326 FACT AGAINST FICTION. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE SPORTSMAN IN RETIREMENT. — RURAL LIFE, AND 

 FOOD FOR THE POOR. 



Acclimatization Society — Alderney Manor — Pairal Life and its 

 rieasures— The Lark— Tench— The Mole— The Water-Rail— 

 Mistaken Accusation against the Bullfinch, Goldfinch, and other 

 Small Birds — Mistakes of the same kind as to Game — Food for 

 the Poor — Conclusion. 



There have appeared in the Times newspaper 

 occasionally letters suggesting a ^'National Accli- 

 matization Society," as a means for introducing 

 more food for the communit}^, rich and poor, in 

 the shape of birds, beasts, and fishes. 



There can be no doubt but that if the Govern- 

 ment would patronize an association of that sort, 

 taking example from the success achieved in 

 Australia, that much good might remotely result 

 from it ; but to send for, to import, and then 

 to naturalize living things to a change of climate, 

 jnust meet with many failures, and be a work 



