50 SPORT IN EUROPE 



to public auction all properties under 200 Jock in one piece, the rent 

 obtained by this means being then divided among the several pro- 

 prietors, according to the size of their respective holdings. The 

 best return for such legislation is seen in the enormous increase in 

 our game during the last few years. The quality of stag, chamois 

 and other horned game always means so much more to the true 

 sportsman than mere numbers, and we try in consequence to improve 

 the breed wherever possible. This desirable ambition is greatly 

 stimulated by the annual exhibitions at Budapest of the best horns 

 of the season, prize medals being awarded to the first ten ; and this 

 silent competition of magnificent trophies is a sight to gladden the 

 sportsman's heart. 



It is not too much to say that a keen sportsman can occupy every 

 single day of the shooting season in Hungary, so great is the variety 

 of game and so near one to the other are the dift"erent beasts and 

 birds. I now proceed to enumerate these. 



It may cause English sportsmen some surprise if I place at the 

 head of the list our European tiger, the lynx of the Carpathians. 



but I really venture to regard him as in many respects 



Lynx. 



the most desirable, so difficult is he to obtain. A 



sportsman has indeed to regard himself as extraordinarily lucky 

 should he bag more than two or three in a lifetime. The reason 

 for this is not that lynxes are particularly scarce in the land, since 

 thirty or forty are killed every year, trapped and shot. The damage 

 they do is immense, even to chamois and deer, and the sports- 

 man therefore does good service in shooting them when a chance 

 offers. 



