192 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 
GAME IN OLDEN TIMES. 
Mr. Coke, the 7th of October, 1797, upon his manor at 
Warham, and within a mile’s circumference, bagged forty 
brace of partridges in eight hours, at ninety three shots ; 
every bird was tilled singly. The day before, on the same 
spot, he killed twenty-two brace and a half, in three hours. 
In 1801, this gentleman killed, in five days, seven hundred 
and twenty-six partridges. 
In January, 1803, Mr. Coke, Sir John Shelly, and Mr. 
T. Sheridan, went over to Houghton, in Norfolk, on a 
Chasse for their friend lord Cholmondeley, and killed there, 
only with their three guns, in one day, fourteen brace and 
a half of hares, sixteen couple of rabbits, twenty-four brace 
of pheasants, thirteen brace of partridges, and sixteen couple 
of woodcocks. However great and surprising this shooting 
may appear, it is nothing to what has been done in Germa- 
ny, and Bohemia, of which I shall only give one instance, 
copied from Mons. Dutens, Itneraire, Edit. 1793, p. 153: 
“ Game is in such abundance in the kingdom of Bohemia, 
that in the year 1753, the Emperor, Francis I. made a 
partie de chasse, of twenty-three sportsmen, to go with 
him on a shooting excursion, to one of the estates of Prince 
Colleredo: in the space of eighteen days, the imperial sports- 
men fired 116,209 shots, and killed 19,545 partridges; 
18,243 hares; 9,499 pheasants; with other inferior game, 
amounting to 47,950. I had the anecdote from the Prince 
Colleredo himself.” 
These exploits in shooting, seemed admirably calculated, 
not only to deafen the operator, but to severely beat his 
shoulder, almost to pieces; when we consider that every 
fowling-piece requires to be washed, at every twenty dis- 
charges at least, and the operation is performed, we are lost 
in amazement at such an extraordinary occurrence. 
Thornhill. 
ANECDOTE OF YOUNG FOX CUBS. 
About two months ago two very young fox cubs were 
accidentally caught at the Bar hill, and conveyed to the 
game keeper, Myers’ romantic residence in the Deer Park, 
Cally. A day or two afterwards the Stewartry huntsman, 
whose sole business is to destroy vermin, not to observe 
the laws of the chase, while beating the cover near Disdow, 
started an old she fox, which was speedily shot by our friend 
Mr. Myers. 
As it was obvious the animal had been giving milk, search 
was made, and two more cubs found, one of which was so 
tiny that it shortly after died. But its twin brother, or 
sister, survived, and was placed on a good bed of straw at 
the bottom of a half-hogshead, along with the two juvenile 
Reynards already mentioned; and there the trio, by dint of 
good nursing, and with such recreation as they furtively 
secured, have lived very comfortably evfer since. About 
the time alluded to, Mr. Myers had a small black bitch, 
whose pups had been drowned, and, as he was anxious to 
preserve the young foxes, he determined to try whether the 
animal would suckle the nurslings of her natural enemy — 
an experiment which succeeded to admiration. The mo- 
ment “ Pepper” or “ Mustard,” we forget which, was in- 
troduced to the importation from the hill-side, she com- 
menced licking them all over, and, in the course of a few 
hours, displayed more fierceness in guarding them from real 
or supposed harm than ever she did in defence of her own 
offspring. Under such kind nursing they throve so well 
that they are already as big as their foster parent; but of 
late, we believe, they have been fed with rabbits, and their 
nurse, for the sake of her own health, kept apart from them 
during the day. The half-hogsheads are furnished with a lid, 
on which is placed a stone to keep it down; but, in spite of 
these precautions, the bitch has repeatedly knocked the top 
off, and, after dragging the cubs out of the barrel, led the 
way to the neighbouring woods, that they might enjoy air, 
exercise, and recreation. When followed, she answers to 
her master’s call, and, when coaxed to return home, emits 
a peculiar cry, hovering between a bark and a howl, that 
immediately brings their foxships around her. The said 
cubs, with which so much pains have been taken, are to be 
presented by and bye to a friend of ours, an ardent lover of 
the pleasures of the chase, and who has long been anxious 
to stock Annandale well with foxes, maugre the welfare of 
the “ woolly people.” We, ofcourse, quarrel with noman’s 
taste, notwithstanding of Andrew Fairservice’s saw anent 
“ land louping for days after a bit beastie that will no weigh 
six pund when ye catch’t;” but this we may predict very 
safely, that the foxes, when they are old enough, will evince 
their gratitude by helping themselves to a tithe of his lambs 
on the hill, and more than a tithe of his good lady’s poultry. 
Dumfries Courier. 
PIGEON MATCH. 
A shooting match at Pigeons was decided on the 15th 
of July, at Germantown, between Doctor S. and Mr. L. for 
fifty dollars a side, at ten birds each, and was won by the 
former gentleman, he having killed his ten birds — and the 
latter nine, missing the first bird. 
Another match occurred on the same day and place, 
with several on a side, but we have not been able to procure 
a statement of the shooting. 
