WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 59 



with straw, and his long curly locks, which apparently have 

 never been violated either by scissors or comb, falling wildly over 

 his back and shoulders, he presents the appearance of a veritable 

 Ancient Breton, such as that individual might be supposed to 

 have been before the period of the Saxon Heptarchy. Then see 

 him in chase, his weapon a club or a pike, if he is not rich 

 enough to possess a gun, and his game the wolf ! He is then 

 "the noble savage" all over; his passion is roused, and the 

 hunting instinct natural to man blazes out in him uncontrollably, 

 and converts at once the peaceable Breton peasant into the simili- 

 tude of a wild Huron or a Crow-foot Indian. 



His cries of " A'hr bleiz, a'hr bleiz !" when the wolf is afoot 

 are almost unearthly, his object being, doubtless, to cheer the 

 hounds and terrify the wolf; but that he should be more success- 

 ful in the latter than the former result may be gathered from the 

 tone of execration, very bitter and very unmusical, that accom- 

 panies every shout. He grinds it out, as it were, through his 

 teeth; and the sound of "A'hr bleiz, a'hr bleiz !" ringing through 

 the woods is enough to terrify the stoutest wolf ; and if a stranger 

 hear the yell, it will remain impressed on his memory for many a 

 future day. 



Not commonly, however, does the Louvetier communicate the 

 meet of the wolf-hounds to the peasantry at large ; it is only when 

 a wolf or a litter of wolves become exceptionally bold and 

 destructive, that he proclaims the war-note' aloud, and the whole 

 country is gathered together, far and near, to avenge the havoc 

 and check its farther progress. On such occasions, as may be 

 supposed, the beauty of the chase is sadly marred by the hubbub 

 and confusion accompanying the hounds on every side ; the 

 danger, too, from the whistling slugs and wild use of their 

 musketry by the peasantry is often serious ; and St. Prix, like 

 many a master of hounds in this country, is sometimes sorely 

 tried by his motley and unruly crowd. 



