The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-26 00:00:00

The Moors and Forests of Scotland.

(From the Inverness Courier.)
Sportsmen have almost entirely deserted the
moors, and the greater part of them have betaken

,hemselves to the forests, A few birds, howeNer

are occasionally shot. Sir Greville Smyth and
party, at Erchless Castle, bagged from the 12th to
the 17th inst., 36 brace of grouse, 16 brace of par•
tridge, and 17 hares. A few good bags have also
been made in other parts of the North. At Inver-
broom, G. Mitchell Inness, Esq., and party, bagged
40 brace of grouse the other day before luncheon.

The forests are giving excellent sport. On the
7th inst., at Fannicn, Arthur Walsh, Esq., killed a
stag with a head of ten points, one of nine points,
two with heads of eight, and one with six tines—
five stags in one day. In the Dundonnell Forest
Major Makenzie recently shot two very fine stags ;
one of them weighed 18 stones 10 lbs. clean, and
the span of the antlers Was ai inches. This is the
first season that this forest has been preserved, and
as it is already well stocked with deer it bids fair
to become a good one. Earl Cowper, at Chianti',
has recent killed some good stags. On Saturday he
shot one which weighed 17 stones 3lbs. Sir Gre.
ville Smyth and party at Erchiess, have, from the
12th to the 17th inst., shot eleven stags and two
yeld ewes. In Farley
Wood, near Beaufort, on the
17th lust:, the Hon.
Henry Fraser shot a stag of 24
stones weight when perfectly clean. At Balma•
caan, on the 14th, the Earl of Seafield shot a fine
TT
stag and a fallow buck ; and on the 17th, Sohn
Blake, Esq., Lakefield, shot a stag with a capital
royal head. The weight of the latter was 17 stones

2 pounds. ,
Mr. H, Snowie, gun-maker, Church•street, has
received the following stags' heads for preservation
viz. :—Two fine stags'
heads from Sir F. Johnson,
one of them a Loch Stack cabber slatch—span three
feet ; a very good royal head from Beaufort Castle,
the stag having been shot by the Earl of Listowel ;
a capital stag's had from H. W. White, Esq.; a fine
roe head from Mr. Bisset, Huntly ; a roe head from
C. Mackit,non, Esq., coundeo ; and a third from
Lochluichart. Hugh Mackenzie, Esq., of Dundon-
nell, has sent a good specimen of a head of eleven
Bag., of Cantray, a tines, and Hugh Davidson, good
great fine head to be stuffed.
Among
a a ye
number of stag's heads sent for
roe head. Arthur Walsh, Esq., Fannie'', has also
forwarded
preservation to Mr. Macleay, bird-stuffer, Church.
street, Inverness, from different parts of the country
there are some particularly fine specimens from
Balmacaan, sent by the Earl of &afield ; from
Erchless Castle, sent by Sir Greville Smyth and
• and from Dunrobin, Kinrara, Ault
party I naharra,
Invergarry, and Lews.

SIZE OF ENGLISII AND FRENCH SOLDIERS.—The
.1779 to 1803, 63in ;
Sanitary Report of the British Army for 1862, just issued
gives some curious particulars respecting the size and weight
of English and French soldiers,
.. which are taken from a
wsooldrkierb,yas filed Boudin.
1804 to 1815, 61in; 1818, 62in ; 1830, Glin ; 1862, 61iin.
Since 1832 the minimum height for infantry has not been
modified. From 1818 to 1820 the mean height of the classes
ledinl7oTl,lle gas mmrum height of the French
3in;
furnishing recruits was 1657 metres (Coin), and that of the
army was 1.670 metres (6341 n). From 1831 to 1860 the num-
ber of men rejected annually under the standard of 1'56
metres, or 611 in, varied from 9 28 to 5.6 per cent ; but there
was a gradual, though not perfectly uniform, lessening in the
ro
number of rejections on this gund in successive years ;
or, in other words, the height of the men forming the con-
script classes has been gradually augmenting. On classing
the conscripts by departments, it appears that the number
of exemptions for want of stature, from 1831 to 1860, have
augmented in 19, and lessened in 63. This must indicate a
gradual improvement in the
nutrition and bodily develop-
ment of the population, consequent on the long term of
peace and the lessened number of strong young men carried
off from the population. M. Boudin states that, from a
study of the height of men in the departments, it is evident
that race has a predominant influence. It appears from a
table of the heights of the French army in 1861 and 1862
that 15 per cent are below 63iD, that more than 50 per cent
are between 63 and 66in in height, 32 per cent above sft
Gin, and 7 per cent above Oft Bin. By a decree of 1860 the
height for the respective arms varied friln 1.76 metres (69
inches) the highest (carabineers), to 1'56 (61i inches) the
lowest (for the infantry of the line and chasseurs). Tho
stature of the English army is taken from the Army Me-
dical report of 1860. In that year 1.5 per cent wore below
Oft 3in, 49 per cent were between sft 3in and sft Gin, 49 per
cent wore above Oft 6in, and 15 per cent were above sft Bin.
The weights of the French conscripts are not given. It
may be useful to place here those of the English recruits
of 1860, as given by Dr Balfour :—Weight of 10,000 re-
cruits—Below 1001 b, 157; from 1001 b to 1101 b, 663; from
1101 b to 1201 b, 2,296; 1201 b to 1301 b, 2,817; 130 to 1401 b,
2,090 ; 1401 b to 1501 b, 1,254 ; 150 to 1601 b, 08 ; 16011, to
1701 b, 10 i above 110 lb, 55; toted, 10,000,