6004 



Bavarian Sporting. 



SL lot of Starlings build ; and the owner of the house says that they remain there sum- 

 mer and winter. I saw them there in the spring, I suppose over forty of them, just 

 as tame as pigeons, about the yard and house." 



On Bavarian Sporting. 

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



(Continued from page 5875.) 



Having learned from its worthy editor that my notes on Bavarian 

 Sports are not irrelevant to the pages of the ' Zoologist/ or displeasing 

 to its readers, 1 at once comply with his request, by sending the fol- 

 lowing statement of another branch of field pastime, which I have 

 extracted from my journal dated 1840; and I think that whatever 

 opinion may be entertained of the hare and stag and wild boar 

 hunting (which I have described Zool. 5870), all will agree that the 

 horse-racing at Munich is not conducted in a very sportsmanlike 

 manner. It takes place in October at the great Munich Festival, 

 known throughout Bavaria as the October Fest," to w^hich the lower 

 classes, aye and indeed the upper classes too, look forwards with 

 pleasure for many a week: it lasts four days, and a peculiar beer is 

 brewed for the occasion, which is consumed then, and then only, by 

 law, in astonishing quantities. It is held on a large open plain outside 

 the town, and hither people flock from all the surrounding villages, 

 and many from a considerable distance : the horse-racing is the grand 

 feature of the principal day, and attracts the largest crowd of spec- 

 tators, though there is but one race, which comes off in the afternoon. 



The first thing that strikes a stranger's eye on entering the plain 

 where the racing is to take place is the erection of various booths, 

 near different parts of the course, called Accident booths," whither 

 those injured in the race may be speedily conveyed on a stretcher: 

 this led us to suspect barbarous proceedings, for, however laudable a 

 precaution such preparations may evince on the part of Bavarians, in 

 England we should have taken measures to prevent accidents at all. 

 However, the sequel showed that the Bavarians w^ere not mistaken in 

 anticipating mishaps, and some of the booths at least were not tenant- 

 less ere the race was done ; and no wonder, as we shall see : in the 

 first place, as there is but one race, and any horses may start that 

 please, there is quite a crowd of competing racers ; and as they go 

 round the course three times, yet all in one heat, and as the course is 



