in the best possible manner by one of us, Floresko, the prefect of the foreigners' department. The whole was arranged so that the bear should be first traced out, and then driven by five or six hundred peasants into a semicircle of about a hundred chasseurs. After the requisite number of people were collected together upon the appointed day, and all the regulations carried into effect with the most perfect silence, the signal sounded for beginning the chase; it was a long-sustained note from a Jager's horn, followed by other noisy instruments and the shouts of the drivers. This did not last long until a shot was fired at my right, where Kornesko stood, and then all was quiet again; after some minutes I heard an animal make a considerable noise in breaking through the bushes, at a distance from me, for the stillness of a clear October day, together with the rustling of the leaves, that were already thickly strewed over the ground, doubled the noise made by the tread of any animal. This time it happened to be only a well-fed fox that exhibited himself to me at about eighty yards' distance; I let a bullet fly at him, and be rolled over, well shot through the head, and again all was silent; but the beaters approached nearer and began again their loud cries: indeed it is sometimes terrific to hear our Moldavian peasants, spread over an extent of some five or six miles, uttering their piercing shouts and more fearful sounds of lamentation, while they struck the trees with rattles and a thousand other discordant instruments. Soon I heard, at about a mile and a half on my left, two shots close together, and afterwards a deafening cry of ours, ours, which word is pronounced exactly the same by Romano-Moldavians as by the French, run like lightning along the ranks of the beaters. The Prince or Bey Zadey Soutzo (Bey means Prince, Zadey the son of a Sovereign Prince, as for example, Ibrahim Adama is of the Sultan) came to me and cried "Seigneur Alcibiades, the bear has broken through the beaters. What have you killed ?" A fine fox, as you may see; his Mameluk, or Albanieser, took up the fox, then Kornesko came up and we went together to the place where the bear had broken away. Then we found Floresko, who was

endeavouring to trace the direction which the animal had taken; he informed us that it was the Jager Lazar who had fired at him and had hit him in the back; the other shot was fired by a peasant, by whom the bear had rushed with such rapidity, breaking down the young trees on the right and left of him, that the poor fellow fell flat on his back with the fright, and his valiant gun took the opportunity of going off by itself; we laughed heartily at the terrified peasant, and brought him back to his former equilibrium with a good dose of brandy. Then, without any further delay, we followed the track of the bear. Before we had gone a hundred yards we saw drops of blood upon the leaves and branches which he touched in his passage through them; these marks were all at about five feet and a half high, just on a level with my eyes. This, being the height of a tolerably large man, induced me to ask Lazar of Poentar, who had shot at the bear, whether the bear went upon hind-legs alone or upon all-four? Upon allfour," he said, "just like a dog." Then, for the first time, I began to give credit to the stories I had heard of the enormous size and strength of the monster, and my curiosity as well as my ambition to be, if possible, the slayer of him, reached the highest pitch.

'For a long time I wandered on with the others who had, in the meanwhile, sent for a pack of from sixty to seventy hounds which had been left in the nearest village. But at length, weary of the vain search, I left my companions and turned to the left through a wild part of the wood, in which I expected to strike upon the road by which the carriage, containing our provisions, was to come; for I was sure that it was somewhere in that direction, and indeed I had become tolerably hungry. At last I came into what really deserved the name of a virgin valley. Enormous oaks lay there, fallen from age, and weeds, and young trees had sprung up upon their mouldering trunks, under the influence of the beneficent rays of the sun; deep darkness reigned beneath the wide-spread branches of other giants, yet in the vigour of life, and invited by the coolness of the

shade, I determined to enjoy a few minutes' rest; but almost immediately I heard an amazing noise as if a whole squadron of cavalry were charging down upon me, and soon I saw a gigantic coal-black animal, about two hundred yards from me, rushing down into the valley and passing by me with the speed of lightning. I had not time to remark it very accurately; but as far as I could judge, nothing from the Ice bear of the Pole to the enormous black inhabitant of Siberia, came near the size of this monster. I has tened to follow him, taking a westerly direction, and heard the pack of hounds which had just found his track and was following him with great speed. Soon I met a Bojar, the principal servant of M. Floresko; the unfortunate fellow said to me while we were proceeding, "I have a kind of presentiment that I shall get up to the bear, so that I have brought with me the best of my sharp-shooters, who are following me on foot." We now came into a deep part of the wood that was all overgrown with fruit-trees, which, it would appear, was the favourite resort of the bear, for we found the ground covered with great heaps of his droppings. I settled to remain in this wild strange place. Kostaki went on, although neither had his suite come up to him, nor could the hounds be any longer heard. Weary and heated I lay down under a great apple-tree, with my faithful dog Amico, lit my chibouk (Turkish pipe) with moss, and charged Amico, one of the strongest breed of wolf-hounds, whom I had trained to my service against either man or beast, to keep strict watch. Here I might have dreamed away some half hour or so, lying right comfortably, and with the greatest satisfaction, puffing away clouds of smoke into the air, when I heard again the noise of animals approaching. I rose gently and placed myself behind a tree when about a dozen sows, with an enormous boar at their head, burst forth from their head. Soon others came up until I reckoned three-and-twenty, who were all diligently employed in turning up the dead leaves in search of fruit that might have fallen among them. I kept back my hound and crept along like a serpent, upon my belly, under

