296 
frozen fast in the river Lena, which had been trans- 
ported to St. Petersburgh; and I add jocosely, that 
we could not judge of the original horse, because 
we had not had the fortune to find likewise somes 
where a frozen ante-diluvian horse. The Translator, 
however, takes upon himself to say, that already 
such a one was really preserved in the St. Peters- 
en Museum, whereof there’ is not a single word 
in the original. 
_ Page 175, of the original, in the note, 1 attempt to 
prove, that the Mongolish horse of the middle ages 
could not have been of superior quality, because the 
contemporary oriental writers on horses had entirely 
passed it over in silence. The Translator says, 
“That it had excelled ali the other oriental 
horses ;” just the contrary of what I had said, 
whereby my conclusion is in the greatest contradic- 
tion with the cited proofs. Add to these, still, two 
indeed very comical quids pro quo, which I must 
however pardon in the Translator, one of these mis- 
understood words being an idiom used in the north 
of Germany, and the other a proper name, viz. I 
say, page 200, of original, ‘‘That curt 400 years 
there had been at the Senner-heath, a wild stud be- 
longing to the Prince of Lippe, &c.” This Senner- 
heath (a proper name, as, for instance, Hounslow- 
heath, Bagshot-heath, &c.in England,) the Trans- 
lator has transformed into a stud of horses, from 
Sennaar (in Nubia). Of that country, in the year 
1400, when the above stud was established, there 
could scarcely have been any thing known in 
Germany. 
Last of all, I say, page 220, of the original, ‘That 
Charles Vernet was the first who quitted the old 
Shlendrian, of representing all horses in historical 
drawings as patterns of force and size. From the 
word Shlendrian, which signifies an old custom 
énvelerated by negligence, the Translator makes a 
Famous painter called Shlendrian, certainly not to 
be found in any dictionary of painters! But sa- 
pienti sat. 
As for the last harvest, it has been 
in general very productive, except the 
summer corn, which could not be got 
in entirely dry. 
The price of corn is still very low 
throughout Germany; the reasons of 
which are,—l. That England, un- 
luckily, is no longer a market for our 
corn; and 2. That, compared with 
former times, Russia and Poland pro- 
duce a great deal of corn, and over- 
load us with it. From this motive, 
even a war in Turkey would be very 
convenient, and a beneficial event for 
German agriculture, which is at pre- 
sent in great stagnation and distress. 
I long very much for the results of 
Parry’s expedition, as well as Frank- 
lin’s journey. Is it nota strange cir- 
cumstance, that Capt. Lyon, who is 
just returned from the interior of 
Africa, (where that of Herodotus, and, 
si licet magna componere parvis, like- 
wise my theory of the connexion of 
the Niger with the Nile, through the 
Bahr el Abiad, has been brought by 
him to the highest point of probability,) 
is now frozen fast near the North 
Pole; whereas Capt. Beechey, who 
passed there the winter before last, 
has been charged to examine the 
coasts of ancient Cyrenaica and Mar- 
marica, upon the north coast of Africa. 
As I am not partial to hunting par- 
lies, it was a mistake when I wrote to 
you, that I had been at them; I meant 
Count Veltheim on Horses and Rural Economy. 
[May 1, 
shooting parties. Besides, we hunt 
here in Germany generally only with 
greyhounds; though, as an exception, 
in Mecklenburgh have been arranged, 
long ago, some fox-huntings entirely in 
the English style. Formerly stag- 
hunting was found almost at all the 
German courts; but it has ceased du- 
ring the long wars, on account of the 
great expense, and the diminution of 
deer. The most perfect of this kind 
was at Dessau; and now there are in 
Germany only two wild-boar hunts, 
viz, at Dresden and Weimar. 
Some friends of mine intend to 
establish fox-huntings, but with dogs 
that are of a mixed breed of fox and 
grey-hounds, because we must have 
particularly speedy hounds, or else 
the foxes would always make their 
escape into inaccessible mountains, fo- 
rests, or marshes. 
As for politics, I shall only add a 
little. Except the Greeks, who seem 
to be sacrificed to the cruel polities of 
Europe, and especially to the English, 
if 1 may say so with you, (in case they 
should free themselves from their un- 
fortunate situation, they will now owe 
it, perhaps, in great measure to the 
Persians, their most ancient enemies, ) 
—this subject is now but little interest- 
ing to me, since our remarks will 
never change the course of things. 
At the funeral of Queen Caroline, 
we had at Brunswick some accidents, 
(naturally quite in miniature, ) that put 
us in mind of the London funeral 
scenes. The King has been, as you 
have seen by the newspapers, received 
at Hanover with great shouts, but with 
great expenses too, which will surely 
cause great after-pains to many of the 
Hanoverians. 
You wish to know, “ Whether it is 
true, that in Germany men of rank 
had often wives married with their 
left hand, and what their condition is in 
society?” To my knowledge, only 
some of our sovereign princes have 
thought themselves so much above the 
laws of the state and Christian religion, 
as to conclude such pretended mar- 
riages; and, in these cases, the circle 
of their court has been obliged to con- 
sider them as such. Of private per- 
sons, even of the highest distinction, I 
do not know any instance; and, in 
case there should be, such ladies would 
yet be considered merely as kept mis 
tresses, and not be admitted in good 
company. 
Brunswick ; 
Jan. 31, 1822, 
R. Ct. VELTHEIM. 
Toul 
