288 SPORTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



mouth, except to bite the stem of his pipe, but an excellent 

 sportsman, and taking more care of the game under his 

 charge than of the poultry in his own farm-yard. 



Upon my arrival at Berlin I had heard some very un- 

 favourable accounts of the sporting prospects for the coming 

 season. An epidemic disease had attacked the larger species 

 of game during the summer, particularly in the royal forests, 

 more than four hundred carcases of stags, hinds, and roe- 

 deer had been found, and this terrible scourge had extended 

 even to the wild boars and foxes ; I shall not add wolves, 

 which have been nearly as completely destroyed in Prussia 

 as in England. All, however, had not perished, and the 



game of the Compte de R, , more fortunate than that of 



his Majesty, had to a certain extent escaped the grievous 

 infliction. A proof of this I am about to relate. With a 

 Russian nobleman as my companion, I started one morning 

 with the Ober Forster in the old char-a-banc for the chasse 

 called purschen, which I have previously explained. We 

 had scarcely commenced our drive beneath the wide-spread- 

 ing trees of the forest when we perceived in the distance a 

 mass of red-coloured objects perfectly motionless, which less 

 experienced eyes might have mistaken for branches covered 

 with dead leaves. It was decidedly a herd of what the Ger- 

 mans denominate red game. By observing proper tactics, 

 and beating up like a ship against the wind, we approached 

 without disturbing the troop, and were able both to count 

 and distinguish them. At first we could make out nothing 

 but hinds, which successively raised their heads, made a 

 bound or two, and then stopped to regard us with curiosity; 

 at length one of the last of the herd, upon " lifting up his 

 countenance," displayed a fine pair of antlers, garnished with 

 six or seven branches. He was the happy sultan of this 

 numerous seraglio, and to him alone were our attentions to 

 be paid. A new manoeuvre, and a circular march, conducted 



