Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

11 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

SPORTS AND PASTIMES. ,-+--

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

SPORTS AND PASTIMES. ,-+-- THE Levant Herald says the cricket match between her Majesty's Embassy and the Caradoc on the one side, and the Constantinople Club on the other, came off at the Sweet Waters of Asia on Saturday, July 21. Play began about eleven a.m., and lasted, with a couple of hours' interval, till after six p.m., when the diplomats and bluejackets were thoroughly, but not ingloriously, beaten. The attendance of outaide spectators was unusually largo,, and incsinded must of tha rank and fashion of Candid, Bebek, Ther&pia, Bayukdere, and the other regiona round about the Bosphorus. An admirable lunch, hospitably open to all comers, was served about two o'clock, and hence on till the close of the game the scene was as lively as capital play and brilliant company coald make it. YOUNG WOODCOCKS.—How many form a family? La,st Sunday evening, says a correspondent of the Field, whilst taking a stroll of investigation in a natural birch wood covert, on the banks of a famous salmon river, I SAW what I had often heard of, but never known previously, even in an experience of their breeding ground on the other side of the Atlantic —four young woodcocks. In the midst of a luxuriant patch of the common felis mas fern, arrested in its progress by the stagnant sloppiut ss and sponginass of the outlet of a. bill burn, which forma g, delicious natu- ral feeding-ground for snipa and their cousins in hard weather, I was arrested by the rash of a bird rising through the air. I at once recognised a woodcock as it cleared the natural birch trees, 15ft. to 20ft. high, over and through which it took its way, flying pretty strong'. I had hardly watched it for five seconds, and turned half round to look again at the ground, before another, then another, got up on my left, and slightly In the rear, and, flying with consider- able difficulty, got over a fence some twelve yards distant into a clover field. Almost before they had alighted there I stepped out on my way, when a,fourth got up in front to my right, about two yards from me, so that I must have been right among them before they would rise. The last flew not more than ton to twenty yards at a, time, scarcely rising four feet from the ground. I ran it down in some 400 yards, cutting it off from the clumps of fern, which it made for and tried to hide in. As I Beared it it increased its flights for a short distance, and ran in the intervals of living almost as fast as an old-cock pheasant'scuttling into covert when ha suspects something; but its flight soon got shorter. I turned it looae on eatisfying my- self it was a woodcock. None but tha last made any cry on rising; hnir it jabbered in what Carlyle would call "inarticulate shrieking" each time it had to land. I imagine, from its being the last to rise and its flight, that it was the Benjamin of the brood (were they all one brood ?}. Captain Musgrave has told us pleasantly, in his manly narrative of his shipwreck, that young seals cost their mammas as much training to take the water, aa a young lady in her first season the revered parent, in trusting her offspring to the risks of the ocean of life. In noticing these innocent woodcocks, I was struck by what all who have observed birds must be aware of, that wingmanship" does not" oarne by nature," as Dogberry believed reading and writing did in his day, a,nd gig-driving and farming in oars by his descend- ants. All these tyros in the art (the last particularly) flew awkwardly, feet hanging down, tail outspread, and screwed in below them at an obtuse angle, I pre. sume, to give their pectoral muscles a. stand-point for the leverage of their wings, Better mark -till of their incapacity and clumsiness, the axis of their body more ) or less perpendicular—the one run- down particularly noticeable in that—just like « hobbledehoy bantam trying to fly over a fsnoa too tall for him. In fast, no one accustomed to the powerful, swift," and what (for want of a better epithet) I must call the dreamy flight of the full-grown woodcock, could have believed it was the young that Saw as my did.. THE legitimate "'opening of what in the metro- polia is termed the "oyster season," took place 0n Saturday morning at Billingsgate Market. Prices ruled as follows:—Natives, 90, to 100a, per bushel; pearls, ehene rocks, and old royals, 30s. to 35s.; common and other inferior kinds, from 13a, per bushel and upwards. AN intrepid swimmer has crossed the Lake of Geneva, between Belotte and Beilevue. The feat oocupied two hours and a. half. Daring all this time tha swimmer took no rest, not even bv floating on his back. By the kindness of gentlemen in Nottingham and neighbourhood private hospitality will be offered to mora than 300 members of the British Association at the ensuing meeting. Ladings at an average of 5s. per night have been registered for more than 1,000 visitors and if the meeting is a very larga one, from 200 to 300 beds have been reserved in neighbouring towns, easily accessible by special trains after every night of the meeting. AMATEUR SWIMMING- MATCH.