Se[)l, 4, 1,87;'). 
348 
while the dark-eyed senorllla. siiliuK above iu the bright 
moonlight, dropped the ring or bouquet as a token of 
acceptance to the gallant below. The streets are nearly 
all laid out regularly, forming right angles with the ones 
that run about the Plaza. All the houses of the better 
clas.s have gardens attached, surrounded by high walls 
or fences, over which may be seen the tops of the wide- 
spreading tig and the darker-leaved orange, or per- 
chance the loftj' date, with its crown of feather}’ foliage, 
rises in front of some mansion that w’as once occupied 
by a Spanish grandee. 
The inhabitants of St. Augustine live a* life of quiet 
harmony. They rise early in the morning in time to 
visit the market-house, which is a building with open 
sides. The roof is supported by fourteen pillars, seven on 
a side, and is ornamented with a cupola. The floor is 
raised about four feet above the ground, and is ap- 
proached by steps at each end. The meat and produce 
is exposed for sale upon rude benches. Fish is sold in 
a small building similar to this, a short distance away. 
Everything that is to be procured for the day must be 
purchased before seven o’clock, as by that time the mar- 
kets close, and all the provisions are removed. 
After attending to the marketing for the day and tak- 
ing breakfast, the very few people who have any regu- 
lar emiiloyment attend to it, while the Tnajorify assem- 
ble upon the Plaza in front of headquarters to witness 
the dress parade of the military. After this the people 
disperse, or saunter about the square, under the shade of 
the trees. This iuclosure was called by the Spaniards 
the “ Plaza of the -Constitution,” on account of the 
monument which stands in the centre, that was erected 
in 1312 in honor of a Constitution that w’as pas-sed in 
Spain, granting certain privileges to the people. It bears 
on one side an inscription in Spanish to that effect. This 
is a veiy pretty inclosure, and the compactness of the 
houses in uther portions of the city renders it necessary 
as a plitce for exercise. 
The majorit}' of the inhabitants are Catholics, and as 
it was Holy Week at the time of our visit, services were 
held in the cathedral three times every da}'. We at- 
tended one afternoon. As we entered the door of the 
ve-tibule we encountered a long-robed priest who was 
standing near the door. He eyed us fiercely a moment, 
as if he was about to expel us ; then, seeming to recol- 
lect himself, he suddenly and quietly entered the body 
of the church. We fol',-. wed, and seated ourselves near 
the door. 
The interior was dimly -bghted by high windows, 
glazed with stained glass, between which were hung 
pictures of the saints. It was furnished with low-seated, 
high-hacked pews, with aisles on each side. The priest 
w-as walking up one of them, followed by a little boy, 
who was clad in a long white robe. They both paused 
when they reached the altar, and busied themselves ar- 
ranging something about it. There were but few people 
present when w’e entered. They soon began to arrive, 
and as the pews filled gradually, several nuns of the Sis 
tors of ^lercy entered. This order of holy women tor- 
mc-rly occupied the building now used as the barracks, 
but now they live in a much smaller edifice in another 
portion of the city. As no man except the priests is 
permitted to enter the precincts of this building, all the 
manual offices, such as are usually performed by inale.s 
de\ olve upon these women. We have even seen them 
CSV. ting wood for the fire. The party that entered the 
church marched slowly and solemnly up the aisle and 
kijelt in a semi-circle before the sluine of the Virgin; 
which was elegantly decorated with fl,owers, and re- 
mained in this position till the close of the .services. As 
they took their places a choir, composed of other sisters 
of Uie convent, commenced to chant in the Minorcan 
tongue. Their voices were sweet and the music excel- 
lent. The priests then said mass, after which the people 
retired. In the evening we heard low’ mass, when 
much the same ceremony was repeated. 
[to be, CONTINEED.] 
THE ABUSES OF FIELD SPORTS, 
(>K, AX Appeal to Westerx Spoutsmex. 
