Copenhagen

T H E SURROUND INGS OF COPENHAGEN.

TH E HERM ITAGE PLAIN

from the depth of the forest, — it is the stags fighting for the favour of the hinds. But at all other times the different fami­ lies graze quietly tog e th er und er the sp read ing beech boughs. Looking from the H erm itage at a large herd in the distance, its m ovem ents seem heavy and slow; bu t near at hand one sees how lightly each single deer trips over the greensward. The little old hun ting -lodg e overlooks the forest, the plain, and the noble game. The deer are no longer hunted th ro u g h ­ out the forest; bu t in a separate part of it, the "E rm elund", the Royal H un t still meets for an occasional battue. Lunch is then laid in the little room s of the Herm itage, where live the m em ories of seven kings. The pious Christian the Sixth must have been in a parsim onious hum our, when, in the year 1736, he gave his architect, de Thurcih, orders to build this little shoo ting lodge. It was his son, the merry Frederick the Fifth, and his gay court, w ho consecrated the bu ild ing in p roper fashion to D iana and her beautiful cousin. Now adays the H erm itage is seldom visited by Royalty. The Royal H un t belong s to days gone by. The K ing of Denm ark walks abou t the streets like a private citizen, and in a room below the Knight’s Hall in the Royal h u n ­ tin g -lo d g e there is a public restaurant. As you sit there (7) - 97 -