nothing more nor less than a species of great animal congress,
at which the various antlered tribes meet for a big "palaver" to
decide matters affecting the policy and the leadership of their
various clans! Far-fetched as this theory may seem at first sight, it
is evident that there is something of the kind which brings stags and
their mates from the remote forests of Galicia on the Russian border,
from the vast Liechtenstein game preserves to the South of Vienna,
and from the still larger sporting property of Belyer, in Hungary,
belonging to Archduke Frederick, all the way to the Schorfhaide on
the reedy banks of the Werbellin Lake, in order to flock together by
thousands.

It is a matter of forest ethics, and of the law of the chase, to
abstain from disturbing this annual _convivium_ of the stags, as it
is called, and while it lasts, not a single shot is to be heard in the
forests around Hubertusstock. In fact, November has on this account
become a species of close season there, no one interested in sport
wishing to do anything that could in the least degree interfere with
this, so far as I know, altogether unique custom in the animal world.
The meetings, however, have been witnessed by the emperor and a few
chosen companions who concealed themselves in the branches of
trees, bordering on the Schorfhaide, and William is never tired of
expatiating on the magnificence of the spectacle presented.

Next to Hubertusstock, the most favored shooting-lodge and
sporting-estate of the kaiser, is Rominten, not far from the Russian
frontier. Owing to this proximity, bears and wolves, especially
the latter, of Muscovite origin, are frequently to be found in the
Rominten forests, adjoining which is the celebrated imperial Trakenen
stud and horsebreeding establishment, founded as far back as 1732
by Frederick the Great. Some idea of the size and importance of this
stud-farm may be gathered from the fact that over two thousand hands
are employed in connection with the concern. Trakenen was originally
famous for elk, and an elk's horn remains to this day the Trakenen
brand placed upon all horses bred there. The emperor's headquarters at
Rominten are situated at a place called Theerbude. His jagdschloss or
shooting-lodge consists of a handsome Norwegian block house, brought
from Norway, and erected on the Goldberg on the left bank of the
Rominten River. The stables are built on a most extensive scale, and
the chapel, as well as all