120 B1ED LIFE IN ENGLAND. 



period spent in imitation of our huntsmen ancestors, must 

 always prove attractive to a well-constituted sportsman's 

 mind and body. The camp fire alone is a delight of the first 

 degree. "Men scarcely know how beautiful flame is," nor 

 truly appreciate it ; but when a thousand stars are twinkling 

 overhead, the crisp crackle of the wood and the flying sparks 

 impress the mind with a pleasant sense of companionship in 

 solitude and love for the great Promethean gift which is felt 

 but dimly under more familiar circumstances. Yet, though 

 Lares and Penates are usually looked upon as strictly house- 

 hold gods, the resting-place of the shooter or traveller, if 

 only for a short time, needs its altar as much as does the 

 most fixed abode. What could strike a pilgrim with more 

 sense of discomfort than a halt under the canopy of heaven 

 without the cheerful light of leaping red flames ? Can we 

 imagine bright stories and laughter as the evening meal is 

 made among men sitting with feet towards darkness ? No ; 

 the idea is barbarous. Little matter place, time, or tempera- 

 ture, the sojourner in the wilds, on halting, turns his first 

 attention to a cheerful fire, in presence of which he can con- 

 tentedly enjoy well-earned repose. With it the hunter's food 

 is ambrosial, his drink, though it come from a hill stream, 

 is nectar for the gods, while his sleep, if it be only on the 

 mattress of earth, is the choicest gift in the liberal apron of 

 good mother Nature. 



All these pleasures, which make out-of-door life so 

 fascinating, we acknowledged as we sat by our fire, en- 

 livening the evening by stories and laughter, and piling 

 up the logs till the flames threaten destruction to the roof 

 of sod and heather, our only protection from the night dews ; 

 till, our pipes having burnt out twice or thrice, we drank 

 health to the morrow, and, wrapping ourselves in the ready 

 tartans of our adopted heath, with a final touch to our heather 

 couches, were soon in the unsubstantial hunting grounds of 

 sleep. But the pleasantest repose will give way before a 

 prearranged determination to wake at a certain hour ; and 



