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668 TILTS LEADER, [No. 433, July 10, 185...
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SALMON CASTS AND STRAY SHOTS. Salmon Ccu...
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TWO PRACTICAL GUIDES. The Practical Itit...
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HANDBOOK OF BRITISH FLORA. Handbook of B...
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THE STEREOSCOPIC MAGAZINE. The Stereosco...
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THE LADIES' TREASURY. The Ladies' Treasu...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
668 Tilts Leader, [No. 433, July 10, 185...
668 TILTS LEADER , [ No . 433 , July 10 , 1858
Salmon Casts And Stray Shots. Salmon Ccu...
SALMON CASTS AND STRAY SHOTS . Salmon Ccuta and / Stray Shots . Being Ply-Leaves from the Note-Book of John Colquhoun . Blackwood and Sons . Mb . Coixtvaovif is a welj-known sportsman ; and we are well pleased to receive this his new contribution to the literature of the Rod and Gun . It is no mere dry handbook to the " how" and " where" to take the salmon or " drop" the deer , but a modest combination of practical hints of the old pattern in quaint new dresses , with a little adventure by moor and loch , and a good deal of sound observation upon sporting natural history . Apropos of the fabulous weight of the lost fish , which is the consolation of the angler ' s empty basket and the standing joke of such as adopt the "fly and fool" theory , Mr . Colquhoun tells the following story : — And here I -would caution all good fishers never to brag of hoolcing " the largest
fish they ever had on " unless they bring him home . They may safely leave that boast to the unsuccessful , who are really apt to fancy every salmon they lose a monster . I -was much amused one morning to hear that a sedulous brother of the rod had hooked a tremendous salmon the evening before , and lost him after some hours ' play . The story was simply this : —A short time before dusk he fixed his fish , which creeperl down to a heavy pool below , and sulked . No doubt it succeeded in rubbing the hook out of its jaw into a sunk root or tree . The careful angler remained with his rod on full bend , till some of his anxious family found him near midnight in this interesting position : he then broke , not his fish , but his fast , which he ought to have done hours before .
Again , of deliberation , he says : — _ "Wh « n a boy , trolling Loch Lomond for yellow trout , I hooked a large clean salmon with materials as slender . He quietly followed my lead when I wound him up to the very stern of the boat , wondering what kind of accommodating creature I had got hold of . Under my very rod ' s point there -was a sullen plunge on the top of the water , and that was all 1 saw of the first salmon I ever hooked . The practical lesson was worth far more than the fish—namely , never to come to such close quarters , at first , with so formidable a customer , especially when he seems much inclined to humour you : you are sure to have the worst of it . The following must take its place henceforth in all collections of dog anecdotes : — -
When the days were , like the old Aberdeen sermons ,. *• short and cauldand clear , " my son went down to MuH for some winter shotting . He had only a knowing quiettempered old pointer , who had never either retrieved or taken the water in his life . One of the first-killed shots , a , fine Merganser drake , -was being rapidly floated away by the tides : disdaining to imitate the discreet retriever , he instantly plunged into the sea—no uncommon winter exploit—and brought the bird to land . The pointer , whose aid he thought it useless to invoke , watched the whole proceeding from the rocks , and thoroughly comprehended it . Soon afterwards , on his master firing into a flock , of turnstonea as they flitted past , and dropping three in the water , lie volunteered his unsought services , and brought them one by one to the shore . Since then , although he never attempts to mouth game on land , he duly recovers what falls into the water , and in approaching -wildfowl is quite as careful not to spoil tbe shot as most " thorough-broke" retrievers .
Our ^ author so distinctly , when deprecating all imputation of Munchausenism , pledges his word that whatever others have done he has never exaggerated one single sporting fact , that we are , as it -were , precluded from expressing any violent doubts of the truth of the following deer-stalking anecdote : — In so clear a wood as Gannony , a rough -wind , or the foot-prints of a beater , will make them burst out anywhere . They will track a man by the foot long after he is gone . Two stalkers , at the close of an unsuccessful day , were resting behind a knoll close by a brook . Three harts came down from the hills to drink . Immediately detecting human footsteps , the three antlered heads lowered on the scent in a direct line from the men . One of them raised his rifle , fired at the nearest head , -which was the only part of the deer . he could see , and , to his utter amazement , found he had killed the three , shooting them all fair through the head ! 'When I doubted the strength of the balL to penetTate three hard skulls , my informant assured me there -was no doubt about the matter , and that it -wag easily proved if I -wished .
