ROUMANIA 



Bv PRINCE NICOLAS GHIKA 



" 1 " HE chase, the only national sport of Roumania, alone retains 

 -■- those original characteristics that the invasion of Western 

 notions and customs has banished from so much of the national life. 

 Even the recent popularity of horse-racing, under the auspices of 

 the Bucharest Jockey Club, must be held direcdy responsible for 

 the disappearance of the once famous breeds of native horses in 

 favour of French and English thoroughbreds. It is, however, with 

 the chase alone that this article is to deal ; and my account of the 

 country's shooting will be conveniently divided under three heads, 

 an arrangement facilitated by its geographical configuration. 



I.— SHOOTING IN THE MOUNTAINS 



The sportsman may find on the eastern slopes of the Carpathians, 



amid the forests of fir and beech that flourish in that range, bear, 



boar, wolf, lynx and wild cat, fox, badger, marten, roedeer ; and at 



a lower level, hares and partridges. Up in the vast northern forests 



of the Trotus and Bistrizza valleys he should also encounter stags, 



but these are replaced in the steeper and more broken mountains of 



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