It becomes merely a question of seconds with the ill-fated heron. After a few spasmodic movements, rendered uncertain by the loss of blood, it finally closes its eyes and drops to the earth. The two hawks utter screeches of victory, tear their victim’s eyes out, and without letting go of it for a moment, drag it to the falconer’s feet. According to the ancient usages of the chase, a huntsman stepped forward at that moment, and, plucking from the heron’s neck its fine and elegant plumage, constituting as it were a natural aigrette, he handed it to Emperor Alexander, who, in his turn, immediately offered it to the lovely Empress of Austria. The horns sounded ‘the death,’ while the birds devoured their quarry, and the illustrious guests crowded round the falconers to compliment them. This, after all, was only the prelude to a more important sporting item of the programme. Every care had been taken to ensure its success. The signal for a new start was given, and we moved towards another part of the park, where on an immense lawn surrounded by trees a vast arena had been arranged for the guns. At one side there was a circular stand for the guests of the Court. The sovereigns and the high personages in whose honour the entertainment was given took up their positions, each one provided with four pages charged with loading the guns, in order to spare the principals the slightest fatigue. The general beating-up had taken place on the previous night. At the word of command from the empress the circle of beaters drew in, and at the same moment from all the outlets of the wood, there emerged a numberless quantity of wild-boars, deer, hares, and game of all kind, which in a few moments were killed by the privileged marksmen, amidst the general applause of the lookers-on. My friends and I had taken up our positions a little distance away from the Empress of Austria, who was using only a musket, loaded with ball, and who aimed exclusively at hares or small game, which she never missed. This file-firing, or rather this kind of slaughter, only ceased when the number of animals killed amounted to several thousands. Once more the forest rang with the barking of the dogs, the cries of the spectators, mingled with the sound of hunting-horns. The ground literally disappeared under the heaped-up game, its blood still trickling. Truly, after the noble struggle we had just witnessed, it became difficult not to admit that the amusements of our fathers were superior to ours. Ypsilanti seemed surprised at the remarkable skill of the Empress of Austria, and at the steadiness of her aim. Without for a moment wishing to detract from either, I told him what I had seen in the arsenal at Stockholm, namely, a long carabine which was loaded with a single pellet of the smallest shot, and with which, it is said, Queen Christina amused herself by bringing down the flies on the walls of her rooms without ever missing one.