The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 26,1857.

" foxes, racoons, and other game, animals and
" beasts of prey." And here life may be en-
joyed to its fullest extent—" the sensibilities
being powerfully influenced by the clear
" skies and solemn hills overhead ; the dark
" woods and bright waters around ; and the
" air redolent of the balsamic odours of the
" silent wilderness." To judge from the
minuteness and gusto with which the gallant
colonel notes the quantity and quality of
every meal ho made, the delicate flavour of
the fish, the value of " milk emptyings," and
the whole process of cooking fish, flesh, and
fowl, from the boiling and roasting a porcupine
to soften his " crackling," to stewing a
sheldrake in three naters to modify his fishy
flavour, he lived upon something more sub-
stantial than " balsamic odours." For ex-
ample, after a fair din's shooting he gets
himself " comforted with tea," happy man !
and with soft toast and plain bread " of au
excellent quality," and biscuits and honeycomb,
" refreshes " himself, as he expresses it. Who
can doubt but that the sporting man who re-
freshes himself with honeycomb and soft toast
must have a soul above grouse and woodcock,
and cannot appreciate a rump steak with the
"gravy in it " ? No, be likes a mess of apple
sauce, potatoes, maccaroni, and roast beef,
and justifies his teste

I would rather use these mixturn, than sit down to
underdone meat, the trail of woodcock, or to " high"
grouse; the taste for which, in England, is to me in-
comprehensible. Lehacen a son mauvais gout.l

Of course a man who goes out deer stalking
a ndj comforts himself with " tea," is just the
sort of sportsman to write such a passage as
this. "Old Bellows," the trapper, has brought
down a " plump doe," whereupon the colonel
moralises :

The wanton destruction of this or of any other of the
gifts of Providence, provided for the sustenance of man, is
most reprehensible, but we have never scrupled to indulge
in the chase in moderation, particularly as we never have
yet assisted to slay the Jere watinr, except to use them or
to let others do so.

But our gallant colonel's sporting is, after all,
very mild. He confesses to once catching a
porcupine with his plaid !
But, to come to something more practical
and less tedious than these (dark) " passages"
in a hunting tour The gallant colonel visits
the American Military School, at West Point,
and gives us some notion of their " educa-
tional economy." As the result of his visit,
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander advocates the
training our cavalry to skirmish on foot :
I am convinced, that it a commanding officer, and troop-
officers generally, encouraged dragoons to exercise on foot
as well as mounted, and set them the example, we might
get dismounted men to skirmish ovor broken ground,
( which cavalry are at present obliged to avoid), to climb
hills, to storm field-works, to run, leap, swim. I would
abolish all useless ornament and unnecessary weight in
equipping this corps ; give the men light leather helmets
(12 or 14 oz.) bronzed, with a lion•fronted crest, sabre
proof, a short scarlet frock, bronzed buttons, dark-green
facings, shoulder chains, such as were in use fifty years ago,
dark-green trousers reinforced, and scarlet stripes, strap
spurs. The arms, a light fail or short rifle, 7or 8 lbs.
weight, a long straight sabre, and a small bayonet to fix, if
charged whilst on foot by cavalry, brown belts (imitation
Russian leather). I believe that men, turned out in this
style, with military simplicity, and imbued with a chival-
rous spirit, would do excellent service ; and such should be
our British yeomanry, in the national scarlet hunting frock.
Let it be tried !

Better to run the risk, in red, of a rifle ballet, than to
be shot by one's own people for wearing a foreign uniform.
I lately tried the effect of blue, black, grey, and red
jackets, at 1,000 yards ; all were faintly distinguished, and
nearly alike marked, but a white belt across the body made
a man a target at once.

" Military simplicity '' is a difficult term to de-
fine ; it may mean anything between the stock
and cross belt or jack boots of our Life
Guards and the lance and bournous of an Arab.
Such a force, and indeed every military force,
should be equipped, not encumbered, with
arms. Tule American artillery waggons he
believeg superior to ours, and their mode of
fitting their fasces to shells is certainly worthy
of attention :

The wheels were lightQr, less dished, and had smaller
naves than the En4lish. I think the Anierican wheel
en: rally is well worth careful study and attention. The
nu•caniiges weer p tinted olive; e wa;.lait carried a
spare wheel. for which an iran spindle was fixed to the
hinipirt of the atletrae of the limber.

The fasees wen• eta into lengths calculated f.)rrespe-ztive
diitances, wire driven in past •b., tr.l ilste td of wool, end
did nut require to be cut 11 fore being inserted into the
shell. The lengths of range were denoted by colours,
white, red, or yellow, which every soldier emit," easily