se covered with a red cloth was the best. The secondary
prizes were small goblets, silver vases, girdles, cross-bows, swords,
or a prize which has always been a special object of preference with
the inferior shooters, and everywhere, up to modern times, has clung to
shooting societies--material for a beautiful pair of small-clothes. He
who came from the greatest distance to the shooting, received, at
Augsburg, in 1425, a golden ring. But at the same place, in 1440, the
first prize was already a sum of money, forty gulden; and the horses
and cattle were the last. They rose rapidly in value at Augsburg in
1470; 101 gulden was the best, and about 1500 this sum became usual: in
1504, at Zurich, 110 gulden was the chief prize, 90 the second, and so
in succession down to one gulden, all doubled for cross-bows and guns,
and, which is not rare at the Swiss shooting meetings, all in money.
The prizes continued to rise in value; at Leipzig, in 1550, for the
cross-bow 300 gulden; at the great shooting meeting at Strasburg, in
1576, the first prize for rifle and gun was 210 Imperial gulden; at
Basle, in 1603, for muskets (with rifled barrels), a goblet worth 300
gulden. This sum, according to the value of silver and corn, answers to
666 thalers of our money.

The chief prizes then, were money or plate, goblets and vases of all
forms and sizes, of that elegance and taste which distinguished the
work of the goldsmith in the sixteenth century. The deposits also were
frequently paid in special coins and medals, which were coined for the
festival, large and small, and also gilt,--often _klippen_.[65]
Sometimes a bull's-eye shot was rewarded by a _klippe_, which was hung
to the victorious banner. At the costly cross-bow meeting at Dresden,
for each bull's-eye shot was given on the banner a gilt medal, weighing
five Imperial thalers--almost exactly a quarter of a pound of our
customs weight. Smaller towns also coined medals and _klippen_; they
continue as choice rarities in our collections of coins, and show the
greatest diversity of emblems and devices, of size, form, and value.
Small silver pieces were coined for children and the poor, and
distributed in remembrance of the festivals.

But besides these good prizes, there were also tantalising prizes. The
last shot who could make any pretence to a prize was honoured with a
doubtful distinction,--he received, according to old custom, as has
been already mentioned, amidst many derisive co