Micmac beauty at all hazards; so, finding that we were fully bent on the measure, he entered zealously into our plans, when it was arranged that he should go over to the Misgosquil, load the canoes, and remain in them afloat, ready to start on the instant we should arrive with the fair fugitive, while we remained with Mahteen to escort her across the portage, and assist him in case of pursuit or a scuffle. In pursuance of this arrangement, Sabattis forthwith proceeded to the canoes, and, after nightfall, Mahteen, the captain, and myself returned to the bank of the stream we had just left, opposite to the encampment, where we lay concealed in a thicket, waiting until all should have retired to rest. At length, when everything appeared perfectly quiet, Mahteen imitated the sharp cry of the night hawk three times in succession; the signal was heard and understood, for, in a few minutes, we saw a light figure on the opposite bank, stealthily slip into a canoe, which was allowed to drop a little down stream with the current, and was then pushed quickly across. The next moment Tolotah sprung on shore; and, as there was not a moment to be lost, we all started by the portage path in double quick time; in less than an hour we reached the Misgosquil, where we found everything ready; so we leaped into the canoes, wrapped Tolotah in our blankets, and were off instantly. There being a strong current in the river, we swept swiftly along, and were highly elated with our success, but were told by Sabattis not to be in too great a hurry; that about twenty miles further down the Misgosquil there was a long and dangerous rapid, which he knew well; this rapid the Micmacs could reach by another portage of about nine miles, in consequence of a great bend in the river; and that if Tolotah were missed soon after her departure, we might make up our minds to be intercepted there, and, perhaps, have a brush: we therefore plied steadily at our paddles, in the hope of passing the rapid before daybreak, but the darkness just before day delayed us considerably, and the first grey streaks of dawn were appearing, when Sabattis told us that another mile would bring us to the rapid: we soon neared it; and the acute senses of the Indians told them that a fire was lighted in its vicinity, for they smelt the strong and pungent smoke of burning wood.

The left bank of the stream was bold and precipitous, while the right sloped easily down to the water's edge, and on that side we might expect to find our pursuers. Sabattis landed on the left bank, and, crawling along the top of the cliff, discovered that about half a dozen Micmacs were seated by a fire at the water side, near the crest of the rapid, each with a gun across his knee, and that two others were just beginning to fell into the stream a large pine standing on the bank, for the purpose of stopping our passage should we attempt to run the rapid, a very unusual thing without making a décharge, and using great care and precaution. We were told briefly, but expressively, that we must run the rapid at all hazards, as our only chance of escape. Sabattis said that he with the captain in their canoe would lead, while Mahteen would follow closely with the other, in which were Tolotah and myself. We dropped down under the shadow of the cliffs until near the top of the rapids, when we dashed boldly for the middle of the stream, and just as the canoes sprung almost together over the first pitch, we were discovered; a bullet whistled

over us; but the canoes were now in the boiling, foaming, and roaring torrent-leaping, plunging, and flying along with the speed of sea-mews in a gale. The rapid, a quarter of a mile long, was passed in an incredibly short space of time, Sabattis leading in beautiful style; and although the Micmacs, yelling like fiends, had each a shot at us, Mahteen did not lose his self-possession, until at the last pitch, where there was a short turn, he allowed the canoe to swerve slightly and take one plunge. A little water was shipped, but it was of no moment; and then we answered the yells of the Micmacs with shouts of exultation at our perfect safety: we had turned the bend of the stream; were off in a different direction, with a swift rushing current, beyond the danger of pursuit, and the bride was won!

All that day, however, we kept steadily on, halting only once for refreshment, and, before sunset, reached the principal village of the Milicetes, where we found the priest attached to that mission. Brief was the shrift he gave the young couple; and, ere we threw ourselves down to rest from our fatigue, we witnessed the marriage ceremony, in the curious bower called the chapel, congratulated Mahteen, and wished all health and happiness in the marriage state to "LA BELLE TOLOTAH!"

St. John, New Brunswick.

A MONTH IN LEICESTERSHIRE.

BY NIMROD.

(Continued from page 21.)

Of the servants to the Quorn hounds I have a few observations to make. Webb, the huntsman, I was given to believe, would quit Mr. Hodgson's service at the expiration of the season-at all events, as soon as Mr. Hodgson could replace him. On this subject I ventured to offer a word of advice to my old friend; namely, not to get rid of Webb until he was sure of replacing him by a better huntsman and

servant.

