Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/547

Rh 1em  COURLAND, or, one of the Baltic provinces of Russia, lying between 56 and 57 45 N. lat. and 21 and 27 E. long., is bounded on the N.E. by the River Diina, separating it from the governments of Vitebsk and Livonia, N. by the Gulf of Riga, W. by the Baltic, and S. by the government of Kovno. The area is 10,535 square miles, of which 101 square miles are occupied by lakes. Popula tion (1870), 619,154. The surface is generally low, and the coast-lands, which run out northwards, inclosing the Gulf of Riga, by a broad promontory to the Domes-nas, opposite the island of Oesel, are flat and marshy. The in terior is characterized by wooded dunes, covered with pine, fir, birch, and oak, with swamps and lakes and fertile patches between. Usmaiten, the largest lake, is 24 miles in circuit. The highest point of the province, called the Hiiningsberg, in the neighbourhood of the capital, is scarcely 700 feet above the sea. The Windau, Aa, and the frontier river Diina pass through the province from the south-east. Owing t j the numerous lakes and marshes the climate is damp and foggy, and the winter is severe, though less rigorous than that of Livonia. Agriculture is the chief occupation of the inhabitants, the principal crops being rye, barley, and oats ; flax, hemp, and a little tobacco are also grown. Fisheries, cattle-rearing, and hunting are also carried on to some ex tent. Except in the making of tiles and in distillation manufactures are insignificant. Iron and limestone are the chief minerals of the province ; amber is found on the coasts. The peasantry of Courland are partly the Letts of Courland, or Kures, mixed with Polish and Russian blood ; partly Esthonian Letts, with German, Swedish, and Finnish admixture, such as the Livs of the north -west coast of the promontory of Courland, and the &quot; Krevinnes, &quot; or Krivingians, living in the district of Bauske, in the interior. The prevailing religion is the Lutheran, only a small pro- portion of the people belonging to the Greek Church. Mitau, centrally placed, and in railway communication with Riga, is the capital of the province and its largest town; but Libau and Windau on the Baltic coast are its busiest places. Anciently Courland was an independent possession of the Teutonic knights, who also owned Livonia, and it comprised the two duchies of Kurland and Semgall. As Russian power continued to extend, and the knights could no longer hold their own in Livonia, the duchies were placed, in 1561, under the feudal government of Poland. By the marriage of Duke Frederick William of Kurland to the Russian Princess Anna, daughter of Czar Ivan, in 1710, Courland came into close relation with Russia, and remained fur a long period an object of contention between that country and Poland. Ultimately, in 1795, the assembly of nobles in Courland resolved to place the country under tho Russian sceptre. The Baltic pro vine 23 Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland ceased to form collectively a general govern ment of the Russian empire by ukase of January 1876 ; their separate administration is now based on the same general system as that of the other governments of the em pire, modified by some local and special dispositions.  COURSING may be defined as the hunting of game by dogs solely by means of the organs of sight. From time to time the sport has been pursued by various nations against various animals, but the recognized method has generally been the coursing of the hare by greyhounds. Such sport is of great antiquity, and is fully described by Arrian in his Cynegeticus about 150 A.D., when the leading features appear to have been much the same as in the present day,, Other Greek and Latin authors refer to the sport but during the Middle Ages it was but little heard of. It may be divided into private and public coursing. The former is more pursued for the sake of filling the pot with game than with the view of affording the exhilarat ing sport furnished by the latter. The private sportsman seldom possesses good strains of blood to breed his grey hounds from, or has such opportunities of trying them as the public courser. The first known set of rules in England for determining the merits of a course were drawn up by Thomas, duke of Norfolk, in Queen Elizabeth s reign; but no open trials were heard of until half a century later, in the time of Charles I. The oldest regular coursing club whereof any record exists is that of Swaffham, in Norfolk, which was founded by Lord Orford in 1776. During the next seventy years many other large and influential societies sprang up throughout England and Scotland, but the first open champion meeting was held at Glasgow in 1835, and since then they have spread rapidly throughout the country. The chief followers of the sport are to be found amongst the yeoman and middle classes, who prefer coursing to horse-racing on account of its being more economical and devoid of the chicanery connected with the latter. Several noblemen, however, keep large kennels of greyhounds, are enthusiastic patrons of coursing, and further the sport by preserving hares and providing coursing grounds. The season lasts about six months, commencing at the end of September. During 1875-76 the value of the stakes and other prizes coursed for in the United Kingdom was upwards of 40,000. It was not until 1858 that a coursing parliament, so to speak, was formed, and a universally accepted code of rules drawn up. In that year the National Coursing Club was founded. It is composed of representatives from all clubs in the United Kingdom of more than a year s standing, and possessing more than twenty-four members. Their rules govern meetings, and their committee adjudicate on matters of dispute. It must be borne in mind that a comparative trial of two dogs, and not the capture of the game pursued, is the great distinctive trait of modern coursing. Clubs either rent grounds to course over or are allowed the use of land by large proprietors who are supporters of the sport ; but in either case a good stock of strong hares must be maintained by preserving or otherwise. The chief breeds of coursing greyhounds now in vogue are the Newmarket, the Lanca shire, and the Scotch. The breeding and training of a successful kennel is a precarious matter ; and the most unaccountable ups and downs of fortune often occur in a courser s career. A club meeting is managed by the society s own members, and an open or champion one by whoever may be appointed secretary, assisted in both cases by a committee. An agreed on even number of entries are made for each stake, and the ties drawn by lot. After the first round the winner of the first tie is opposed to the winner of the second, and so on until the last two dogs left in compete for victory. A staff of beaters drive the hares out of their coverts or other hiding-places, whilst the slipper has the pair of dogs in hand, and slips them simul taneously by an arrangement of nooses, when they have both sighted a hare promising a good course. The judge accompanies on horseback, and the six points whereby he decides a course are (1) speed ; (2) the go-bye, or when a greyhound starts a clear length behind his opponent, passes him in the straight run, and gets a clear length in front ; (3) the turn, where the hare turns at not less than a right angle ; (4) the wrench, where the hare turns at less than a right angle ; (5) the kill ; (6) the trip, or unsuccessful effort to kill. He may return a &quot;no course,&quot; as his verdict, if the dogs have not been fairly tried together, or an &quot; un decided course &quot; if he considers their merits equal. The open Waterloo meeting, held at Altcar near Liverpool, every spring, is now the recognized fixture for the decision 