French vinegar; add pepper and salt to taste. This is the very best sauce we know of for boiled trout.

But to our poor thinking a trout never eats so well as when broiled. Do not wash them, but rub them dry after cleansing them; anoint the fish with the best salad oil, fold them in paper, and lay them on the gridiron at a respectable distance from the fire, which should be charcoal or wood ashes. While they are passing this culinary ordeal, burn about a quarter of fresh butter in a well tinned saucepan; when we say burn, we mean melt the butter (alone) until it ceases to hiss and fizz, and the creamy froth subsides; the butter will then be of a fine gold colour; add about a spoonful-and-a-half or two spoonsful of French vinegar, three or four eschalottes or (Anglicè) shalots, with pepper and salt to taste. This is the most relishing accompaniment extant; and if the reader does not lick his fingers, and invoke a blessing on our bald pate for this hint, there is no gratitude extant.

The crudite and accomplished Mrs. Glasse, in her comprehensive instructions to the uninstructed as to the modus operandi for dressing a hare, naïvely remarks in her imperishable work, "first catch your hare.' We hope she will pardon us for the plagiarism when we say, "first catch your pike," which for the gourmand's sake we hope may weigh from eight to ten pounds.

Having well cleaned, emptied, and washed the fish, preserve the roe and liver; take a French roll, cut off the crust, and steep the crumb in half a pint of good cream; shred finely some suet (marrow is better), and chop some parsley, lemon thyme, knotted marjorum, common thyme, and lemon pecl, and one anchovy; then chop the liver and roe of the pike (previously boiled), and mix the whole with the crumb of roll soaked in cream, and the yolks of two eggs to bind it together, add pepper and salt to taste. Stuff the pike, sew up his belly, strew him with raspings, with here and there some butter, and put plenty of the latter article in the dish to baste him with. Send your fish to your baker, and while he (the pike-not the baker) is passing through the ordeal of the oven, prepare at home a good gravy, thickened with a very little essence of anchovy and the breast and entrails of a woodcock (if you can conveniently spare the delicacy) pounded in a mortar. N.B. A couple of dozen of oysters chopped up and mixed with the stuffing are a great improvement. The pike when dressed in this way is an epicurean morceau, which some sceptics have stigmatized as an unpalatable fish. This sweeping censure we opine has arisen from their not knowing how it should be carved. Here is the secret-the under part of the pike only is worth eating. There is a brown horizontal line intersecting the pike; higher than this the fish-slice should never venture, all above and on the back being full of forked bones, and fit only for the curious in picking. The under part, by far the richest and best, is free from this annoyance, and with the aforesaid pudding and gravy is very palatable and affords very pretty picking. But fearing our readers may tax us with being a disciple of Dr. Kitchener rather than of old Izaak Walton, we will conclude our gastronomic hints with this valediction—" May good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both."

T.

ON THE DUTIES OF AN UMPIRE IN COURSING, &c.

BY E. JEFFRIES ESDAILE.

Perhaps there is not throughout the sporting world a more difficult task to undertake than to find a man with the necessary qualifications to act as umpire in the case of greyhounds running for money: to expect to meet with one combining all the qualities called for, would be absolute folly; and the best and wisest way is to make up your mind that such a character never appeared, and thus avoid disappointment.

Amongst the men who attend coursing meetings professionally, one cannot help being struck with the weight that certain points in a course have on their respective judgments: thus, one man will put a much higher importance than another in the run up; one, in the racing qualities of a dog; another, in close running; and some, in the fact of killing. I don't mean to infer that any of these qualities will, in a man chosen to decide at public meetings, so far press on his judgment as often to lead to palpable mistakes; but that each will severally, as it may happen, obtrude itself on his observation during a course; and I very much doubt whether, if two umpires were to act, their decisions would not be oftener at variance than might be expected, from this sole circumstance.