In my opinion, Webb was a sportsman, and one of a high order; in one particular, indeed-the run of his fox, as the term is-he excels; and I found this to be the opinion of those who had had more experience of him than myself. The condition of his hounds, also, no one could find fault with; I saw them at the finish of some very hard days, and in dry and hot weather, but there was no drooping of sterns, nor any symptoms of distress beyond what is the natural result of such trying circumstances. Touching his horsemanship, I think there would be nothing to find fault with, if he had been horsed equal to what his country requires; but inasmuch as there is no making silken purses out of sows' ears, so there is no making middling horses firstrate ones, which a huntsman to the Quorn hounds requires.

Mr.

Hodgson, however, is well aware that it is necessary for a huntsman not only to be near his hounds at all times, but, occasionally, to be able to head his field; and there is no doubt that whoever hunts the Quorn hounds next season will have nothing to complain of on that score. "Mr. Hodgson," said I to Mr. Potter, the dealer, "will lay out a thousand pounds on horseflesh; and I know not whither he can go, with a better chance of success, than to your stables for the purpose. If he does, let the horses you shew him be of the right stamp for the country they are intended for. Let them be deep-bodied, on short legs, not under fifteen hands three inches; well bred, but with plenty of bone; and, above all things, long in the frame, and with good mouths."

The two whippers-in to the Quorn hounds came with Mr. Hodgson, from Holderness, and are everything that can be wished for in men in their situation. They are good-looking, business-like men, very zealous sportsmen, and fine horsemen. Of the zeal of one of them, Ned Entaby, the second whip, let the following anecdote shew to what an extraordinary-what an unheard-of-what an unjustifiable extent he carried it. I say "unjustifiable," because no man has a right so to trifle with his own existence as to put it in such imminent peril, and for such a purpose-for anything, indeed, short of an attempt to save the life of a fellow-creature.

As Mr. Hodgson's hounds were running into their fox, in the Holderness country, one of those awful, though not uncommon events occurred, by which two of his hounds, Hudibras and Lavender, were precipitated down a precipice of 170 yards, or 510 feet! Hudibras was killed on the spot; but the life of Lavender was preserved until she had produced her whelps, with which she was at that time pregnant, and which proved to be very good hounds. And how was her life preserved? Why, by the most extraordinary feat of the kind that, perhaps, was ever performed by man. Ned-unknown to his master-suffered himself to be let down (there was no other way of getting at the object of his extreme solicitude) by a single rope, not even fastened round his body; but down which he went, by merely the clip of his hands; and up which he returned, in the same manner, with Lavender in his arms! Now, whoever has a just idea of the weight of a fine foxhound bitch, and at the same time takes a view, in his own mind, of a man, encumbered by such a weight, clambering up a rope to the stupendous height of 170 yards, solely by the use of hands;-whoever, I say, does this, must agree with me in considering the feat in question to be one without a parallel in the annals of difficult and daring exertions-amongst landsmen, at least, who are not, like the heroes of the blue jacket, accustomed to go aloft beyond the climbing of a tree. On my asking Ned if he was not alarmed for his situation, his answer was truly characteristic. "I can't say as I was, sir," said he; "my whole thought was upon the bitch." On my also asking him whether he were not greatly fatigued before he gained the height, he replied, that he was not, having occasionally rested himself on the projecting crags of the rock! "It is contempt of death," says some one, "that ennobles the profession of the soldier." May it not be applied to the sportsman?

To return to Webb. He came to Mr. Hodgson from Mr. Conyers,

whose pack is one of the few that I have yet to see. "They hunt a rough country," said Webb; "but the foxes are stout, and require a deal of killing;" and he spoke of his old master, as a zealous and good sportsman, "heart and soul in the whole thing,”—the sine quá non of a master of hounds. On my asking him how he got off as to falls, in that close and cramped country, which I hear Mr. Conyers's is, he replied, "Pretty well, although all but with the loss of one of his ears, which his horse put his foot upon, and tore." But his wifeI must not pass her over. Independently of her being an excellent housewife, she is exactly fitted for her lot in life. She is celebrated for her skill in rearing cubs and whelps; and I could judge of her zeal, in all relating to hounds, by her manner when shewing me the pictures that adorned the sitting-room of her husband's comfortable crib. And, as Mr. Delmé Radcliffe observes, a huntsman deserves a comfortable crib. "His interests," says he (addressing himself to masters), "are identified with your own: and you should take care that he has wherewithal to be happy and contented in your service. His comforts, and those of his wife and family, if he have either, or both, should not be overlooked."

