io8 WOLF-HUNTING. 



form of care in the hunting-field must detract largely from the 

 pleasure of the chase. I love a crack of music ; and, to secure a 

 full volume, eighteen couple of hounds are not one too many : 

 then, in full cry, it is indeed a glorious treat to listen to them in 

 these rocky glens : it is like a peal of musical thunder rolling 

 around you. So I run all risks, and uncouple every hound I have 

 for the sheer enjoyment of this pleasure." 



The weather now gradually improving, and the pleasant chat 

 about hounds in which, at every step among that rugged scenery, 

 my companion and I indulged, rendered our ride to cover that 

 morning a most enjoyable one. Every word that fell from his lips 

 were those of a houndsman, dearly loving the chase ; and all the 

 details incidental to the breeding of a pack and its management 

 in the field, into which he entered, indicated a knowledge of 

 woodcraft far in advance of his compatriots, among whom I 

 sojourned in Lower Brittany. Even St. Prix, who had devoted 

 his life to hounds, might have gleaned many a corn of useful 

 information from the field of Kergoorlas's experience, as the latter 

 had moved in a wider circle, and, like Ulysses, had not travelled 

 without observation. 



It is not given to all, however, to see and observe. Three or 

 four years ago, two gentlemen of considerable book-knowledge, 

 both having taken high honours at Oxford, started from a city in 

 the West of England on a tour through Spain, Greece, and the 

 islands of the Archipelago, purposing to devote at least two years 

 to the full enjoyment of this expedition. At length, as the time 

 came round for their return, it is impossible to overstate the 

 interest it created among their acquaintance in the aforesaid 

 town. Dinner-parties vied for their company; and people, 

 whose inhospitality had become a proverb, threw open their 

 doors once more to welcome the gifted travellers. The mirage 

 of the desert, however, was not more illusive than the hope of 

 these friends. To every question asked respecting this or that 