Of the qualifications of a judge, honesty, judgment, and good riding come first and foremost. Separately they are to be found without difficulty; combined in one individual, rarely-if ever. On the first named acquirement I shall not dwell, for without honesty all falls to the ground; but turn to the two others. Coursing is followed on open downs decidedly all the best is; and it may seem, to gallop after greyhounds under such circumstances, a thing of no great merit; in fact, that any body could. But no, it is not so. Many men cannot gallop a horse; and amongst those that can, how many ride rather away from the dogs than with them! Remember, everything is rapid and momentary, and at once. A hare when first started will often appear to betray an indifference as to her whereabouts, a seeming uncertainty to what point she will go; and it is not until she finds herself hotly pursued that her destination is resolved on. Now it is that the umpire is enabled to show that he is the master of his business, for by perceiving the drift of the hare, he judges the direction the course will take, and rides accordingly; and so manages, that it always appears to bear towards him. The better the hare, and the better the dogs, the easier for him to determine; for if the former runs weakly, speed will not show itself, and the close running weed of a dog will win; and so, if the hare is so strong as to defy being turned, no horse can live the pace. But I should say no two all-aged good greyhounds will suffer this contingency to happen; though it may occasionally to puppies. It is not by any means necessary a man should see always the end of a course; whenever he finds himself satisfied, he will pull up. The chief difficulty in deciding arises from the different manner in which dogs will run one day from another, the nature of the ground gone over, and the stoutness or weakness of the hare affecting them accordingly; and this uncertainty it is that encourages people to enter such bad dogs as are sometimes seen in the slips, and to depend more on the chances

of the game than on any good property their animals may possess. I will instance a case that often occurs

A dog of first-rate powers, but given to run cunning, is slipped to a bad hare in a moment he perceives how matters stand; he rushes to the charge, puts his nose under pussy's tail, and never quits her till death. Nothing can be better; the umpire obliged to decide by each individual course, gives it in his favour. The same dog meets with a good hare, and now how is it with him? Finding that the moment he closes with her she flies like an arrow from his vicinity, and places some twenty or thirty feet between them, repeating the same as it may happen, he asks that from his head which his heels should supply; he trusts all to the other dog, and waiting the opportunity of a favourable turn, makes a momentary rush at the hare; this is often fatal to her→ as well as to the credit of the dog-and is called by coursers, "waiting

the hare."

I have made use of the terms good and bad, stout and weak, as regards hares. Now, there are reasons why a hare should be so designated having fed later than usual, eaten something that has purged her, or a disposition to rut, will account against her; whilst an absence of these will have an opposite tendency. But still there are (and it is well known to sportsmen) certain spots-sides of hills, or pans of groundwhich always produce, in proper season, stout running hares; whilst only go a quarter of a mile off, and apparently the same disposition of ground, and the reverse follows. It is useless to inquire the why and the wherefore, but experience proves the fact; and, by the byc, this adds to the catalogue of uncertainties with which coursing is surrounded; and how a dog is disposed of in the slips, is a matter of more importance than a novice in the sport would imagine. When there are so many incidents which may neutralize the efforts of the very best dog, every the smallest chance should be retained with the utmost pertinacity; and nothing surprises a man more than the judgment required to detect the best dog in apparently so simple a thing as running after a hare, knowing too that that must be the case with the one that keeps the closest to her during the course. And, indeed, to decide the question would be an easy thing enough, were all greyhounds honest runners; that is, doing their best at all times and places. But, unfortunately, there is such a vicious set as cunning runners; and so artfully and imperceptibly do they effect their purpose, that great experience is requisite in a judge to acquaint himself with the fact; but when known to him, not all the efforts of the guilty dog in the after part of a course should wash away the stain: be it remembered that it is not what a dog can do, but what he will do, that is to be apprehended.

Generally speaking, few dogs are to be depended upon after three years old, and this property of false running frequently is to be found in an animal in full possession of his powers-in fact, in those which ought to be his best days. There is not a remedy that I know of. Change of ground from enclosures to downs will, for a short time, effect much; partial intoxication, such as a glass of wine, &c., before starting, has been resorted to; but of all remedies, give me a good hempen halterI never knew that fail. The little I have advanced on this topic will show the difficulties that environ a judge in the coursing field, and a call for superior judgment on his part.

No man, however outwardly he may show to the contrary, brings a

432 greyhound into public without thinking him a wonder, and that his chance for the prize is next to a sure card. Beaten into fits, with many men this pertinacity of opinion remains in full force. "The umpire, he in the scarlet coat, never kept his eyes open;" or "he was altogether wrong" or "he wont give me a chance, if he can possibly help it." 'Tis true, these things are not said in the hearing of the judge; but do not looks often betray the heart's secret? I believe, recently it is allowable for a man to ask how many points were made, and NOTHING MORE, after the decision is made known to the steward of the day, and from him communicated to the flag-bearer, when the colour exhibited shows the winner.

ON THE DUTIES OF AN UMPIRE IN COURSING, ETC.

Perhaps it may be expected from me to explain what is meant by points, and how considered. Points, then, are certain more or less successful efforts made by a dog during a course. For instance: the first run up, counts for two; a turn for one; a go-bye, in straight running, for two; and the kill for two. This last, however, is less thought of than formerly; and I have the authority of a first-rate umpire, to the effect that the best application of it is when the points are even in other respects; and there are some good grounds for this, for the dog that turns the hare last frequently does so into the mouth of his companion.

