ICH. "'That will have been the Landrath von Gorgas of Genser.'

KING. "'Ja, ja, that was he. Is he dead now?'

ICH. "'Ja, your Majesty. He died in 1771: and it was very singular;
in one fortnight he, his wife and four sons all died. The other
four that were left had all the same sickness too, which was a hot
fever; and though the sons, being in the Army, were in different
garrisons, and no brother had visited the other, they all got the
same illness, and came out of it with merely their life left.'

KING. "'That was a desperate affair (VERZWEIFELTER UMSTAND
GEWESEN)! Where are the four sons that are still in life?'

ICH. "'One is in the Ziethen Hussars, one in the Gens-d'-Armes,
another was in the regiment Prinz Ferdinand, and lives on the
Estate Dersau. The fourth is son-in-law of Herr General von
Ziethen. He was lieutenant in the Ziethen Regiment; but in the last
war (POTATO-WAR, 1778), on account of his ill health, your Majesty
gave him his discharge; and he now lives in Genser.'

KING. "'So? That is one of the Gorgases, then!--Are you still
making experiments with the foreign kinds of corn?'

ICH. "'O ja; this year I have sown Spanish barley. But it will not
rightly take hold; I must give it up again. However, the Holstein
STOOLing-rye (STAUDENROGGEN) has answered very well.'

KING. "'What kind of rye is that?'