The rich landowners sometimes invite all their nei2:hbours for twentv miles round to a great hunt. The field is then taken for eight successive days against the shy inhabitants of the forest, in sledges, drOshkies, and coaches, or on horseback, accompanied by multitudes of peasants and dogs. The meals aie taken under the shade of a lofty fir-tree, from which a lynx has just been expelled, or in the den of a bear who has just been overcome, or in the lair of a newly-shot elk. Sometimes a corps of musicians accompanies the party, and cards and dice are seldom wanting. It might be imagined that Tacitus had made his remarks on the ancient tribes of Germany, in these haunts of their misophisticated descendants ; except that instead of savages clothed in bearskins, these hunters are always well dressed, sometimes young and handsome, and generally well educated and intelligent. The assuming of the toga wrilis was the great era in the life of a Roman youth. The fowlingpiece is here an emblem of the same significance. Even little boys, as soon as they can stand alone, are initiated into the merry life of the hunter, and father, son, and grandson often hunt together. The first elk shot by a nobleman's son is talked of half his life, and the last bear conquered by an old man, before his death, is long thought of with mournful pride by his friends. In some noble families the passion for hunting has taken such deep root, that every member of it is a modern Nimrod ; while in others, few in numbers, a dislike to sporting is an hereditary characteristic. There are many noblemen to be found who were never out of their forests and wildernesses, who in the seventy years of their existence have used up more than a hundred calfskins for hunting-boots, and who have expended more saltpetre ou game than their forefathers required to conquer the country.
The next town which I reached in this land of hospitality, sea-bathing, and Nimrods, was Ilasenpoth ; a singular name, but no contemptible place. The Lettes call the town Ais/iputte, but it is not yet decided by antiquarians whether this is a Lettish translation for Ilasenpoth, or Hasenpoth a Germanization of Aishputte.
Ilasenpoth is a place which in the history of the world has certainly played no very conspicuous part. The town has scarcely 2000 inhabitants, and they are mostly Jews. The streets are not paved ; and not long ago the gentlemen and noblemen, leaving their balls and parties at night, were carried home huckaback, by a certain class of Jews, denominated the fiacres of Hasenpoth. In spite of all this, however, I would not have thee, dear reader, think too contemptuously of Hasenpoth. Picturesquely grouped in the valley of the Tepper, it is by no means an ugly object, and possesses one fine old ruin. These little towns of Livonia and Courland are very peculiar. They possess no industrious and intelHgent bourgeoisie, hke our small German towns ; but they are in winter the rendezvous of the surrounding nobility, who form more elegant and cultivated circles than are ever found in German places of the same rank.
Hasenpoth has its clubs, casinos, soirees, and masked balls, as well as Mitau and Riga. These balls usually last three times twenty-four hours,
as the company assemble from great distances, and must have a sufficient reason for harnessing so many horses; and bad as are the ball-rooms, yet the dancers might be transplanted to Berlin or Vienna without losing in effect, or being in the slightest degree embarrassed. Nay, in many cases, their grace and dexterity would excite just admiration. Ninety-nine out of a hundred of my readers probably pronounce for the first time the name of Hasenpoth, yet in the Baltic provinces its balls and assemblies are a universal theme of conversation. So different are the scales of comparison in the various countries of Europe. Of coiu-se it is only the neighbouring nobility who give this place the slightest importance. Hasenpoth in itself, as a town, is insignificant enough, and its citizens have not the least social, political, or commercial consequence. Of the thirteen votes which decide the election of a pastor for this town, twelve belong to the nobles of the surrounding country, and only one to the citizens of Hasenpoth themselves.
Hasenpoth is important in Courland, but Goldingen is much more so, and comes next to Mitau in rank. It lies on the Windau, the greatest river of Courland, which, rising in Lithuania, connects it with distant regions. It has narrow streets, high houses, and a paved market-place, and looks altogether more like a town than the so-called towns of Courland generally do, which, in fact, are more hke villages.