cover of a fallen oak, until I had come within about eighty yards of them; my object was to kill the great boar; for I knew, from long and dangerous experience in Mongolia, that people often risk their lives by not killing, in the first instance, the leader of the troop; but, as if he was conscious of some impending evil, he kept continually moving away, and I could not, by any means, get within shot of him. At length I lost all patience and determined that, come what might of it, I would bring one of them home with me as a trophy, and as I feared that they would not stay where they were much longer, and as one of the largest sows, not quite so black as the others but covered with very long bristles, stood exactly opposite to me, I took good aim and shot well enough; for after a few steps she fell and did not stir again; the others immediately disappeared, and the forest resumed its former state of solitude. It appeared that the collections of jagers had spread themselves wide, and, ambushed in different places, awaited the good fortune of the hounds driving the bear towards them; while I hoped that I had taken the most secure means of surprising him by waiting in the very centre of his camp.

I knew that my shot must have excited attention, and so I blew my horn several times in the hope of bringing up to me, if possible, some of the beaters, who might carry my booty into a place of safety. I soon received an answer to my call and about thirty men, both jagers and beaters, came up by degrees. The wild boar, though he had fallen, was not quite dead, and gnashed frightfully with his teeth, until one of the jagers finished him. They then carried him up to the place where Kostaki had left me about an hour before. It proved an enormous beast, both as to size and fat. While they were all wishing me joy for having killed him, one of the peasants from the neighbourhood of Poeniar appeared to examine him very accurately-what surprises you in this animal, said I? Sir,” he replied, “it is very extraordinary ; but about five or six years ago one of my pigs left me, and made acquaintance with a herd of wild sows, with whom he was often seen during the

following year, but not afterwards. Now, I could take my oath this is him. If he is my pig, he has got a mark in his left ear; and, in truth, there he found it, although somewhat worn away. One may easily imagine what a rage I was in, and what ridicule I had to endure, when it was discovered that my fine Erymanthean Aper, was changed into the domestic pig of a peasant, to whom I was, in all justice bound to restore it.

'I should have heard much more of the raillery of the Jagers, had it not been interrupted by the cry of the hounds, which sounded at about three miles distance. In the greatest possible haste my companions left me to resume their positions, which they did not wish to abandon; only Lazar, the Jager, who had had the first shot at the bear, and who, with the others, had obeyed the summons of my horn, remained along with me. When the pack of hounds had again turned off, I lit my chibouk again, and set myself astride upon my pig, that, in scorn, they had placed as a bench for me to sit upon. We heard the hounds then turning back again, and now really coming, faster and faster, in our direction-soon after we heard a fearful scream, followed by a yet more terrific yell. Having arranged my rifle, I ran towards the place the noise came from. There was a momentary silence -then a sound like the rushing of a thunder storm; the underwood before me shook and bent aside, and now I saw the long-sought-for monster in reality, standing before me. The path was entirely taken up by his gigantic form, and he appeared to me to be springing directly at me, uttering a howl that nearly deafened me, and which literally made the air tremble. I was only half-conscious of what I was doing-victory or death lay before me. I took good aim, let him come within six yards of me, then discharged my fortunate double rifle, with which I had killed the fox and boar, the bullet hit the terrific animal directly between the two eyes. He paused a moment-my faithful amico sprung forward. The bear, perhaps astonished at the unexpected sight of a large white hound, and his courageous barking, gave me time to apply a second bullet in exactly the same place; while

Lazar, who had taken up a safe position behind an oak tree, fired a third into him, which, however, did not do him a great deal of harm, as we found it afterwards buried in his fat. As I now saw clearly that with every drawing of his breath streams of blood spouted from his head, I drew my hunting knife, and joined my hound in endeavouring to bewilder him with the loudest shouts that I could conmand, when he yelled frightfully, and turned sidewards to seek safety in the mass of underwood; but he soon tottered from side to side, and it was easily seen that his strength was departing. After about thirty steps he lay down. I made immediate use of the time thus offered to me to load again, and then was prepared to follow him in safety. He lay quite quietly, made no more noise, and used his fore legs, just as a man would his arms, to wipe away the blood from his face. I endeavoured to irritate him again, that he might turn round, and give me an opportunity of aiming at the most mortal part, which succeeded but too completely; for, after having first broken some branches of trees, and thrown them at me with prodigious force, he was excited by me and my hound to such a degree, that, seeing that he had no further chance of escape, he raised himself once more, with all his strength, and made a second attempt at rushing upon me, but his fate was sealed. When he had almost touched the barrel of my gun, he received his last mortal wound in his brain, and sank forward, covering me with his blood, and almost burying me under the enormous mass of his body; and the last roar that he gave exceeded the most terrible that I have ever heard; the tone of it was so full, so deep, so full of despair, and piercing, that the whole forest resounded with it, and the echo trembled as it returned the sound.

