PORTUGAL 243 



King, D. Carlos I., is the first sportsman, as well as the best shot 



of his kingdom, I will first mention the shooting of large game in 



the royal parks. At Mafra and Villa Vi^osa. in enclosed parks 



many hundreds of acres in extent,* His Majesty hunts red deer 



{veodas) and fallow deer [oainos). 



In these parks, where there is an abundance of game, the deer, 



frightened by the shouts of the drivers and the barking of a few 



doos which they take with them, are driven towards the 

 - to ' Deer. 



guns, who stand in the passes (portas) through which the 

 game passes very rapidly and generally in herds. Firing under such 

 conditions is very difficult ; however. His Majesty the King scores his 

 riofht and left with the greatest ease in these drives. On account of 

 the unevenness of the ground and the wildness of the dense under- 

 growth at Mafra, and the quantity of trees at Villa Viqosa, hunting is 

 impossible in either of these parks. 



Wild boars (Javali) still existed in the Mafra Park during the 

 lifetime of His Majesty's father, D. Luiz, by whose orders they were 



exterminated. Others, which were turned into the park 



Wild Boar. 



last year by order of His Majesty the King, will, within 

 two or three years, be ready for the chase. The hunts at Villa Vi^osa 

 and Mafra, to which His Majesty invites every year the best sports- 

 men of the Portuguese Court, and sometimes the foreign attaches, are 

 very much appreciated. In these parks there is a great quantity of 

 ground and winged game, about which I will say more later on. 



Besides these royal parks there are two private ones, in which red 



* The park at Villa Vigosa contains 3,211 acres, that of Mafra 2,932 acres, Alfeite 716 

 acres, Qiieluz 405 acres, and Ajuda 269 acres. 



