This fpecies o f fport had not the fame attrailion for me as the
{hooting o f other birds; we Were obliged to pafs the whole night
in the woods ; to liften to the finging o f the bird with the invidious
ear o f a fpy, to ikulk and fupprefs our very breath, in order
the better to catch the found o f his . voice ; and when at laft we
heard him, it was neceffary we fhould employ all the craft and
artifice o f a traitor, take advantage even o f the fentiment o f love
in this poor creature, and all this for the bale purpofe of killing
him by furprife. In the chafe, as in every thing elfe, I love plain
dealing; I love to make the birds fly before me, to purfue them,
and to declare war before I fire upon them. One fingle bird killed
upon the wing is worth ten afiailinated on the branch o f a tree.
W h a t contributed ftill more to attach us to our refidence at
Uleaborg was, as I have before intimated, the accident o f our
meeting here two gentlemen lovers o f mufic, one o f whom played
the violoncello, the other the alto. Thus, with the affiftance o f
Mr. Skioldebrand, my travelling companion, who played the
violin, and myfelf who played the clarinet, we were in condition
to perform a quartetto tolerably well. A quartetto at Uleaborg
was a phenomenon no lefs out of the ordinary courfe o f things,
than the appearance o f the mofl: aftonilhing meteor. There were
not ten perfons in the town who had ever heard mufic in four
parts; nor probably from its foundation to the day o f our arrival,
had a quartetto been ever executed within its bounds. T h e reader
will eafily conceive the pleafure we derived from the fimplicity o f
thole good people, who looked up to us as the gods o f mufic,
V o l . I O o as