A SPORTSMAN S DINNER. 241 



to muse alone ; my kinsman immediately joined me, 

 and settling himself upon one of the masses of turf, 

 which the floods tear from the banks of the stream, and 

 leave, when their violence subsides, upon the verge of 

 the river, replenished his meerschaum. 



" How refreshing," he said, " to exchange that 

 mephitic air within for this mild but bracing night- 

 breeze ! I saw you pass the glass, and I desired John 

 to bring us out some coffee. It is a queer place, too, 

 for a Mocha fancier to indulge in ; but this is the charm 

 that binds me to the mountains. In life, locality is 

 everything ; it is not the what one does, it is the where. 

 Venison at a city feast is an every-day concern ; and the 

 best haunch in England would not have the gusto of the 

 red deer's that hangs from the roof within. Common 

 comfort in a wilderness like this, from the barrenness 

 of all around, receives a zest, which nothing in civilized 

 society can realize, and ' voild Vexemple* " 



Lighted by a peasant with a bog-deal torch, that 

 emitted more light than forty candles together, the old 

 man approached us with his tray. Coffee taken in the 

 open air, " in darkness palpable," into which the 

 powerful blaze of the torch which our bare-legged 

 attendant held could but feebly penetrate, asso- 

 ciated with the place and company, made an impression 

 on my fancy that will not be readily obliterated. 



But hark ! the Priest pitches that manly and melodious 

 voice he strikes up poor Burns's inimitable lyric, " Then 

 are we met." That matchless song was surely written 

 for such a voice and such a company ! 



Under cover of the Priest's melody we approached the 

 window. There sat a party, who might well put the 

 Temperance Society to the blush. For their years, 



R 



