GKOi-sE LOCALITIES.] BV TIKLU, WOOD, AM) WATEII. [fiiiousE locvutieb. 



fiiderable quantities of black grouse in tbo New 

 Foreat of irampshiro, in 80ino pnrts of Devon- 

 shire, Stallordshiro, and Uerbyshiro ; but it is 

 uow quostionablo if there bo any, cither of 

 this spooiod of tho grouso family, or of tho rod 

 grouse, in these parts of England. Tho nioora 

 of Yorkshire are, to tho London sportsman, 

 the nearest spots whcro any portion of grouso 

 can readily be obtained; and even there, for, 

 several years, there has been a diminution of 

 their numbers progressively going on. The 

 increase of manufacturing and mining opera- 

 tions in this section of tho kingdom, has been 

 the principal cause of this ; and, as these are 

 further extended, tho birds will retreat still 

 further northward, until they finally locate 

 themselves amid the solitary wildernesses of 

 Scotland. 



Tho cheap and rapid mode of travelling by 

 railway has, however, thrown open to the Eng- 

 lish shooter, considerable tracts of moorland that 

 were scarcely accessible before ; he can traverse 

 the country from London to the distant High- 

 lands of Scotland in a day, and can find moors 

 and game to his heart's content. There are, 

 however, wide ranges of grousing country nearer 

 home. The moors of Westmoreland, Cumber- 

 land, and Northumberland, are very extensive ; 

 and there are great numbers of grouse upon 

 them, of all kinds. There are, in Westmore- 

 land, shooting districts of immense extent; but 

 the country is so wild, bleak, and mountainous, 

 that a guide is necessary for strangers, and a 

 pocket compass is indispensable. The Cum- 

 berland moors are likewise extensive, and pretty 

 well supplied with grouse; but here, too, the 

 country is exceedingly wild and rugged. In 

 tho neighbourhood of Hexham, in Northum- 

 berland, and in the moors belonging to the 

 Duke of Nortlmmberland, at Keilder Castle, 

 grouse were wont to be plentiful, and the 

 range of country is a very interesting one in 

 point of scenery. England, Ireland, and 

 Wales, however, must yield to Scotland as 

 grousing countries. 



This comparatively Alpine land can now, by 

 railway and steamboat, be threaded in all its 

 localities, at a very small cost of time and 

 money. The sportsman can transport himself, 

 m a few hours, from one spot to another, a 

 couple of hundred miles apart; and this gives 

 him a great command of the whole country. 

 3 z 



If one spot docs not como up to his oxpccta- 



tioiis, he can removt* luinsclf and I'stablinhinent 

 to another, an advaiitago wliieh tho gruusO" 

 shooters of former times did not pottaoss. 

 Then, a removal to any great distuueo on- 

 grossed nearly half of tho shooting season, and 

 was attended witli great expense. 



To expatiate upon tho noblw scenery which 

 a Highland shooting excursion presents, is 

 superlluous, as tho localities most remarkable 

 for this have often been described by tourists, 

 anglers, <fec. ; but still, to an intelligent and 

 imaginative grouse-shooter, these mountaia 

 peaks and passes must be ever new and full of 

 interest. In many places, the sportsman will 

 find guides indispensable, especially if he 

 wander among the more northern heights, 

 such as those of Bcii-na-huird, Cairngorum^ 

 and Ben-macdui, which lift their snowy sum- 

 mits to an elevation of nearly four thousand 

 feet above the level of tho ocean. An expe- 

 dition with the gun to any of these parts is 

 quite an adventure, and must be performed on 

 foot; and as there are few cottages to be 

 found amongst them, the sportsman must not 

 forget to supply himself amply with provisions, 

 as the sharpness of the air whets the appetite, 

 and hunger is a bad companion upon the soli- 

 tary sides of a measureless mountain. Every- 

 thing here is upon a scale of singularly wild 

 and rugged magnificence. The mountain tor- 

 i^-eiitg — some of which are almost one continued 

 waterfall— foam and dash over ledges of rock, 

 and peculiarly afi"ect the mind of the spectator 

 by their grandeur and turbulence. The higher 

 glens are likewise surrounded and hemmed in 

 by rocks and precipices, clothed with tho 

 birch aud heather, and so far removed from 

 human ken, and human sympathy, that they 

 are seldom visited, save by the red deer and 

 the eagle. Here shooting is both a fiitiguing 

 and dangerous amusement ; for if the sports- 

 man be a complete novice to such scenes, the 

 chances are that he will tumble over some 

 pointed and half-hidden elevation, and, may- 

 hap, break both his head and his fowling- 

 piece. AV'heu less elevated localities are fre- 

 quented, the shooter will find a small Highland 

 pony of some service. Though attended with 

 care and trouble, it will transport him more 

 easily over a larger tract of country ; but 

 where a man is in robust health, and has youth 



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