Like his father, the late Prince Consort, the King has always been a keen deer-stalker, and when he is staying at Balmoral most of his time is entirely devoted to this sport--in fact, deer-stalking is what first brought him into close connection with his present son-in-law, then the Earl of Fife, who possesses Mar, which is one of the two largest forests in Great Britain, being over 80,000 acres of cleared ground. Balmoral is situated in the heart of the deer country, being within reach of a good number of forests adjoining each other, and extending without a break into five counties. The King is well known to prefer “stalking” to driving, but of late years he has taken an active part in the drives organised at Mar. His marksmanship is universally agreed to be excellent. At one time he was owner of Birkhall, in Glenmuick, but it was purchased for him by Prince Albert, and he had no voice in its selection. Still the King kept it till 1885, when he sold the property, which was very extensive, to Queen Victoria. [Illustration: THE “BRITANNIA” _From a Photograph by Adamson, Rothesay_] King Edward has been extremely fortunate as a yachtsman, and probably one of the events to which he most looks forward each year is the Regatta at Cowes. The King first won the Queen’s Cup, annually presented to the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, in 1877, with his schooner _Hildegarde_ of 198 tons. He won the Cup again in 1880 with the _Formosa_, cutter, of 103 tons, and again in 1895 and 1897 with the famous cutter _Britannia_ of 151 tons. [Illustration: THE KING AS A YACHTSMAN _Photograph by Debenham, Cowes_] The Royal Yacht Squadron, as is well known, was founded as “The Yacht Club” so far back as 1815. It early enjoyed the patronage of Royalty, among the past and present members being numbered the Prince Regent (afterwards George IV.), the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV.), Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort, the Tsar Nicholas I., Napoleon III., the German Emperor, and Prince Henry of Prussia. The King became Commodore in 1882 on the death of Lord Wilton, and he is Commodore of nine other Royal yacht clubs, as well as President of the Yacht Racing Association. The King generally takes the chair at the annual dinner of the Squadron held at the old castle at West Cowes, built as a fort by Henry VIII., which became the headquarters of the club in 1858. This festivity is the great event of the year for all well-known yachtsmen. There is an interesting display of plate, including the Queen’s Cup, the Nelson Vase, and the beautiful model of the _Speranza_, which once belonged to Lord Conyngham. His Majesty presented a few years ago twenty-one cannon to the club-house at Cowes. They were taken by him from the _Royal Adelaide_, the toy warship placed by William IV. to guard the artificial ocean of Virginia Water. Now they are used for firing salutes.