Thursday, 16th.-Mr. Hodgson being at Allexton with his hounds, as already noticed by me, I had this day to myself; but it was far from being a dies non. Accompanied by Mr. Earl, landlord to Mr. Hodgson, and one of the most obliging persons in the world, I spent some hours in perambulating the classic remains of Quorn, and recalled those days in which it was the chosen residence of the most renowned sportsmen of Meynell's glorious reign. There was the house in which the celebrated Mr. Childe resided, the first to shew them what the pace is over a country, whose name and fame will never die in the fox-hunting world. Then the mansion in which the late Lord Foley, Sir Henry Peyton, and the late Sir Stephen Glynn (with Colonel Mellish as their guest), were domiciled at the same time, now a school, kept by the Rev. Mr. Burnaby, and one of high repute. I called at the door, and saw one of the scholars, the son of Sir David Baird, who, no doubt, will imbibe some of the classic remains of once renowned Quorn; and, by way of helping him to do so, I left with him a number of the SPORTING REVIEW. I next saw the house Sir Harry Featherstone inhabited, afterwards the residence of Lord Wenlock, the Sir Robert Lauley of those days. Lord Maynard's house is still standing in statu quo; and, alas! the poor old hall, the seat of the king of the fox-hunters, Mr. Meynell. It is now again not only not the residence of a fox-hunter, but once more on sale, having been purchased by a very worthy person, who having unfortunately embarked in some unprofitable commercial transactions, cannot afford to live in it. It, also, is in statu quo; and on a former occasion, when all Mr. Hodgson's beds were occupied, I was lodged under its roof; and its fine stables, with the kennel, are in the occupation of Mr. Hodgson, who has them for the term entered into by Lord Suffield. It is quite true that, for hunting men, Quorn is ill suited, being outside of the best part of the country of the Quorn Hunt, and Melton and its vicinity now accommodate them; but I could not help thinking, that Quorn Hall, as an hotel, would still be a good speculation. After the manner of the Harborough Arms, at Melton, it would contain a certain number of sportsmen, with great

convenience and comfort, and the stabling would accommodate all their studs. It is, together with nearly 100 acres of capital grass land, to be purchased, as I am told, on terms that would render it a good investment of capital.

(To be continued.)

INDIAN HUNTING.

It is cheering to see that though thousands of miles may part us from our dear native land-though a burning sun may shed its fierce rays over us, or an icy temperature bind us by its chilly bonds-—our thoughts and habits still revert to by-gone times; we endeavour, against every disadvantage, to keep up those old customs hallowed by time and the observance of our forefathers; and, though the scene may be changed, to shew that years, and their many accompanying events, can never stifle the feeling of pleasure and respect which we entertain for their memory.

Thus, then, go where you will, in whatever country a number, be it ever so small, of our countrymen may reside, you can always see an attempt made to keep up national sports, be the locality ever so unfavourable for them, and its own sports ever so attractive. Bengal, to which I now allude, is generally allowed to bear the palm for the variety, and I may say grandeur, of its sports; and yet, though every kind of game abounds there, an attempt is still made, by our sporting countrymen, to keep up that best of our national sports" foxhunting."

To men like these, the cheering "view-halloo," and soul-stirring "whoop," present as great, if not greater, attractions than the deathstruggles of the monarch of the forest; and a sharp burst with hounds over the baked plains of Bengal is as much appreciated by Indian sportsmen as it could ever be by Meltonians, over Leicestershire's grass fields, or Northamptonshire's stiff enclosures.

The climate of Bengal is very unfavourable to the breeding of English dogs, particularly to any species of hound. Independent of the risk of their dying, after a season or two they degenerate; and those bred in the country, if brought to maturity, which is seldom the case, never equal their parents, and seldom, indeed, turn out really good.

The only way, then, to keep up a pack here, is annually to import a certain number. This a few spirited sportsmen in Calcutta determined to do, and a club was thus formed, yclept "The Calcutta Hunt." The site of the present kennel is excellent, very roomy and commodious; far more so, indeed, than would be required in England, owing to the great heat. The present pack consists of sixteen couples, the greater part, if you can judge by looks, of the Warwickshire breed. They are mostly large, and rather heavy, and, in my