GOLD PIIEASAXTS AT BLEXIIEIM. 79 



been a great amateur and collector to a certain extent 

 of paintings. But I must confess that my curiosity 

 was then much more excited by the account I had 

 heard of the gold and silver pheasants which might be 

 seen flying wild in the plantations near the house. 

 When I was gratified with the sight of those beautiful 

 birds, how anxiously I wished to have had a few shots 

 at them. Daniel (in his " Rural Sports") says, " It is sup- 

 posed at that time 300 or 400 brace of each of these 

 species are to be found at large within the park wall." 

 I do not recollect seeing any of these pheasants when I 

 revisited Blenheim in 1834. 



The Duke of Marlborough, great grandfather of the 

 present duke, was very fond of shooting. His Blenheim 

 spaniels were small, red and white, with large black 

 eyes, black nose, legs and tail well feathered, a spot on 

 the forehead, and altogether very pretty dogs. 



The duke of that day beat with these spaniels the 

 plantations and woods that were not too thick at bottom, 

 and I have heard that it was a very pleasing sight to 

 see four or five brace of these beautiful well trained 

 dogs hunting so close near the duke, that you might 

 almost throw a cast net over them. 



A puppy of this breed, which is now almost extinct, 

 was given to one of my daughters by a grandson of the 

 duke. He was handsome, most intelligent, and had an 

 excellent nose. Poor Bijou was a great favourite %nth 

 all the family. He travelled with us in Holland, Grer- 

 manj^, Switzerland, and Italy, and died at the good old 

 age of fourteen 3-ears. He was a thorough aristocratic 

 dog, and would never take his meals in the kitchen, or 

 go down a back stair. 



I conclude this article on pheasant shooting by 