BV UECAPPKK, 
From the times of the patriarchs, down to the present 
day, in all countries and among alt nations, no pastime 
has ever been so thoroughly and persistently followed 
up as the pursuit and killing of game. With most savage 
nations it is the principal means, of subsistence, and 
with all it is the favorite sport. The modgs of pursuing 
an.l kilHng game are as various as the game itself, ftiid, 
the weapons used differ with the different nations who 
use them. Where primitive anus arc used, the game is, 
if not on the increase, at least as plenty as in days of 
yore ; but in our own and other civilized lands, the 
breech-loading rifle and shot-gun, directed by keen eyes 
and steady hands, is fast sweeping away the old-time 
savage denizens of the forests, rivers and prairies. In 
wild or ))artially settled countries, the tqtal destruction 
of all dangerous game seems to be a matter of necessity 
ore that country can be inhabited with safety and profit 
to the settlers ; but in our own land there is pressing 
need for the proper proteclion of all the small and harm- 
less game, and in especial the winged varieties. That, 
as a pastime, field sports are healthful, manly and use- 
ful, not even the disciples of a Bergh deny. .Manly and 
useful, because they tend to prevent effeminacy, and 
promote physical lievelopment, and for the same reasons 
healthful as well. In view of these facts, for facts they 
are, it would at once seem desirable that game should 
be protected in the breeding season, in such a manner 
that the stock may not be exhausted ; and the question 
is, can this be done ? and if so, how can it be done with- 
out interfering with the present ptir«uit of .game for 
sport? 
There is probably no country in which field sports 
are, and for centuries have been, so systematically and 
scientifically pursued as in England. The amount of 
money annually spent there upon field sports, and upon 
all belonging to it or in any way connected with it, is 
not imagined, and would scarce be credited here if told. 
When we consider the number of head.s of game killed 
there each season, and the size of the country compared 
with our own, it would seem to the uninitiated that the 
game there ought all to have been exterminated long 
since. Yet, such is so far from being the fact, that 
game of mo.st kinds belonging to that country is as 
plenty, if not more plenty, than it was years ago. Yet 
there are more good shots, and guns, and dogs are more 
perfect, than ever before. Does any man in his senses 
doubt that this is owing to protection ? Can any one 
think that because a country becomes thickly inhabited, 
that alone is reason for the disappearance of the game ? 
So very far is this from being the case, that it has been 
proved that many kinds of game, if properly cared for, 
actually thrive better m settled districts. 
Take, for in.stance, the pinnated grouse. His home, it 
is true, is on the prairie; but does he feed there by choice, 
when he can vL<it the farmer’s grain fields? We know 
he does not. Give him a jdace on the prairie to rest and 
to hide in, and he will ask of it nothing more, while 
corn and wheat fields are around him. Y"et the prairie 
alone Ims not always been the home of this grouse. 
Throughout most of the Middle and some of the Eastern 
States this. bird once resided. Far away from the open 
prairies, he lived in the oak openings and in the pine 
forests of Xew .Tersey and other Stales; yet he disap- 
peared from here, not for want of feed, but from piti- 
less and unending persecution. As it was with this bird 
so it is with the (piail, to a greater extent; and with that 
prince of game birds, the woodcock, greate.st of all. What 
better can we expect than to see the game disappear when 
it is shot iu season and out of season, year after year? 
But I am afraid that the fault is not always on the part 
of the countrymen or the market shooters. Many who 
call' themselves, and arc by their friends called, sports- 
men, are guilty, not only of not strictly observing the 
game laws, but of other practices unw'orthy of true 
sportsmanship. I cannot call it sportsmanlike to kill more 
game than is needed for use, and yet there are many whose 
only pleasure seems to be td turn shooting into butchery. 
I know of a man who, last autumn, went West on a two 
weeks’ shooting trip, and, in company with a friend, 
bagged over four hundred quail, and he was not satis- 
fied. He ordered two hundred more caught and sent to 
him at home. Now he was only a private citizen, does 
not keep a hotel, or any eating saloon, and would scorn 
the idea of shooting game to sell. He does not imagine 
that it is not sportsmanlike to kill more quail than can 
he used,. or that he is encouraging farmer boys in had 
habits, when he hires them to trap whole bevies of quail 
at once. But what is worse than all is, that there are 
many — miscalled sportsmen — who are guilty of the same 
practices. Many of them argue that “game is so plenty 
.out West, and the extent of country .so .great, that the 
game can never be exterminated.” 
.- Is game any more plenty there, or the extent of coun- 
try very much greater, than with us here, sity, forty 
years ago? The same arguments were used here then, 
add the same slaughter practiced. We all know what 
was the itasult. 
