224 SHOOTING THE PHEASANT 



leads the way, for of the large quantity of game killed 

 annually at Sandringham not one head is ever sold, 

 and many hundreds of people of all ranks can testify 

 to the thoughtful kindness which prompts his Royal 

 Highness's countless gifts. It used to be the boast 

 of Drumlanrig that 25,000 head of game were killed 

 on that estate alone during the season, every head 

 not consumed for the use of the house being given 

 away, and the present Duke of Buccleuch keeps up 

 the same liberal tradition on all his estates. Many 

 others are there whom I could name who look upon 

 their game preserving merely as a means of pleasing 

 their friends, giving employment in their own neigh- 

 bourhood, and doing a little good to others at a 

 distance. 



The qualities of the genial, generous country 

 gentleman are still to be found, and I am happy to 

 say are no less common among those whose fortunes 

 and acres are newly acquired than among the here- 

 ditary owners of the soil. 



To many of these of both sorts I, like others 

 who do not own an acre of land, owe grateful thanks 

 for happy days ; which, with my apologies for the 

 incompleteness and imperfections of these necessarily 

 limited writings, I tender with the greatest possible 

 pleasure. 



