Unexplored Spain Part 38

LEBRIJA, _December_ 1897.--TWO GUNS, C. D. W. AND B. F. B. (HALF-DAY) 117 snipe (mostly driven)

LEBRIJA, _November_ 16, 1904.--SAME TWO GUNS 112 snipe, 2 mallard, 1 curlew

CASAS VIEJAS, _November_ 19, 1906.--THREE GUNS (S. D., C. D. W., AND B. F. B.) 123 snipe, 1 mallard, 5 teal

PARTRIDGE-SHOOTING

Pa.s.sing from the use of the _reclamo_, of which we have no personal experience, we turn to the system practised in the Coto Donana. Here we always have the marisma bordering, as an inland sea, our northern frontage. Upon that fact the system known as "_averando_" is based.

A line of six or eight guns, with sufficient beaters between, and mounted keepers on either flank (the whole extending over, say, half-a-mile of front), is formed up at a distance of a mile or two inland from the marisma. On advancing, with the wings thrown forward, and mounted men skirmis.h.i.+ng ahead, a s.p.a.ce comprising hundreds of acres of scrub is thus enclosed. The partridge, running forward among the cistus or rising far beyond gunshot, are gradually pushed down towards the water; then, as the advancing line approaches the marisma, with the belts of rush and sedge that border it, the work begins. The game, unwilling to face the water, perforce come swinging back over the shooting-line. Naturally on seeing encompa.s.sing danger in full view behind and barring their retreat, the partridge spin up heavenwards--higher and yet higher, till they finally pa.s.s over the guns at a height and speed and with a p.r.o.nounced curve that ensures the maximum of difficulty in every shot offered.

In this final stage of the operation grow cork-oaks whose bulk and evergreen foliage add further complexity for the gunner.

It ill.u.s.trates the exertions made by the partridges to attain an alt.i.tude and a speed sufficient to carry them safely over the clearly-seen danger below, that should a bird which has succeeded in thus running the gauntlet happen to be found after the beat is over, it will often be too exhausted to rise again. Such tired birds are often caught by the dogs.

As many as six or eight _averos_, as they are termed, may be carried out during a winter's day. The walking in places is apt to be rough, through jungle and bush--chiefly cistus and rosemary, but intermixed with tree-heaths, brooms, and gorse--intercepted with stretches of water which must be waded without wincing, for it is essential that each man (gun or beater) maintains correctly his allotted position in the advance.

Naturally in a sandy waste, devoid of corn or tillage of any kind, partridge cannot be numerous. They are, moreover, subject to terrible enemies in the eagles, kites, and hawks of every description; while lynxes, wild-cats, foxes, and other beasts-of-prey take daily and nightly toll; then in spring their eggs are devoured by the big lizards, by harriers, mongoose, and magpies in thousands. We have recently endeavoured to increase their numbers by grubbing up 300 acres of scrub and cultivating wheat. But here again Nature opposes us. Deer break down the fences, ignore our guards armed with lanterns and blank cartridge, trample down more than they eat, and the rabbits finish the rest!

Moreover, in wet seasons the ground is flooded, the crops destroyed; while, if too dry, the seed will not germinate, and all the time the unkillable brushwood comes and comes again.

Forty or fifty brace represent average days; though it is fair to add that they are but few who fully avail the fleeting opportunities at those back-swerving dots in the sky.

RABBITS

The cistus plains abound with rabbits. One sees them by scores moving ahead, but just beyond gunshot range, which they calculate to a nicety.

Others dart from underfoot to disappear in an instant in the cover. Few are shot while walking; but some pretty sport is obtainable by short drives, say a quarter-mile. The line of keepers and beaters ride round to windward, encircling some well-stocked bush; then slowly and noisily, with frequent halts, advance down-wind--the rabbit is as susceptible of scent as a deer. Meanwhile the dogs are having a rare time of it hustling the bunnies forward. The guns are placed each to command some clear spot, for where scrub grows thick nothing can be seen. A momentary glimpse is all one gets, and snap-shooting essential. The most favourable spots are where a strip of open ground lies immediately behind the guns. The rabbits fairly fly this, a dozen at a time, and at speed that suggests some one having set fire to their tails.

In days of phenomenal bags, our Spanish totals read humble enough. We frequently kill a hundred or more rabbits in two or three short drives, besides such partridge as may also have been enclosed. Were a whole day devoted to rabbits alone, much greater numbers would of course result.

But having such variety of resource at disposal (to say nothing of difficulty in disposing of large quant.i.ties), the _conejete_ rarely receives more than an hour or two's attention.

Hares (_Lepus mediterraneus_), common all over Spain, are rather more numerous in the marisma than on the drier grounds. They have indeed developed semi-aquatic habits, in times of flood swimming freely from island to island and making arboreal "forms" in the half-submerged samphire-bush. Should the whole become submerged, the hares betake themselves to the main sh.o.r.e, and on such occasions, with two guns, we have shot a dozen or so on a drive. These small Spanish hares are marvellously fleet of foot, especially when an almost equally fleet-footed _podenco_ is in full chase over ground as flat and bare as a bowling-green.

In these hares the females are larger and greyer in colour than the males. Their irides are yellow, with a small pupil, whereas in the male the eye is hazel and the pupil large. The fur of the latter is bright chestnut in hue, especially on hind-quarters and legs, which frequently show irregular splashes of white. The lower parts are purest white, and along the clean-cut line of demarcation the colour contrasts are the strongest. Long film-like hairs grow far beyond the ordinary fur on their bodies, and the tails are longer and carried higher than in our British species.

