84 WOLF-HUNTING. 



humour to be handled with impunity ; so, while St. Prix held 

 him firmly by the head, Louis Trevarreg threw his right leg 

 over the hound's shoulders, and, grasping them with both knees, 

 fixed him as in a vice, and at once proceeded to wash out the 

 wound without further danger. But the storm that had been 

 brewing now burst forth with a roar of thunder from the hound's 

 tongue, and flashes of lightning from his angry eyes; and it 

 was quite work enough for the two powerful men to hold him 

 securely to the end of the operation. The moment, however, 

 the fine old fellow was liberated, he came up to St. Prix, 

 flourishing his stern good-naturedly, as if he meant to apologise 

 for the trouble he had given and the uproar he had made under 

 his hands. 



The day following this visit to the kennel was Saturday ; and' 

 as our party was now reduced to St. Prix, Keryfan, and myself 

 Kergoorlas having gone to his chateau on the Loire, and the other 

 chasseurs to their respective homes Keryfan proposed driving us 

 to see the lead-mines of Huelgoet, famed for their hydraulic pump, 

 the handiwork of a M. Juncker, an Alsatian engineer, nearly 

 related to the great naturalist Baron Cuvier. St. Prix at once 

 disclaimed all knowledge of, or interest in mining or machinery ; 

 but, as he said, the drive would be a pleasant one, and, barring a 

 billiard-table, there was nothing whatever to do by way of amuse- 

 ment in the dull town of Carhaix, he readily agreed to accompany 

 us ; and so, by ten o'clock that morning, we were under weigh, 

 Keryfan handling the ribbons, and the tandem-team stepping 

 along right merrily at the rate of eight or nine miles an hour 

 no mean pace, considering the hill-and-dale character of that 

 country. 



The main roads are always in admirable order, even in Finis- 

 terre, being under the management and supervision of the French 

 Government ; but, if the traveller on wheels venture to diverge 

 from these, he will soon come to inevitable grief. The by-roads 



