Star.
London, England, 1826-08-03 00:00:00

FIELD SPORTS FOR AUGUST.

./11011c INIS llgeala or OfOlll4Xll.

On the 12th of the present mirnth the pursuit (and
who shall say it is not an ardent one?) of the grouse
commences; consequently. the fowling•piece. which,
fir awhile, had quietly reposed in the gen-cupboard, or
rested in locked fetters over the chimneypiece of the
sportsman's :endues, will be again put in requisition ;
and again will the staunch pointer try the mountain, or
quarter the heather. _ _

Our readers however, must understand that it is the
pursuit of the red end +white grouse alone that com-
mences so early as the 12th, and not till eight days
later, Gamely, on the 20th, mast we attempt bagging
-the more noble of the species, Mack rime. We call
these latter the more noble, since they are by far larger
sod much more beautiful birds • still the pursuit of the
former affords infinitely the best diversion. At the
beginning of the season, black game lie like stones, but,
in a very short time, they become so wild as to be al-
most inapproachable, unless, indeed, by such strata-
gems to which good sportsmen rarely, if ever, are fond
of resorting. However. ender any circumstances the
red grouse is by much the more interesting object of our
pursuit. As to the white grouse, or ptarmigan, we are
not aware that these birds are to be found in any part of
Great Britain, except the Highlands of Scotland,where,
on the gray tops of many of the high mountains, they
slay be met with. They resemble in colour the almo
Alpine heights they inhabit, which renders it difficult
to see OWN except on the wing, and which, probably,
affords them the best protection agsinst their fierce pur-
suers, the eagles, that are generally s•en hovering over
the wild spots the white grouse inhahit. Should any of
our readers be disposed to pursue the ptarmigan, we
.woold advise them. to visit the neighbourhood of the
beautiful Loch Lgiven,f• where, on the summits of some
of the susroundieg mountains, they may obtain diver-
sion, we had almost said amongst the clouds. Perse-
verance and courage, however, are as requisite as dog
and gun in this attempt, for they will find the climbing
these lofty and tremendous protuberances of nature very
laborious, and to them apparently dangerous, exercise,
and will most likely be surprised at the comparative
ease end celerity with which the Highland guides as-
cend them, and who, we need hardly observe, are indif.
as psable., On each side of the ferry at Loch Leven
there is what is called in the Highlands an Inn; in that
situated on the north side of the loch. or lake, we two
years ago, took up our abode for a short pei iod, and
found the accommodation, not exactly equal to the
London Tavern bat very comfortable indeed for a
Highland Hotel. The landlord was remarkably civil
and attentive, and. seeing we were equipped for shoot-
ing. offered his two sons as our guides, and, indeed,
spared no pains toreador oar stay with hint as pleasant
as possible. In the immense mountigns of this neigh-
bourhood, ptarmigans are plentiful ; the little red
• grease, or black game, is to be Diet with; but if the
directs his steps through the awful pass of
atctst:ir and proceeds to the Moor of Rannoch. he will
be able to procure plenty of diversion with red grouse;
and. in the neighbourhood of Inveronan, a little south
of the Moor of Rannoch, he will find abundance of
black game. In fact, grouse of all kinds are, generally
• Uwe we two Wm et dds mew is the Richlands a Scot-
had ; Her se solidi we diode Is situated at De great divan= from
Gleassie.

apes-kit% more ehandant in the Highlands than in any
other proof Great atitaill la. Ireland; nay, the saint
remark will eipply to the mountainous parts of what art
called the Lowlands, particul4rly in the neighbourhood
of Drumlearig, near Duna-del.
BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.

PROM 11111111Midtal OP A PAM= itoJtANT.
" After all our top men had been killed, two sailors
and four soldiers (of whom I was one) were ordered to
occupy their posts in the tops. While we were going
aloft, the balls and grape showered around us, struck
the masts and yerds, knocked large splinten from them,
and cot the rigging in pieces. One of my companions
was wounded beside me, and fell from a height of 30'
feet upon the deck, where he broke his neck.
" When I reached the top, my first movement was to'
take a view of the prospect presented by the hostile fleets.
—For more than a league extended a thick cloud of'
smoke, above which were discernible a forest of masts
and rigging, and the flags, the pendants, and the fi.e of
the three nations. 'Thousands of flashes, more or less near,
continually penetrated this cloud ; and a rolling noise,
pretty similar to the sound of continued thunder, but
flinch strdnger, arose from its bosom. The sea was
cairn ; the wind light, and not very favourable fcr the
execution of manainvres,
" When the English top•men, who were only a few
yards dist-int, saw us appear, they directed a sharp fire
upon us, which we returned. A soldier of my company
and a sailor were killed close to me; two others who
were wounded were able t go below by the shrouds.
Our dpponents were, it seems, still wore handed than
we, for I socks saw the English tops deserted, and none
sent to supply the place of those who must have been
killed or wounded by our balls, I then looked to the
English vessels and to toff own.
" The smoke which enveloped them Was dissipated for
a moment, and returned thicker at each broadside. The
two decks were covered with dead bodies, which they
had not time to throw overboard. I perceived Cato,
Lucas (the Captain of the Redoubtable) motionless at
his post, and several wounded officers still giving orders.
Oa the- poop of the English vessel was an officer co-
vered with orders, and with only one arm. From what
I hail heard of Nelson, I had no doubt that it was he.
He was surrounded by several officers, to whom he
seemed to be giving orders. At the moment I first per-
ceived him, several of hi; sailors were wounded beside
him, by the fire of the Redoubtable. As I had received
no orders to go down, and saw myself forgotten in the
tops, I thought it my duty to file on the poop of the
English vessel, which I saw qui:e exposed and close to
me. I could even have taken an aim at the men I saw,
but I fired at hazard among the groups of sailors and
-officers. All at once I saw great confusion on board
the Victory, the men crowded round the officer whom
I had taken fur Nelson, He had just fallen.
" From the moment he (Nelson) received his wound,
and the position of the wound itself, I could not doubt
that I was the author, and I have ever since been fully
convinced of it. But, though the shot that had brought
down this Admiral had rendered a service to my coun-
try, I was far from considering it as an action of which
I had a right to boas'. Besides, in the general confu-
sion, every one could claim the honour ; I might not be
believed ; so that I was afraid of furnishing my com-
panions with a subject of ridicule, and did not think
proper to mention it to them or to the French officers
saw on board the Victory. It was in this manner
that more than once, in the course of my life, careless-
ness and false shame have deprived me of adv,ntages
I might justly-have claimed."
By the following extract from Southey's Life of
Nelson, it appears that the belief on board the Victory
was, that the man who fired the fatal ball himself fell
before the action was ended.

