IX A German First of September 479 



We were received with endless hurrahs and wild 

 lurie - lielie choruses ; and without further ado, one 

 having authority plunged into a mighty pannier, 

 and extracted therefrom a cold roast infant pig 

 that would have gladdened the heart of Ho-ti, — 

 always the standard thing on these occasions — 

 endless yards of bread, and an infinity of bottles, 

 with the gleaming topaz - coloured wine peering 

 through their sides. The breakfast was quickly 

 spread under the flat-topped apple-tree, and enjoyed 

 as anything in the breakfast -line can only be by 

 men who have had an eight or ten mile walk before 

 getting it. The ' zukker,' as Devonians love to 

 call it, was perfect ; and when our wolfish and 

 silent meal was over, I supposed, from the haste 

 with which it was discussed, that we should be in 

 action immediately. Not a bit of it ! Every man 

 set in to sing as hard as he could, and sang well 

 too, thanks to his early training, — quaint choruses 

 following every verse, zucJi-Jieisas tralla lallas, and 

 schnappoe schappidoes, getting perfectly bewilder- 

 ing — the wine passing pretty freely meanwhile. 

 Considering what time of the morning it was, I 

 am sure any gentleman with the slightest regard 

 for his legs would have been perfectly justified in 

 declining to shoot rabbit and cock over beagles in 

 close cover with us, for that day at least. 



I think very few Germans arc what we should 

 call thorough sportsmen. They positively revel in 

 the idea of a day's hunting or shooting : they write 



