A RIDE of rather more than a hundred miles brought us to the heart of that wild and magnificent desert, where this great lord's hunting-seat, a new and elegant villa, set down in the midst of Alpine mountains, roaring torrents, and enormous old black pine woods, shewed, I think, as strangely as ever the famous tourist-chapel of Loretto could have done after any of its excursions.

Here Captain Cuthill and I found assembled a large and mirthful party, who had been for some time enjoying the splendours of the chase, in all its varieties, on his lordship's immense domain. Fops of the first water from Pall Mall were seen seated at table, by the side of specimens of the aboriginal “Barbarous Folk” of the district, whose attempts towards civilized coxcombry reminded one of a negro in a white neck-cloth. And next day, the same fine gentlemen appeared, by the side of the same mountaineers, under circumstances of awkwardness and absurdity, which, to say the least of it, might well restore the equilibrium between them. Though not only a laird, but a member of Parliament, I, from old habit, still had my cases of instruments and medicines in my saddle-bags; and I promise you the usefulness of these appendages was not very long of being discovered. The Marquess, meanwhile, one of the best shots in Christendom, trotted about the heath as if he had been in a paddock, minding nothing but his sport. Part of that, however, might have consisted in observing the sore scrapes into which some of his guests were always sure to be getting. I, for my part, was quite the Chiron of the set; my presence being as fatal to the bucks of one species, as it was beneficial to those of another.

I was well amused with all this—yet I was anxious to rejoin my wife; and, therefore, rather annoyed to find, that two or three days had passed without his lordship's honouring me with the conversation which I had been promised. He was so much surrounded with his guests, however, so early astir for the chase in the morning, and so late at his bottle in the evening, that I really could have had no opportunity of introducing the subject with much likelihood of having it satisfactorily discussed.