'Now came up Floresko, the hounds, and a hundred men, who were astonished, and shuddered as they contemplated the brute, and all poured in upon me their congratulations at having slain the monster who had for so long a time been the terror of the neighbourhood.

'I felt, indeed, very much elated; for I had never been in more immi

nent danger, and never won a victory that gave me more momentary satis faction. They were obliged to cut away the underwood, in order to be able to carry the brute to the nearest road. In the meanwhile Floresko told me that he was afraid that his upper steward, Kostaki, had proved the sacrifice of that day, for he had found him in a frightful condition; and shortly the poor fellow was brought up upon a bier. His appearance was dreadful. His limbs, as well as his clothes, hung down torn to pieces, his entrails protruded from his body, his spine was injured, recovery was out of the question. After horrible torments he died the same day.

'So did this great beast die, not unavenged; and the joy of our success was too dearly purchased.

They placed the bear upon a large waggon, yoked with four oxen, in order to bring him to Bucharest. They there skinned him, and found from 780 to 800lb. of fat, and 963lb. of flesh and bones. From the hindermost part to between his ears, he measured 19 feet; and according to calculations, made upon the theory of Dr. Gall, he

He was,

must have been from 170 to 180 years old. He was entirely black, and his teeth were much worn away. most probably, a Siberian bear, that had been from time to time hunted, and received occasional wounds. In his left haunch, and in his back, two arrow heads were found. I gave his skin to the Turkish general, Namik Pacha, who, a short time ago, travelled through Europe, charged with several embassies from the Sultan. I have his skull, and a part of his fat, in my ice house at Bucharest.""

We have now given a sufficient number of extracts, to author's versatility; and we can assure prove the those among our readers who cannot read the original, that when a translation appears, it will be well worth a perusal. We now take leave of him, with the hope that he may live long, travel much, and write often; and that, in his future works, he will avoid personalities, as well as the discussion of religious topics, and leave unexpressed those thoughts which require a Greek character to veil them from the public eye.

announced, which we have not yet seen.

DEAR ANTHONY,

66

London, June 17, 1834.

Well, my friend, there has been a change of ministry at last-"and such a change!" But no matter; the "Reform" cabinet exists no longer, and this thing cannot long endure, at least I suppose it cannot, though Heaven knows it is hard enough, after the experience of the last three years and a half, to say that anything is positively too absurd to totter on, under the name and semblance of a government of these kingdoms. I think we were lately in that sort of position in which it is said, you must be worse before you will be better." Perhaps we are so still; but we have, at all events, made an important step towards that worser condition which is to be the precursor of our amendment. I do not mean, in imitation of the prevailing fashion, to set about eulogizing these men who have left the ministry, just as if their doing so had wiped away all the folly and error of which they have been justly accused when in the administration, and of which they would be still accused if they were still in the administration, even by those who now praise them. But while I regard the four ex-cabinet ministers as participators in pernicious acts of revolution, which Great Britain can never forget, and ought never to forgive till justice has been done upon the perpetrators of them, it must be confessed that they, or at least three of them, were the most respectable in talent, and by far the most respectable in character, of the whole cabinet. As for the Earl of Ripon-the Fred. Robinson of "prosperity" notoriety, the Lord Goderich of Canning manufacture, and the Goosy Goderich by popular acclamation-the less that is said about him the better. But Stanley, Graham, and the Duke of Richmond, were men who, with all their faults, did some credit to their places, and the substitutes for them are "poor indeed."

Let us look for a moment at the new men they have got, and let us laugh, if we can laugh, at that of which the country ought to be so heartily ashamed. Rice, you must remember, they had before, and, if I do not much mistake, in a situation where he did them much more service than he will be able to do as Secretary for the Colonies: many a good clerk makes a bad manager; the clever Secretary to the Treasury will, I suspect, be a feeble, fussy cabinet minister. As for the House of Commons, his measure has been taken there long ago, and he will never bear more weight than he has at present. It would be absurd to talk of him for a moment as an equivalent for Stanley in any respect; but be the value of his services what they may, they are not now acquired-they are only shifted from a more appropri ate to a less appropriate sphere of action. As for Rice himself, he is the most delighted creature on earth, now that he has secured his seat for Cambridge; and as he is unquestionably a clever fellow, and a good fellow too, though cursed with an unpleasant kind of affectation and a love of displaying as something fine and uncommon, that which every gentleman ought to know as a matter of course, I am willing that he should enjoy the glory of being a cabinet minister, but I wish he had wiser people for colleagues to keep him in the right way. Lord Carlisle, the new Privy Seal, they also had before, though he held no office. The change from no office to a sinecure is not much, except as to the pay; and that circumstance, however agreeable to Lord Carlisle, has in it no very obvious advantage to the country. I suspect that his lordship's fitness for an office where he has nothing to do, is much more certain that his worthiness to receive a salary from the Treasury. The new First Lord of the Admiralty is no new accession of wisdom to the government. He has had all sorts of situations, in which no more ability