—ON Saturday morn- ing the race for the amateur silver challenge cup, pre- sented by Mr. John Latey, the honorary sooretary of the London Swimming Club, took place in the Serpen- tina. The start was from the grating end_to Kensing- ton-bridge, 1,000 yards. hal £ -past six being the time specified. There were four entries, viz., Messrs. W. Adams, W. Cole, C. Powell, and F, Smithy but only the first two names appeared at the starting place. They started very evenly and kep i together for rather more than 100 yards, when Adams began to taka the lead, which he gradually increased., and_ won very easily, doing the distance in about 18J minutes; but the time is not a fair criterion of his powers, as Cole gave up some distance from the bridge. A CONTEIPORARY saya the approaching shooting season offers additional sport in this country, as French partridges (which, in sporting phraseology, are better known as "red legs") have located and bred this summer on the hills of Mersham and Gedstone. These birds are very plentiful in Norfolk and Essex, and there is a sprinkling of them in Kent, from which counties these French strangers are supposed to have deserted. They have reared young broods which are strong, but their habit of running makes them rarely to be seen on the wing, For our part we would rather I be without such game than with them. They neither afford sport nor are they good to eat. I THE imperial commission for the Paris Exhibition next year has arranged a department in which sailing boats, rowing boats, and models of ships and yachts of all nations can be exhibited. The models will be properly placed in light and well-covered galleries, while the boats, punts, and canoes occupy a suitable roofed shed on the margin of the river close to the principal bridge leading to the exhibition, from whence they can be readily lowered into the water for use. It has been proposed to have a sailing match for schooner and cutter yachts at Havre, in July next, and an inter. national regatta will take place on the Seine. The English committee in connection with this department of the Paris Exhibition (of which H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh is chairman) have invited the principal yacht and boat-builders to apply for space, and the yacht clabs of the United Kingdom will be requested to take part in the sailing matches. The sailors of the Royal Navy will be permitted to row in the regatta, and it is hoped that several prizes will be offered. THE Oxford and Cambridge College Servants Eight- oar race took place from Iffiey to Oxford last week. Hitherto the Oxford servants have emulated the ex- ample set them by their masters at Putney, having been successful on six previous occasions, while the Cantabs had never scored a victory on the water; but it having become known that they possessed an unusually good erew, they were speedily made the favourites. As the choice of sides of the river was known to be a manifest advantage, it was determined to have a time race, the crews having to start eighty yards apart. Oxford had the first position, and went off at a pace which made their friends sanguine of success for a time, but on nearing the Gut Cambridge began to gain, and gradually lessened the distance between them, until near the finish they were so close that a "bump" (a foul) seemed inevitable. Easing a little they reached their flag only a few yards behind Oxford, who shut up when they heard the report of the Cam- bridge pistol, and rowed leisurely to their goal, many seconds behind Cambridge in point of time. The re- sult was received on all sides with great applause. The Oxonians were the heavier crew. The Cantabs were entertained at a public banquet at the Town-hall in the evening. OF all the funny and amusing persons in London, give us Arthur Sketchley. His character of Mrs. Brown is inimitable. How he goes out with her for a holiday, how she is entertained at the theatre, how they got home in the evening, are all things to be seen and heard to be appreciated. We believe it not unlikely that Mr. Sketchley will be sued for damages some day or other for splitting the sides of some gentleman's cara svosa, or of some ladies' inferior half. We are informed, however, that Mr. Arthur Sketchley will shortly leave this country for America, and taks Mrs. Brown with him. Oh, fie' what will Mrs. Arthur Sketchley say, and what will they say at the Egyptian Hall.

AGRICULTURE. I ----+--

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HINTS UPON GAEDENI35TG. --

IMPROVED OMNIBUS ACCOMMODATION.

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A GRAND TREAT TO THE CHILDREN…

POISONED PICKLES AND THE.…

TEN PER CENT.

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_r,_ FACTS AND FAEETIiE. ..