" Within a quarter of an hour," mys N'elq*lff Biographer, "after
Nelson was wounded, above fifty of the Victory's men fell by the
enemy's musketry. They, however, on their part, were nut idle ;
and it was not long before there were only two Frenchmen left
alive in the mizen-top of the Redoubtable, ' one of them was the
man who had given the fatal wound ; be did not live to boast of
what he had don... An old Quartermaster bad seen bim Are, and
easily recognised bins, because be wore a glazed cocked bat sod a
white frock. This Quartermaster and two Midshipmen kep: firing
at the top, and be supplied tbem with cartridges. One of the
Frenchmen attempting to make his escape down the rigging was
shot by Mr. Pollard, and fell on the poop ; but the old Quarter-
:luster as he cried out, ' that's he, tbat's he,' and pointed at the
other who was coming forward to lire again, received a shot in his
mouth and fell dead; both the Midshipmen then fired at the same
time, and the fellow dropped in the top. When they took posses-
sion of tke prize, they went into the mizentop, and found him- with
one ball through his head, and another through his breast."

Another generally-received opinion is, that the than
by whose hand Lord Nelson fell was instantly shot by
one of the Victory's crew; and the man who has the
credit of this act of vengeance is now living, or was a
few months ago, in the enjoyment of a pension, in Par-
son's Green-lane, Fulham. says La Belle Assernblee.

To be on good terms with oneself generally iropli:s a
tolerable contempt for the rest of the world.
The English Consul at Tangiers, his wife, and hi.
daughter, aged nine years, were all poisoned with ices
last Wednesday. The pliys;cian who was called in pro-
ceeded instantly to the Cafe where the ices were made,
and took several, which he sealed up, and sent to the
Ecole de Medicine. Thanks to the skill of several emi-
nent physicians, the Consul and his family have been able
to continue their journey, although in a state of great
debility.—French Paper.
Monday evening, as five children, three of them be-
longing to a mats of the name of Taylor, who sells
fruit at a stall on Mount-pleasant, Cold Bath-square,
were sitting with their mother On the pavement op-
posite their father's, a hackney chariot, N 0.595, hap-
pening to come down the hill from Gray's Ina-lane
at rather a quick pace, the reins- broke, and the driver
was unable to prevent the horses and vehicle from
momentarily running upon the pavement among the
children before the mother could render them any
asistaace. Two of the children escaped unhurt, but
the other three are all more or less injured. Fears are
entertained for the life of the eldest, a girl about seven
years old, who is inwardly hurt, one of the wheels
having passed over her. The two youngest (boys) are
likely to recover. •
Tuesday, Mr. Sheriff, of Hackney, left home in his
usual state of health, to witness the rowing match for
Dogget's Coat and 134dge; on arriving at Blackfriars
Bridge he engaged with a waterman to row him to the
Swan, at Chelsea. On his return he took one of the
oars, and rowed to Blackfriars Bridge, and conversed
chiefly with those in the boat until he arrived near the
Temple Gardens, when he inquired of Lucas, the water-
man, whether Kean's boat had been rowed for ? He
had scarcely asked the question when he dropped the
oar, and fell backwards in a state of insensibility,—
The waterman get ashore as soon as possible, and a
surgeon was procured, but the unfortunate man was
ignite dead.

THE LATE ELECTION*,

It is well known that the Lena Tag Assessment Is the only trite
rion to determine whether a Freeholder has 'a right to vote at a
County Election. Allem the property. in respect of which the
vote is tendered, kit burn assessed to the Isbd tat els months
before the Election, either in the name of the owner or actual
occupier. the vote cannot be received.
Ills a fact strongly corroborating this statement, thst a very
considerable number of Freeholders were disfranchised at se's-
'al late County Elections, front Inattention to the aims
theist. It therefore behoves every Freeholder to Inspect ski
forthcoming assessment, and if his name should be omitted
therein, it will be *advisable for him to communicate with the
Assessors, that the requisite alteration may be made ; or, if be
choose, he can appeal against the assessments. A want of know.
ledge of 'this fact prevened hundreds of persons from voting at many
of the late County Elections.