PARTING FROM OLD FRIENDS. 125 



I shall never forget my last day's snipe-shooting 

 there, or my farewell look at the merlins. I may 

 say, without affectation, that I parted from them 

 with sincere regret. They had been my com- 

 panions for more than two months, had not only 

 shared my sport, but had added very materially to 

 it, by affording me a contemplation of theirs ; and 

 they convinced me that a friendly, if not a familiar 

 intercourse might be established between man and 

 many wild animals which now shun his presence, 

 without any greater sacrifice on his part, than the 

 simple observance of that golden precept, 



"Live and let live." 



