5870 



Bavarian Sporting. 



On Bavarian Sporting. 

 By the Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, M.A. 



I HAVE just been reading (Zool. 5806 — 7) Dr. Collingwood's 

 graphic account of the game-market at Vienna, and his description 

 brings vividly to my recollection a similar scene at Munich, in the 

 winter of 1840 — 1, which I spent in that capital; and on looking 

 back to my journals of that date, by way of refreshing my memory on 

 the subject, I have stumbled on some memoranda of various royal 

 hunts of which I was an eye-witness, and by which these markets 

 were supplied. Thinking that perhaps a short description of them 

 may be of interest to the readers of the ' Zoologist,' I venture to tran- 

 scribe again from my journals ; but, for the benefit of those who have 

 had no experience of Munich in the winter, I will first say a few 

 words of that capital and its climate duruig the cold months, when 

 these royal battues took place. I will premise, then, that Munich is 

 the highest capital in Europe, though, not having a Murray at hand, 

 I cannot state accurately how many feet it stands above the level of 

 the sea. It is situated in a vast plain, or rather in the centre of a 

 large basin, surrounded indeed by mountains, but all of them at 

 a great distance ; and on whichever side of the city you may ap- 

 proach you will see for many a league the great kettle-drum-looking 

 domes or cupolas on the summit of the two towers of the Dora 

 Kirche, standing up as beacons to guide you on to your journey's 

 end. I'he plain, too, in which the city stands is truly Bavarian, not 

 only so vast and apparently interminable, but perfectly flat, and its 

 surface unbroken by hedges, banks or any other kind of fence, since 

 fences are not wanted in a country where the cattle are never turned 

 out to grass ; and in the autumn, when the crops are off the ground, 

 you may strike off from the highway immediately after leaving the town, 

 and ride in any direction, so long as the open weather lasts. But 

 though Munich is one of the sultriest and certainly the very dustiest 

 of towns in the summer, it is one of the very coldest in the winter, 

 without shelter on any side, and exposed to all the winds of heaven : 

 for four months the weather is very severe, and the cold is intense ; 

 and there is no gradual change, but in a single night you pass from 

 the height of summer to the depth of winter : from November to 

 March the snow lies frozen and trodden into a hard, solid mass : all 

 wheels disappear from the streets, and the silent sledges, unheard 

 save through their jingle of bells (which the police rigidly require 



