FARMERS' REGSITER— HARVEST LABORS. 



275 



pig advance too fust. la the middle of the drove, 

 surrounded like a shepherd by his flock, slowly 

 stalked the" Sell wein General,'" a wan, spectre 

 looking old man, worn out, or nearly so. by the 

 arduous and every-dayduty of conducting, against 

 their wills, a gang of exactly the most obstinate 

 amnials in creation. A single glance at his jaun- 

 diced, ill-natured countenance, was sufficient to 

 satisiy one that his temper had been soured by 

 the vexatious contrarieties and "untoward e\'enls" 

 it had met with. In his left hand he held a staff" to 

 help himself onwards, wlwle round his right shoul- 

 der hung one ot" the most terrific wliijis that could 

 possibly be constructed. At the end of a short 

 handle, turning upon a swivel, there was a lash 

 about nine feet long, formed like the verlebrai of a 

 snake, each joint being an iron ring, which de- 

 creasing in size, was closely connected with its 

 neighbor by a band of hard greasy leather. The 

 pliability, the weight, and the force of this iron 

 v/hip, rendered it an argument which the obsti- 

 nacy even of the pigs was unable to resist; yet as 

 the old man proceeded dov\rn the town, he endea- 

 vored to speak kindly to the herd; and as the bulk 

 of them preceded him, jostling each other, grumb- 

 ling and grunting on their wa}^, he occasionally 

 exclaimed, in a low, hollow, worn-out tone of 

 encom'agemsnt, "Nina! Anina!" (drawling of 

 course, very long on the last syllable.) 



If any little savory morsel caused a contention, 

 stoppage, or constipation on the march, the old 

 <(3llow .slowly unwound hi.s dreadful whip, and by 

 merely whirling it round his head, like reading the 

 Riot Act, he generally succeeded in dispersing the 

 crowd; but if they neglect this solemn warning, if 

 their stomachs proved stronger than their judge- 

 ments, and if the group of greedy pigs still con- 

 tinued to stagnate — "Arriffi" the, old fellow ex- 

 claimed, and rushing forwards, the lash whirling 

 round his head, he inflicted, with strength which 

 no one could have fancied he possessed, a smack 

 that seemed absolutely to electrify the leader. As 

 lightning shoots across the heavens, I observed 

 the culprit fly fjrwards, and for many yards con- 

 tinuing to sidle towards the left, it was quite evi- 

 dent that the thorn was still smarting in his side; 

 and no wonder, poor fellow ! for the blow he re- 

 ceived would almost have cut a j)iece out of a 

 door. 



As soon as the herd got out of the town, they 

 began gradually to ascend the rocky barren moun- 

 tain which appeared towering above them; and 

 then the labors of the Schwein general and his 

 staff became greater than ever; for as the animals 

 from their solid column began to extend or deploy 

 themselves inijo line, it was necessary constantly 

 to ascend and descend the slippery hill, in order 

 to outflank them. "Arriff!" vociferated the old 

 man, striding afier one of his rebellious subjects; 

 "ArrifT!" m a shrill tone of voice was re-echoed 

 by the lad, as he ran after another; liowe\'er, in 

 due time, the drove reached the ground which 

 was devoled for that day's exercise the whole 

 mountain being thus taken in regular succession. 



The Schwein general now halted, and the pigs 

 being no longer called upon to advance, but being 

 left entirely to their own notions, I became exceed- 

 ingly anxious attentively to observe them. 



No wonder, poor reflecting creatures! that they 

 had come unwillingly to such a spot — l"or there 

 ::ipppared literally to be nothing for thon to eat 



but hot stones and dust; however, making the best 

 of the bargain, they all very vigorously set them- 

 selves to work. Looking uj) the hill, they dexter- 

 ously began to lift up with their snouts the largest 

 of the loose stones, and then grubbing their noses 

 into the cool ground, I watched their proceedings 

 for a very long lime. Their tough wet snouts 

 seemed to be sensible of the quality of every thing 

 they touched; and thus, out of the apparently bar- 

 ren ground, they managed to get fibres of roots, 

 to say nothing of worms, beetles, or any other 

 travefling insects they met with. As they slowly 

 advanced working up the hill, their ears most 

 ]5hiIosophically shading their eyes from the hot 

 sun, I could not help feeling how little we appreci- 

 ate the delicacy of several of their senses, and the 

 extreme acuteness of their instinct. 



In this situation do the pigs remain every morn- 

 ing for four hours, enjoying little else than air and 

 exercise. At about nine or ten o'clock, they begin 

 their march homewards, and nothing can form a 

 greater contrast than their entry into their native 

 town does to their exit from it. 



Their eager anxiety to get to the dinner-trough 

 that awaits them is almost ungovernable; and they 

 no sooner reach the first houses of the town, than 

 a sort of "sauve qui peut" motion takes place; 

 away each then starts towards his dulce domum: 

 and it is really curious to stand still and watch how 

 very quickly they canter by, greedily grunting and 

 snuffling, as if they could smell with their sto- 

 machs, as wefl as their noses, the savory food 

 which was awaiting them. 



At half-past four, the same four notes of the 

 same horn are heard again; the pigs once more 

 assemble — once more tumble over the hot stones 

 on the mountain — once more remain there for four 

 hours — and in the evening once again return to 

 their styes. 



Such is the life of the pigs not only of Langen- 

 Schwalbach, but of those of every village through- 

 out a great part of Germany: every day of their 

 existence, summer and winter, is spent in the way 

 I have described. The squad consists here ot" 

 about a hundred and fifty, and for each pig the 

 poor old Schwein general receives forty kreuzers, 

 (about 13(/.) for six months' drilling of each re- 

 cruit. This income, therefore, is about £20 a 

 year, out of which he has to pay the board, lodg- 

 ing, and clothing of his two aid-de-camps; and 

 when one considers how vinremittingly this poor 

 fellow creature has to contend with the gross ap- 

 petites, sulky tempers, and pig-headed disposition 

 of the swinish multitude, surely not even the most 

 niggardly reformer would Avish to curtail his emo- 

 luments. 



HARVEST LABORS IN GERMANY, AND WORK- 

 ING COWS. 



From the same. 



AU this day I have been strolling about the fields 

 watching the getUng in of the harvest. The crops 

 of oats, rye, and wheat (principally bearded) are 

 much heavi"er than any one would expect from 

 such light and apparently poor land; but the heavy^ 

 dews which characterise the summer climate of 

 this high country impart a nourishment which, in 

 richer lands, often lies dormant from drought. In 

 Nassau, the corn is cut principally by women, who 



