68 EVENING COMPOTATION. 



hovel. The children with a cry of delight rushed from the 

 hut to the opposite bank to welcome him ; but, terrified by 

 the fearful appearance of the flood, his wife entreated him not 

 to attempt its passage for the present. 



" But would he, a powerful and experienced swimmer, be 

 deterred ? The eager and hungry looks of his expecting 

 family maddened the unhappy father. He threw aside his 

 clothes, bound them with the meal upon his back, crossed 

 himself devoutly, and, ' in the name of God/ committed 

 himself to the swollen river. 



"For a moment he breasted the torrent gallantly two 

 strokes more would bring him to the bank when the trea- 

 cherous load turned, caught him round the neck, swept him 

 down the stream, sank, and drowned him. He struggled hard 

 for life. His wife and children followed the unhappy man as 

 he was borne away and their agonizing shrieks, told him, 

 poor wretch ! that assistance from them was hopeless. At 

 last the body disappeared, and was taken up the following 

 morning four miles from, this fatal place. One curious cir- 

 cumstance attended this calamity : to philosophers I leave its 

 elucidation, while I pledge myself for its accuracy in point of 

 fact. A herd of cattle galloped madly down the river- side at 

 the time their unfortunate keeper was perishing; their bel- 

 lowings were heard for miles, and they were discovered next 

 morning, grouped around the body of the dead shepherd, in 

 the corner of a sandy cove, where there the abated flood had 

 left it." 



Every one shoots grouse ; the operation is so common- 

 place, that none but a cockney would find novelty in its detail. 

 Our morning's sport was excellent. The dogs were in good 

 working condition, and under perfect command ; but at noon 

 the breeze died away, the day became oppressively hot, and 

 the biting of gnats and horse-flies intolerable. Not being 

 exterminators, we ceased shooting at three o'clock, and re- 

 turned to our cabin with two-and-twenty brace of birds. 



The particulars of the evening compotation I shall be 

 excused in passing over. I must allow that the portion oi 

 wine allotted to sportsmen by the Author of Salmonia was 

 awfully exceeded. We anointed our faces with cold cream, 

 which speedily removed the pain and inflammation consequent 

 on the stinging we had endured from the insects, and, after 



