THE HUNTING-GROUNDS OF THE OLD WORLD. XV 



" THE EEVIEW," June 9, 1860. 



An agreeable surprise will await the reader, who, not being addicted to 

 field-sports, may chance to open the volume of which we now propose to 

 enter upon a critical notice, and which, though faithful to the promise 

 implied in its title, abounds in stirring adventures of the chase ; appeals 

 largely, also, to a wide range of tastes ; and embraces within its contents a 

 varied fund of interest and information. 



Thus in the three fields of sporting activity to which the Author intro- 

 duces us — India, Circassia, and Algeria, — not content with a bare narrative 

 of his marvellous exploits with gun or spear, he often expatiates on striking 

 descriptions of the beauties of nature, or sketches the manners and habits 

 of wild races of men, which he diversifies again with descriptions of 

 towns, and of the softer pleasures there in vogue ; paints the voluptuous 

 allurements of oriental life; delineates the grandeur and the grace of 

 the ancient architecture in those interesting regions ; and interweaves all 

 that can captivate the fancy or instruct the mind, into his discursive story. 

 There are traits of humour, also, for the reader intent an amusement ; tragic 

 incident and tale for more serious dispositions ; and poetry both gay and 

 pathetic for the refined admirer of the muse. 



It is among the mountain heights, however, and the immemorial forests 

 that our author, though nothing comes amiss to him, is most at home ; and 

 he communicates his experience of the sublimities and beauties of landscape 

 scenery with a freshness and vigour that speak his keen sense of enjoyment 

 and ardent sympathies with the glories of creation. Imagination, taste, 

 and sentiment largely pervade the whole composition. As for the sporting 

 performances related in the work, they are truly astonishing, and fill the 

 mind with horror by the perilous character that they assume. Who does 

 not feel an uneasy sensation as he accompanies our author to the tiger's 

 lair, strewed thick with the remains of mutilated victims, with human 

 bones, and the trinkets of the native women devoured by the wild beast ? 

 What heart is not turned in its beat, as the same fearless sportsman is 

 hugged by a bear ; or, as he dangles by a silken rope, in his descent of the 

 yawning precipice, to recover from a ledge of rock the ibex that he has 

 killed with his unerring rifle. These and the like exciting events are power- 

 fully told, and will arrest the attention of the least inquisitive. 



The chase is, indeed, the image of war, when the most ferocious of the 

 animal tribes constitute the game, and the perpendicular height is to be 

 scaled, or the foaming torrent crossed, in quest of the noble sport. There 

 is need for circumspection at every step, when the slight(!st error or over- 

 sight may be irremediable and fatal ; and the discipline of mind and body 



