Colonel peter tbawfeer 139 



under the circumstances to which I have already referred. 

 But in 1815, at the recommendation of the Duke of 

 Clarence, he was promoted to the rank of Major, and in 

 1821 was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the North 

 Hants Militia. 



So much for his soldiering ; now let me get back to his 

 career as a sportsman. Even in the midst of war he did 

 not lose sight of sport, and both in Spain and Portugal 

 he pursued his shooting with indefatigable zeal, though 

 with little success. Portugal he found almost destitute of 

 game ; but in Spain there were wood-pigeons, red-legged 

 partridges, and " curious foreign birds " in plenty, which 

 afforded some pastime. 



In his Diary for 1809-10 I find this entry: "Only 

 returned from Spain September 28th, and had very little 

 shooting this season owing to severe wound received at 

 Talavera last July 28th." What shooting he did was 

 done from a phaeton, for every movement of his leg 

 caused him great pain. Yet so indefatigable was his 

 zeal for sport that he hobbled out on crutches on 

 February 27th to have a try for trout, and, though 

 compelled to support himself with a stick whilst he 

 threw a fly, brought five brace to hand. 



Hawker was indeed one of those " hard Englishmen " 

 whom Kingsley says our " hard, grey weather " breeds, 

 and even serious illness could not keep him from follow- 

 ing the sport he loved. Here is an instance, taken at 

 random from his Diary for September, 1822 : 



" \Wi. The difficulty of killing birds put me on my 

 metal, and my friends, defying me to get even 3 or 

 4 brace, made me desperate. I therefore quacked 