Though it be true that Mr . Whitwortli ' s rifles " persuade" balls through two or three successive planks , we are still disposed to receive the above , ev « n after the author ' s quasi endorsement , -with the same cautious reserve he seems to have expressed in the first instance .
Two Practical Guides. The Practical Itit...
TWO PRACTICAL GUIDES . The Practical Ititint Guide .. Longman and Co . Paris : Galignani . A . handy little manual , or we might say annotated slice of Bradshuw , professing to tench all that positively must and ought to bo seen ; how to manage this in the shortest period ; and , more important still to the traveller of modest circumstances or short vacation , how to see it at the least possible expense . The compiler may honestly claim to have done his work in the most laconic manner . A greater number of valuable hints to travellers—especially young ones—could hardly have been wedged in with ~^ tfia . . various time-tables , vocabularies , and list , of indispensable sights on the grand route , vi & Paris arid Strasburg , as well as on those by way of Hollnnd and Belgium , from London to the Rhine and the leading German Spas . The following pithy prelude heads the usual appendix of hotel notices ;—" These advertisements are inserted with the object of letting each house speak for
itself , and be reterred to on its own pretensions . If these are not justified , tleir notice will bo excluded from futuro editions . Thus a safeguard is added to the traveller , and an encouragement to the proprietor . " As this is a fair invitation to critical travellers , we leave the reader to imagine the inundation Messrs . Longman may look for from the unsatisfiable Brown , Jonos , and Robinson who , wo presume , have not yet censed to travel , to blunder to complain , and to invoke the Times upon Garcon , Kellner , and Mnitrod'Hotel in alltho lt Belles Vues , " " Kaiserlichers , " Victorias , " "Allinncea , " "White Horses , " und " Golden Eagles" throughout Europe . Prom the caro which lma been bestowed upon this guide-book it would nppeuv that the publishers anticipate the usual , or more thnn tlie usual , autumnal exodus of Groat Britons ; and should our friends B ., J ., and 11 . be of the number , we are disposed to warn them , in the manner of modern advertisers , that there is " no knapsack without a 'Practical Rhino Guide . ' "
The Practical Paris Guide—of the same series—will be an equal bo 7 excursionists . The following audacious programme of " One Day in P ** * » will certainly , sooner or later , be converted by the excursion crimDs * *? 1 ? take droves of Jean Boule to the gay capital , into a receipt for "Aw Paris in one day : "— aomg One day in Paris—active , but quite . feasible—for a general view of the ™ * remarkable objects and the City itself . Commence at 9 o ' clock n . tn . at the Chimiii Expiatoire , devote to its interior 15 min . ( thence 5 min . drive to the ') Made ! 15 min . ( 1 hr . drive through Champs Elysees to Arc d « l'Etoile , and back toVTin ries Gardens walk 20 m . ( 10 m . dr . to ) Louvre 1 hr . ( 20 m . dr . past Palais Le ' etswi and Champ de Mars to = 12 £ o ' clock ) Napoleon ' s Tomb 30 m . ( 15 m df 1 f Church St . Sulpice , stop 5 m ., to ) Luxembourg Palace 1 hr . ( 5 m . dr . toVPantiEnn U m ., and St . Etienne 10 m . ( 5 m . dr . to = 2 *> o ' clock p . m . ) Hotel Clunv 30 m ( 5 m . dr . to ) Palais de Justice 20 m ., and Sainte Chapelle 20 m . Y 5 m dr past the ' Morgue , stop 5 m ., to ) Notre-Dame 15 m . (> 0 m . dr . past Tour de St Jacaues Hotel de Ville , Church of St . Gervais , stop 5 m ., Abelard and Heloise ' s house to—*; o ' clock ) Jardin des Plantes 30 m . ( 1 hr . dr . Place de la Bastille , along theBoufe vards , and down to ) the Palais Royal , see it , and dine , at 6 i o ' clock .
Handbook Of British Flora. Handbook Of B...
