requested to be allowed to remain among
these founts of antiquity day and night. In
his unwearied and invincible zeal he brought
his meals with him, and declared that rest
was out of the question until he was satisfied
which of his ancestors were "Roberts," and
which "Johns," from the time of the Seventh
Henry. A hair-brained quack doctor has
seriously asserted his claim to a large
quantity of these public documents.

On the other hand, persons really
interested in these records take no heed of
them. Messrs. Brown, Smith, and Tomkins
buy and sell manors and advowsons, Waltons
and Stokes, and Combes cum Tythings, without
knowing or caring that there are records
of the actual transfers of the same properties
between the holders of them since the days of
King John! There is no sympathy for these
things, even with those who might fairly be
presumed to have a direct interest in the
preservation of them, or with the public at large.
Out of many examples of this sort, we need
only cite one from the "Westminster Review:"
—The Duke of Bedford inherits the Abbey of
Woburn, and its monastic rights, privileges,
and hereditaments; and there are public
records, detailing with the utmost minuteness
the value of this and all the church property
which "Old Harry" seized, and all the stages
of its seizure; the preliminary surveys to
learn its value; perhaps the very surrender
of the monks of Woburn; the annual value
and detail of the possessions of the monastery
whilst the Crown held it; the very particulars
of the grant on which the letters patent to
Lord John Russell were founded; the inrolment
of the letters patent themselves. But
neither his Grace of Bedford, the duke and
lay impropriator, nor his brother, the Prime
Minister and the historian, have seemed to
regard these important documents as worthy
of safe keeping.

On public grounds, nothing was for a long
time done, although, as Bishop Nicholson
said in 1714, "Our stores of Public Records
are justly reckoned to excel in age, beauty,
correctness, and authority, whatever the choicest
archives abroad can boast of the like sort."

We are happy to perceive by the "Eleventh
Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public
Records" that the work of arranging,
repairing, cleaning, cataloguing, and rendering
accessible these documents, proceeds
diligently. But we are more happy to discover
that the disastrous adventures of our Public
Records are nearly at an end. The Deputy
Keeper acknowledges "with extreme
satisfaction the receipt of communications made
to Lord Langdale from the Lords Commissioners
of Your Majesty's Treasury, intimating
that their Lordships propose to commence
the building of the Repository so emphatically
urged by his Lordship the Master of the
Rolls, and so long desired; the site thereof
to be the Rolls Estate, and the Building to be
comprehended within the boundaries of such
Estate, the said site being in all respects the
best and most convenient which the
metropolis affords."

A MIGHTIER HUNTER THAN
NIMROD.

A GREAT deal has been said about the
prowess of Nimrod, in connexion with the
chase, from the days of him of Babylon to
those of the late Mr. Apperley of Shropshire;
but we question whether, amongst all the
sporting characters mentioned in ancient or
modern story, there ever was so mighty a
hunter as the gentleman whose sporting
calendar now lies before us.* The annals of
the chase, so far as we are acquainted with
them, supply no such instances of familiar
intimacy with Lions, Elephants, Hippopotami,
Rhinoceroses, Serpents, Crocodiles, and other
furious animals, with which the human species
in general is not very forward in cultivating
an acquaintance.

*A Hunter's Life in South Africa.    By R. Gordon    Cumming Esq., of Altyre.

Mr. Cumming had exhausted the Deer
forests of his native Scotland; he had sighed
for the rolling prairies and rocky mountains
of the Far West, and was tied down to
military routine as a Mounted Rifleman in
the Cape Colony, when he determined to
resign his commission into the hands of
Government, and himself to the delights of
hunting amidst the untrodden plains and
forests of Southern Africa. Having provided
himself with waggons to travel and live in,
with bullocks to draw them, and with a host of
attendants; a sufficiency of arms, horses, dogs,
and ammunition, he set out from Graham's-
Town, in October 1843. From that period
his hunting adventures extended over five
years, during which time he penetrated from
various points and in various directions from
his starting-place in lat. 33 down to lat. 20,
and passed through districts upon which no
European foot ever before trod; regions
where the wildest of wild animals abound—
nothing less serving Mr. Cumming's ardent
purpose.

A lion story in the early part of his book
will introduce this fearless hunter-author
to our readers better than the most
elaborate dissection of his character. He is
approaching Colesberg, the northernmost
military station belonging to the Cape Colony.
He is on a trusty steed, which he calls also
"Colesberg." Two of his attendants on horseback
are with him. "Suddenly," says the
author, "I observed a number of vultures
seated on the plain about a quarter of a mile
ahead of us, and close beside them stood a huge
lioness, consuming a blesblok which she had
killed. She was assisted in her repast by about
a dozen jackals, which were feasting along with
her in the most friendly and confidential manner.
Directing my followers' attention to the
spot, I remarked, 'I see the lion;' to which