Bavarian Sporting, 



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horses and horsemanship, and in his own palace he fitted up a small 

 amphitheatre, solely for equestrian feats ; and though an English 

 Milord" was always the grand butt of the evening, the said English 

 nobleman being dressed in a red hunting coat, a cocked hat, and a 

 pair of Hessian boots, armed with an enormous pair of spurs and a 

 large hunting-whip, supposed to represent the usual modern English 

 costume in high life, — and though he was very fond of rost-beef," 

 sold his wife in Smithfield, and swore a good deal, the three great 

 characteristics of Englishmen in every foreigner's mind, — yet it was 

 always their best rider who represented Milord; and though he said 

 and did many ridiculous things, he never failed in performing on 

 horseback all kinds of marvellous feats, which made German eyes 

 open with admiration and astonishment, such an idea have they of the 

 prowess of the English in this respect. Not only however for the 

 Circus, but for ordinary purposes Duke Max had a notoriously fine 

 stud of horses, most of them imported from England, and all of con- 

 siderable value : at the head of this department was a pleasant smart 

 riding-master, with whom we after exchanged a few words as we met 

 him in our daily rides : on one occasion he was mounted on a magni- 

 ficent bay horse, which he told us with honest pride was his own 

 private property, a veritable " Englander," just imported and pre- 

 sented to him by the duke, and that he had already refused for him 

 the almost fabulous sum in Germany of 100 Napoleons. As he told 

 us this we were riding on the road near Munich, and after we had 

 duly admired his really handsome horse^ which he showed off to the 

 best advantage, for he rode well, he wished us adieu, and, turning off 

 the road into the neighbouring stubble (for there were no fences or 

 ditches to intercept him), away he started at a gallop, evidently wishing 

 to show off his horse to the English. Now, at some hundred yards 

 from the road, there chanced to be a strong net stretched across apart 

 of the plain, about breast high, intended to keep in roe, or hares, or 

 for some similar purpose: the net hung from a stout rope, which was 

 stretched from posts fixed in the ground at considerable intervals: 

 the afternoon was iog^y^ and we could not see this net in the mist, 

 nor, it seems, did the riding-master; for what was our astonishment, 

 while watching him gallop away, to see horse and man suddenly throw 

 a somersault in the air and alight on their respective backs, and from 

 no apparent cause. By the time we had reached the spot the riding- 

 master had regained his legs, shaken himself, and was not much hurt: 

 not so the poor horse; his back was broken, and he lay struggling 

 and plunging, but unable to get up ; and though, with the help of 



