching the passage of peaceful travellers." Yes! Scotland has mountain ranges where the red deer stalks along in his athletic pride, woods where the graceful and nimble-footed roe may be seen crossing the tender foliage. It has the mountain for the ptarmigan, the moor for the grouse, the fern brake for the blackcock, the dark pine wood for the capercailzie, the bog for the snipe, the coppice for the pheasant and woodcock, the fertile fields for the partridge, the hill for the hare, and hole for the badger; it has land fowl and water fowl, from the eagle to the teal ; it has cormorants and gulls, kattiewakes and divers, long-legged herons, short-legged puffins, gannats in thousands, ducks innumerable, the raven and the glede, the curlew and the sandpiper, the plover and the oyster-catcher, and a hundred others that decorate the wild scenery of Scotland. As a game country, Scotland has certainly no equal in Europe, nor, perhaps, taking all things into consideration, has she an equal in the world. India may have her tigers, her antelopes, her wild hogs, and her prodigious variety of the true game birds. Africa may have her lions, elephants, giraffes, spring-bocs, water-bocs, blue bocs, and her countless herds of the larger objects of the chase. America her deer, buffaloes, bears, wolves, prairie hens, wood grouse, and wild turkey, water fowl, and so forth ; but in all these countries the chase, for the most part, is an arduous labour, requiring a special and perhaps distant expedition, and in general separating the sportsmen, at least for the time, from amenities of civilized life. It is there not a recreation, but downright hard work, differing as much from the chase in Scotland as whale fishing differs from the dexterous capture of the silver salmon with the slender rod and artificial fly. In other countries sport may be more exciting, attended with more perils and hazards, calling forth a greater amount of daring and presence of mind ; but in all that relates to elegance, convenience, and what may be termed the fine arts of the chase, Scotland is pre-eminent : her game, like her scenery, is condensed into the smallest compass, as the eye that looks on her landscape can command mountain and plain, hill and valley, sea, river, loch, and burn, leafy woods and barren moors, and all visible at once; so that the different varieties of game, following the different varieties of ground, may be found within a very short distance of each other, and may be brought to bag by the sportsman in one single day's shooting. We have known a true sportsman kill, in one single day, in Scotland, roe deer, hare, rabbit, grouse, blackcock, partridge, pheasant, woodcock, snipe, plover, wild duck, and teal. But it is not merely in variety, within limited boundaries, that Scotland excels : she surpasses all other countries in the equal distribution of her animal life. There is scarcely an acre of land in Scotland that does not produce some animal worth looking at, some feather or fur in which the sportsman or the naturalist is interested. When the Scot, fresh from his native hills, woodlands, or prolific lowlands, traverses the forests of Germany, or the plains of |