HANDBOOK OF BRITISH FLORA . Handbook of British Flora . By George Bentham , F . LJ 3 . Lovell Reeve . Mb . Bestham has devoted some five years of hard work to the composition of the interesting work before us in the hope of producing a "Flora" which may enable persons , having no previous knowledge of botany , to name the wild flowers they might meet with in their country rambles . He had long been embarrassed by the inquiries of novices for some such handbook as De Candolle composed in France , and at length determined in some measure to take the " Flore" of that author as his model , and attempt to catalogue the wild plants of Britain in a simple , untechnical , intelligible style , with " analytical keys , " by whose aid—and we speak from experience—the reader may master that preliminary stud y of the handbook itself , which is indispensable to all novices who would avail themselves of its assistance . In proof of the impossibility of avoiding puzzling technicalities , even in natural systems , we extract the Handbook ' s description of the watercress :-
Glabrous perennials or annuals , with the leaves often pinnate , or pianately lobed , and _ small white or yellow flowers . Calyx rather loose . Stigma capitate , * nearly sessile . Pod linear or oblong , and usually curved , or in some species short like a silicule , the valves very convex , with the midrib scarcely visible . Seeds more or less distinctly arranged in two rows in each cell , and not winged . Radicle accumbent on . the edge of the cotyledons . A small genus , but widely spread over tie whole area of the family . It differs from Stsymbrium only in the position of the radicle in the embryo ; and the whiteflowered species are only to be distinguished from JBittercress by "the seeds forming two moare distinct rows in . each cell of the pod .
But so laborious and valuable a work should not be flippantly dismissed without a little word of encouragement . We could hardly in conscience recomrnend a handbook of 650 pages to all pedestrians and excursionists ; but , after a careful study of the admirable introduction in which the system is set out , we can understand that Mr . Benthana ' s labours will be warmly welcomed by the educated amateurs in the country whose number has been so rapidly increasing of late years .
The Stereoscopic Magazine. The Stereosco...
THE STEREOSCOPIC MAGAZINE . The Stereoscopic Magazine . Lovell Reeve . Fhotogkaphv is working all sorts of wonders , and its complement , the stereoscope , is making those wonders even more marvellous . "We have here a magazine on a new plan , -with , veritable photographic illustrations adapted to the application of the stereoscope , and affording materials for endless amusement in the parlour and drawing-room . But amusement is not the only object of this serial ; it aims at a loftier purpose—that of imparting scientific instruction ; and , judging from the execution of the whole work , it is not unlikely to find a large audience willing to give it a hearty welcome monthly .
The Ladies' Treasury. The Ladies' Treasu...
THE LADIES' TREASURY . The Ladies' Treasury ; an Illustrated Magazine . Ward and Co . The illustrations for July are better than the literary matter , but even the illustrations are open to criticism , especially on account of the selection of subjects , some of which appear not to be in character in a special Miscellany . For instance , the first woodcut of the " Museum Architecture of the Sixteenth Century" seems somewhat out of place here , "but of course the caterers for the lady readers ought to know best what-will be most acceptable to feminine tastes . The most pleasing of the illustrations is " Summer , " where the j ) ose of the illustrative figure is easy and graceful . The " Song of Calvury " is a failure , the tableau not telling its story intelligibly , nnd the whole scene being- redolent of French or Frenchified G-erman sentimentality . With respect to the literary department we confess to a difficulty in divining the feminine tastes to which such a paragraphic Minerva-press production as " Unmeaning ; Attentions" appeals . Here is a specimen of its quality , premising that Ernestine , the heroine ,, is a model of beauty , purity , and hunt ( on propriety : — . The Indian dining-rooms were arranged and dusted under Mrs . De Bclton ' s own superintendence . The splendid plate , the exquisito cut glass , the costly dinner and dessert service , were taken out of the closets in the second dining-room , and , us Mrs . Do B « lton had to trim a cap wherein to appear at dinner , she requested Ernestine , whose taate was remarkable , to sot out the deasert . Whoa Mrs . Do Uelton made tlii * somewhat inconvenient request Ernestine lind just begun her toilet . She had hi down liar profusion of rich glossy hnir , and in a short scarlet petticoat , nnd u little white dressing-jacket , was looking lovelier perhaps than dho ever did in full dress , wince her beautiful bust , her lino arms , und her porlbct little feet and ankles were exposed . Then , too , thero was tho love-light in her largo glorious eyes , and a Hush from tho heart on her delicatel y moulded check . "You'll juat have timo , Tiny , to put out tlio dessert boforo tho men como to wnit , if you'll go down directl y—here are tho Itoys—all tho fruit and confectionary is in tho closet . I cannot npuro Bobbin ; I have not a cap ready . Do , tliero ' a a dear girl , put the dessert out an you did last timo . "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 10, 1858, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10071858/page/20/
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