Bavarian Sporting, 



5873 



the roebucks, when driven to desperation, charged the canvas wall, 

 and most of them fell back, unable to clear so great a height ; but 

 three splendid fellows, more nimble and more fortunate than their 

 companions, cleared it in great style and escaped. At length the 

 shooting grew slacker and slacker, and after two hours' firing the 

 massacre was ended : then before each sportsman's bower of firs 

 were placed, in rows, the hares that were slain by him, and were 

 lying dead in front of his stand ; then they were counted, and great 

 rivalry existed among the shooters as to who had gained the greatest 

 score. The whole number killed was above 1600, and the king, who 

 was always especially friendly and communicative to the English, 

 observed to us, " There is so much more glory in killing them thus 

 than if we only killed a dozen or so as you do in England." It 

 would have argued a sad ignorance of Court etiquette to demur at 

 any proposition His Majesty might think fit to assert, so we con- 

 tented ourselves with a smile and a bow, but we secretly entertained 

 rather a diffierent opinion. The hares were now suspended on poles, 

 and these were laid across some light waggons, and thus three wag- 

 gons loaded with hares trotted triumphantly into Munich to the 

 king's cellar, where on the following day hares killed by royalty were 

 sold to the public at thirty-six kreutzers apiece, or about one shilling 

 English. At a subsequent battue the same party killed 1200, and on 

 another occasion 900 hares ; but, as all the hare-hunting consisted of 

 this abominable massacre, we did not care to go a second time. 



It may be supposed we were a little disgusted with what we had 

 seen of Bavarian sport ; but when we were invited to witness a stag 

 hunt we said to one another, Now at least we shall see something 

 more worthy of the name:" judge, then, of our disappointment when, 

 on arriving at the wood fixed on for the rendezvous, we found the pre- 

 parations in all respects like those made for the hare hunt; the canvas 

 walls, the posse of keepers ready to drive the game round, the nooks of 

 fir branches for the shooters, all as before; indeed, excepting that the 

 wood was larger, the canvas walls something higher, and that rifles 

 were substituted for guns and roe for hares, it was the same unsports- 

 man-like massacre we had seen before. There was a good deal of 

 bad shooting displayed on this occasion, and some of the stags, after 

 being driv^en about and shot at a good deal ineffectually, became at 

 last so terrified that they laid down and refused to get up. At the 

 conclusion it was found that about fifty bucks were shot, and these, 

 too, were taken to the king's cellar and disposed of next day, just as 

 XVI. D 