One thing that a young courser is often at a loss to account for, is the apparently opposite decision arrived at by an umpire; it would seem as if the points that gained in one trial passed unnoticed in another; and so, in truth, they do-and very properly-for as one course differs from another, so must the points. Every experienced old courser knows that in a long course two greyhounds, if well matched, run by impulses, as it were; that is, one will be seen to take up the running, and having exerted himself to a great extent, drops in the rear, when the other will be doing his part; he, in his turn, then relinquishes the lead, and so on. Now, in a case like this-a common one-the umpire should not attach weight to points which, in a short rapid struggle, are most important in themselves. A dog must not have it count against him if, momentarily exhausted by honest exertion, he is passed by his competitor. It is here the judgment of an umpire shows itself; and whilst the uninitiated cry "murder," the old stagers are perfectly satisfied.

The greatest and most frequent errors committed by umpires, and where want of good judgment is apparent, lie in their not making due allowances for the nature of the ground, and the place of each dog in the slips at the moment. And this leads me to consider a very useful personage in the play, viz., the slipper. A good slipper renders service to all parties, but to no one more than to the umpire. To the man who knows his business well, the moment for slipping should be left entirely to his judgment; no one can possibly see the opportunity, and seize upon it, so accurately as he can. He will try his utmost to get his dogs as much as possible behind the hare, and by no means to slip them across her, if avoidable; and it is wonderful how often a clever man will effect this, even under adverse circumstances. The benefits resulting from having such a man are incalculable, for it insures a fair run-up to each dog, which could not be had otherwise; as, however, untoward slips must often happen, the sound judgment of the umpire is required to a greater extent, inasmuch as difficulties occur at the very commencement of the course.

My opinion is, if a hare runs circuitously, the dog placed in the slips on the side to which she leans must have an advantage in the runup. Now, as the best or the fastest dog, as it may be, is the object of trial, and not the chance medly of place, a good umpire will attach no more value to it than it deserves. It is in this, and somewhat like circumstances, that an ill-qualified umpire exhibits his want of capacity.

If a man runs his greyhounds in public, he must make up his mind to witness many queer things in the way of decisions, and to be therewith content, should they fall in with him. It is the difficulty of doing this that drives numbers of men from the coursing field; they get disgusted with results to which the sport is subject, and which seem to them particularly pointed, and directed at their endeavours. I have known very good kennels, with the best training, go on for years without producing a winner; and I have also known so constant a succession of ill luck follow a man, with regard to a certain dog, that with all the superiority exhibited and what is more, acknowledged-it was next to impossible ever to have been successful with him. We must keep in mind that the time a dog has allowed him to compete with others is very short. Suppose he is pupped in February, 1845, which is giving him a good chance, he will be qualified to run in puppy stakes in February, 1847, provided he does not see his third birthday. Afterwards he will run as all-aged; and if he lasts two seasons, it is more than many do. It is therefore clear, what is to be done must be done forthwith; and if only a few adverse circumstances connect themselves, where are you? A first-rate greyhound appears in the field; the first day he is drawn against the only dog he has to fear, he is eminently successful, and three to two are laid on him, which are great odds. On the following morning up jumps a very stout hare; he courses her severely, perhaps two or three miles; his competitor, a bad dog, is perfectly unable to give the least assistance--likely enough beat out of distance: what chance has this dog in the future ties? He is, in the language of the turf, bowled out." the other side, what with weak hares and short courses, a dog may go through, and see sixteen ties run off, without hardly having had a gallop such is luck, and such is coursing.

On

There is, before I take leave of this subject, one thing I wish much to see made of great importance, and which is too hastily got over-I mean the deciding course; when, perhaps, money in stakes alone amount to £300, besides nobody knows what in bets. The wind-up should be on a good piece of ground, and with a fair distance run over. People, however, have generally had enough of it during the week, and a wish to finish off is not alone confined to the umpire, the majority having been losers. "Let's get home" is the cry. The orders given to the umpire should be to the effect that no course be declared unless perfectly satisfactory to HIM, that the time and length of it were sufficient for every purpose, and that an upstanding course, if such a term may be permitted, has taken place.

The best dog ought to be, in every case, the winner; but such never was, and never can be. All that can be done to lessen the chances and increase the certainty, should be the object of all coursing men. Luck is a good thing of itself, but pot-luck is my abhorrence.

Cotherstone House, 1847.

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