252 OLD FRIENDS. 



the entrance to the Needles ; as well as 

 a fine view of the beautiful island, now 

 the resort of so many fashionable visi- 

 tors, and the frequent residence of the 

 sovereign of these kingdoms, and her 

 youthful family, on whose welfare the 

 hopes of the nation are fixed : and 

 where, among the hospitable yeomen, I 

 have spent many a rollicking day. One 

 of my friends kept an excellent pack of 

 harriers with which to entertain his 

 friends in and out of the island, and 

 it did not require a father's last will to 

 enforce this as an obligation ; another was 

 famed for a superior breed of game-cocks, 

 called from their plumage the yellow- 

 legged duck- wing, and annually invited 

 some few amateurs to witness an exhi- 

 bition of their natural propensity, and 

 afterwards to partake of his unbounded 

 and uproarious hospitality. 



But those days are past, and with 



