AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 91 
ning with all his might; coming near the wagons, he sud- 
denly fell-down, the poor man sitting upon his back made 
a pitiful complaint—how that the day before he was, by 
the Duke of Saxony, for killing a deer, condemned to be 
bound with chains upon that stag, his feet bound fast un- 
der the stag’s belly with an iron chain soldered, and his 
hands so chained to the horns. The miserable man beg- 
ged earnestly that they would shoot him, to put him out 
of his pain; but they durst not, fearing the Duke. Whilst 
they were talking with him, the stag got up again, and ran 
away with all his might. The wagoners computed that he 
had run in sixteen hours, not less than twenty-six Dutch 
miles in the least, which makes near one hundred of our 
English miles. The miseries which that poor creature 
did and must undergo, especially if the stag killed him not 
in running, cannot be expressed, hardly imagined.” 
INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 
No. II. 
In my former communication, I introduced you to the 
fields, and very unceremoniously left you there, while I 
reviewed several items, very important in the Sporting con- 
cern; and, having thus intruded on your patience a little, 
I must apologize, and resume my remarks on the duties 
before you. 
The situation I left you in, I believe, was with your 
dogs at the ‘down charge,” and you loading your gun— 
this being completed, you may give notice of your readi- 
ness to the dogs, by using the words, ‘‘hie on,”’ or ‘hold 
off;’? but in no instance permit them to leave your feet, 
until you have not only completed loading your gun, but 
also have fixed the cap on the tube—this precaution is ne- 
eessary, as will appear hereafter. 
Now commence beating the field, with a moderate and 
regular walk, going in zig-zag directions, until you have 
reached the extremity. It is requisite that you should 
always keep moving, and industriously hunt over the 
ground as well as your dogs—you will in this case be 
likely to spring a covey of birds,* which may have been 
passed unnoticed by the dogs,—and your industry tends 
much to keep up their ambition, especially towards the 
* | allude altogether to the Partridge,—and as this bird is called by 
different names in different sections of our country, I mean the Part- 
ridge of Pennsylvania and the Southern States—and the Quail of New- 
Jersey, New-York, and the Eastern States. In New-York and New- 
England the Pheasant is called the Partridge. 
close of a laborious day’s hunt. Should you have evidence 
that game is near, slacken your pace, and do not crowd 
the dogs, but give them every advantage of time and their 
judgment. Remember you cannot beat a stubble too well; 
no part of it should be omitted—but every nook and cor- 
ner tried, until you are convinced no game is there. You 
are in search of game, and you had better hunt a few fields 
well, than overrun a large extent of country at a hurried 
and unsuccessful rate. 
It frequently occurs, that birds do not like to rise before 
the Sportsman or his dogs, which may be accounted for, 
either by the tameness of the birds or the dampness of their 
feathers, and will only avoid an approaching object by 
merely running aside and squatting, until such noise as 
alarmed them, has ceased. In this case, a Sportsman must 
be indefatigable in hunting the ground, as such game, when 
sprung, generally affords fine sport. Sometimes, on very 
cold mornings, also, Partridges do not leave their roosts 
until quite late in the day. I have frequently discovered 
a covey huddled together ina roosting position before my 
dog’s nose as late as ten o’clock, on severe mornings; con- 
sequently, there is not so much effluvium arising from them 
in this quiescent state, as when searching for food among 
the stubble;—hence the necessity of hunting a field close, 
and not at all times to depend on the perfection of your 
dogs to wind the birds ata long distance. A dog will some- 
times pass within a very few feet to the windward of a co- 
vey of birds, and not heed them, especially should the wind 
be high; this every Sportsman knows, —and I am the more 
convinced of the necessity of adhering to this rule, from 
several cases which I have experienced;—one in particular 
may be mentioned, to show the truth of my remarks. 
One windy afternoon, I was hunting Partridges on ground 
which had every appearance of containing plenty- of that 
kind of game; part of this was a very extensive wheat 
stubble, which I had entered but a few minutes, when my 
dogs soon convinced me game was in the field, or had just 
left it; but, after they had ranged from side to side to the 
extremity of the field, without success, I called them 
in and left it, and hunted several adjoining fields and 
thickets with the same success. My old dog, ‘ the most 
faithful of his kind,’’ re-entered the stubble, and ranged it 
again with the same energy as at first. I however noticed, 
that about the middle of the field was the spot where the 
birds had just left, for, on five or six times, the dogs, when- 
ever unsuccessful in ranging, would return to this very 
spot, to ascertain and make themselves more sure that the 
birds had been there. I now thought I had tried every 
spot, both in the field and in those places adjoining it. I 
had incontestible evidence that the birds had been there 
within a short period, but I could not find them. I was 