If the We.stern country .should continue to fill up as 
it is now doing for the next half century, and if the same 
erroneous ideas about game are ptit in force, that coun- 
try will become almost and perhaps quite ns destitute of 
game as this has become, and from precisely the same 
causes. I am aware that the subject of “ game preser- 
vation” is now’ attracting the attention of a large nmnber 
of the true sportsmen of this country; that clubs are be- 
ing formed, and money expended in the good cause; and 
I give a hearty God speed to those sportsmen. They 
have got a herculean task before them. Not one in a 
hundred of them reall.y knows how much there is to be 
done. The great point is to start right, and in my hum- 
l)le opinion, to start right is to begin with themselves. 
I^et each one determine — and carry out the determina- 
tion — not to be guilty of any individual act contrary to 
good sportsmanship. A good conscience is a gran4 
thing, and will help along amazingly. But 1 cannot jest 
on this subject. It is too real, too earnest. Farmers 
mu.st be interested in the cause; poaching must be put 
a stop to; the buying and selling of .game out ol season 
broken up. 
If all these things had been allowed in England, where 
would have been her game now? It may well be that 
the task is hopeless in the Eastern and Middle States; 
that the game of these regions is doomed. If so, let the 
sportsmen of the West take warning in time, and make 
it their pride and their boast that there, at lea.st, the 
game shall find sure protection. Mere statutes upon the 
statute books will not do it. The laws must be backed 
up and enforced by public opinion and public approval^ 
and then there is a hope for the best. 
The phrase of “ One swallow don’t make a summer” 
is said to have been originated by Campbell, a veteran 
stage driver on the Rocky Mountains, who drove Horace 
Greeley down the Virginia canon, three miles in twelve 
minutes, and upon arriving at Idaho Springs was asked 
to take a drink, and remarked that “one swallow didn’t 
make a summer,” but he thought he could stand about 
three swallows just then. This reminds us of the Penn- 
sylvanian who was riding with Campbell, and w’hen 
climbing up the mountains from Central City, kept re 
marking upon the superiority of their Pennsylvanian 
horses. Upon arriving at the top of the mountain, Mr. 
Campbell asked his Pennsylvania friend to hold the 
reins a moment while he stepped off, which was done as 
a matter of course. Campbell gathered up a number of 
stones and placed them on the seat, and in re.sponse to 
a query from his friend, said they were useful iu going 
down the steep incline of 1,000 feet in three miles. They 
started, and the driver, dropping his lines, yelled to the 
horses and began firing stones at flic leaders. Coolly 
turning to his Pennsylvania friend, he asked him how 
he liked that for speed ; but, poor fellow, when he got 
half way down, and was running alongside an immense 
chasm, he made a leap for the opposite bank, and 
walked intoTdaho badly bruised, about an hour after 
the arrival of the stage. Miss Nellie Grant, when riding 
down the same declivity with Mr. Campbell, said, 
“ Don't drive so fast ; I am afraid.” The response wa.s; 
“ Jly life is worth as much as yours, madam,” and an 
extra crack of the whip at the leaders was the only satis- 
faction. Miraculous as it may appear, the veter;tn stage 
driver never had an accident in making that wondeifid 
run. 
Pigeon Shooting in England. 
The English season for pigeon shooting closed on iMoii- 
day, July 2(5. A full review of the season shows the in- 
creasing favor for this sport among gentlemen and 
sportsmen in the old country. The Hurlingham and 
Gun Clubs are the two leading clubs; the former includ- 
ing the Prince of Wales and other personages of the 
highest rank, and the meet taking place at Hurlingham 
Park, the Prince of Wales' .seat. The shooting .sweej) 
.stakes are generally W'ith fifteen andtwenfy -five dollars 
entry, in a few instances fifty dollars; bir^s are usually 
from five to fifteen, with ri.«es of 21 to SO yards. The 
Gun Club is nuinerically stronger than the. Hurlingham, 
and the .shooting done at their meets .seem.s better, po- 
stilly on account of the larger nuinlKT of contestants. In 
England, as with us, the same names are often recordetl 
in the shoots of the .several clubs. On the whole we are 
inclined to think better shooting is done on tliis side, 
wiiile we beat them altogether on our “cracks.” There 
are yet some very good shots on the other side, some 
few’ scoring straight fifteens during the season, and a 
Capt. Starkey bringing down 28 out of 50 at :>0 yards: 
The prizes and cup. are not so costly as might be sup- 
posed when it is, jfigiemhered that most club members 
are men of independent means. 
i 
