German well. In most of those that are not the private property of great landowners—and these are hardly ever let—there are innumerable rights of way, of grazing, timber felling and other easements as the lawyers say, which are very likely to cause trouble to one who is not a native of the country. Though the game laws in Austria are very stringent and strictly enforced, poaching in many districts is rife, and bloody affrays between keepers and poachers, though not so common as they were, are still possible. “Wildschaden,” or damage done by deer, has also to be reckoned with, and if deer become too numerous, of which the Govern¬ ment officials are the sole judges, you may be obliged to kill them down, or, in default of doing so, a battue may be ordered in your absence. Keepers who have no one on the spot to superintend them not infrequently do a bit of poaching themselves, and in other ways the position of a foreigner is not the same as that of a native.
But to those who do not mind these risks, or who have friends in the country on whom they can rely, sport in an Alpine preserve is more attractive than in the Highlands. The season, commencing with chamois and roe about June 15th and lasting till November or December, is much longer, the climate much less wet and windy, the scenery much more beautiful; and for the man who likes to do his stalking independently, and not to follow at the heels of a stalker and only fire when he is told, the opportunities of using your own eyes, skill and judgment in finding and approaching game are much greater. With the help of ponies and good paths, which are made expressly to help the sportsman in most of the best preserves, even an old man may stalk without much fatigue; and those who are too old to stalk may have many more opportunities of driving game, without unduly disturbing the preserve, than in the Highlands.
No one who did not see the incomparable exhibition of sporting trophies and accessories of sport at Vienna in 1910 can have any idea of the extent to which the preservation of big game is carried in many parts of Austria and Hungary, or of the amount of money that is spent on this form of sport. And though one can hardly hope to kill such magnificent trophies as those which were shown there, one may at least be certain of finding some better than can be got at home. I visited Vienna on purpose to see this Exhibition, which was described in a Special Supplement to Country Life on July 30th, 1910; and at the request of the Editor wrote an article on some of the exhibits which most interested me. My friend Mr. Fair- holme, who on account of his familiarity with Austrian manners and customs acted as British Commissioner at Vienna, selected four heads from my own collection which would have been shown there. But the committee decided to restrict the British collection to specimens killed in some part of the British Empire.