WEIGHTS OF TEN SPANISH HARES, KILLED JANUARY 30, 1908

Males 4-1/2 4-1/2 4-1/2 4-1/2 4-1/2 lbs., deadweight Females 4-3/4 5 5-1/2 5-1/2 5-1/2 lbs., deadweight

WEIGHTS OF SPANISH RABBITS (IN COUPLES)

Ten couples 3 3 3 3-1/4 3-1/4 3-1/4 3-1/4 3-1/2 3-1/2 3-3/4 lbs., clean

These rabbits differ from the home-breed not only in their smaller size, but in the colder grey of their fur and large transparent ears.

[Ill.u.s.tration: READY TO CAST OFF. THE PACK OF PODENCOS IN COUPLES.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE DAY'S RESULTS.

ROYAL SHOOTING AT THE PARDO, NEAR MADRID.]

Hitherto shooting over great areas of rural Spain has been practised under conditions absolutely natural--almost pristine. The game on mountain, moor, or marsh is not only free to any hunter who possesses the skill to capture it, but it is left to fight unaided its struggle for existence against hosts of enemies, feathered, furred, and scaled, the like of which has no equivalent in our crowded isles; and which work terrible havoc, each in its own way, among the milder members of creation. The presence of so many fierce raptorials, however (though it ruin the "bag"), adds for a naturalist an incomparable charm to days spent in Spanish wilds. Alas! that even here those pristine conditions should already appear to be doomed, that every savage spirit must be quenched, till nothing save the utilitarian survive! The following notes on game-preservation in Spain indicate the beginning of the change.

ON SOME GREAT SPORTING ESTATES OF SPAIN

Game-preservation, in the stricter sense in which it is practised in England, was unknown in Spain till within our own earlier days. But now many great estates yield bags of partridge that may challenge comparison with results obtained elsewhere.

Whether those results equal the best of the crack partridge-manors in England or not we do not inquire. It is immaterial and irrelevant. No comparison is either desirable or possible where natural conditions and difficulties differ fundamentally. But the result at least throws a ray of reflected light upon the energy and capacity of the Spanish gamekeeper, who, under extraordinary difficulties, has aided and enabled his employers to produce conditions which only a few years ago would have appeared impossible. It should be added that these estates which now realise surprising results have, in most instances, belonged to the same owners during generations, though not till towards the end of last century was any special care bestowed upon the game.

The estate of Mudela, in La Mancha, the property of the Marquis de Mudela, Count of Valdelagrana, stands unrivalled in a sporting sense.

Its extent is approximately 80,000 acres, and the whole abounds with red-legged partridge, rabbits, and hares. A dozen consecutive driving-days can be enjoyed, each on fresh ground, and 1000 partridges are often here secured by seven guns, driving, in a day.

There is here quite a small proportion of corn-land or tillage, the greater portion consisting of the rough pasturage, interspersed with patches of scattered brush and palmetto, which is characteristic of southern Spain.

The great results achieved (for 1000 partridges a day, all wild-bred birds, can only so be described) are due to systematic preservation, including the trapping of noxious animals, furred or feathered, and the payment of rewards to the peasantry for each nest hatched-off--in short, by efficient protection of the game, with the destruction of its enemies. In hot dry summers it is necessary to provide both water and food to the game.

Next to Mudela, the most celebrated sporting properties include those of Lachar and Tajarja, both in the province of Granada, and belonging to the Duke of San Pedro de Galatino; Trasmulas in the same province belonging to the Conde de Agrela, and Ventosilla, the property of the Duke of Santona in the province of Toledo. There should also be named Daranezas in the last-named province, the Marquis de la Torrecilla; and Daramezan (Toledo), the Marquis de Alcanices.

At Malpica in Toledo, the estate of the Duke of Arion, there were killed, on the occasion of a visit of King Alfonso XIII., a total in one day of 1655 head (partridges, hares, and rabbits), of which His Majesty was credited with 600.

We extract the following from the Madrid newspaper _La Epoca_, January 22, 1908:--

At El Rincon, Navalcarnero, near Madrid, the King, with thirteen other guns, were the guests of the Marquesa de Manzanedo on January 20. Eight drives were completed, 350 beaters being employed. The total recovered numbered 1400 head, of which 241 fell to the King's gun. His Majesty continued shooting with astonis.h.i.+ng brilliancy even while darkness was already setting in, and wound up with four consecutive right-and-lefts when one could scarce see even a few yards away. King Alfonso killed 97 partridge, 31 hares, 98 rabbits, and 15 various--double the number that fell to the next highest score.

Most of the places named are capable of yielding from 500 to 800 and even 1000 partridge in a day's driving, besides other game.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV

ALIMAnAS

THE MINOR BEASTS OF CHASE

We have no British equivalent for this generic term, applied in Spain to a group of creatures, chiefly belonging to the canine, feline, and viverrine families, that deserve a chapter to themselves. The Spanish word _Alimanas_ includes the lynxes and wild-cats, foxes, mongoose, genets, badgers, otters, and such like. It might therefore be rendered as "vermin," but surely only in the benevolent sense--as it were, a term of endearment. We have preferred the expression "minor beasts of chase,"

though it may be objected that such are not, in fact, beasts of chase.

We reply that hardly any wild animals are harder to secure in fair contest or more capable of testing the venatic resource of the hunter.

For these animals are beasts-of-prey, and that fact alone implies nothing less than that in their very nature and life-habits they must be more cunning, more astute, than those other creatures (mostly game) on which they are ordained to subsist. Moreover, being nocturnals, their senses of sight, scent, and hearing all far exceed our own, and they possess the enormous advantage that they see equally well in the dark.

Wild Spain, with her 56 per cent of desert or spa.r.s.ely peopled regions, is a paradise for predatory creatures--alike the furred and the feathered--and _alimanas_ abound whether in the bush and scrub of her torrid plains, or amid the heavier jungle of her mountain-ranges.