196 WOLF-HUNTING. 



walls, tested to its utmost limits Janua patet ; cor magis, might 

 fairly be applied to such a man. But, cheerful as this prospect 

 was, we were constrained to abandon it, owing to the untoward 

 events that had occurred during our absence at Concarneau and 

 Carnac ; events that could not but cast a gloom on every member 

 of the hunting party. 



To add to our regret, just as we were about to start, Kergoorlas 

 had sent a message from his bed-room to St. Prix, begging the 

 latter to pardon him for not coming to the front at Kilvern that 

 day ; as, he declared, it would be quite impossible for him to 

 enjoy any sport, while his thoughts were so occupied by the 

 scene of misery he had so recently witnessed ; and that he 

 deemed it his duty to remain at Gourin, while the two poor 

 fellows at the gendarmerie were lying in such imminent danger. 

 We were none of us surprised at this determination, though very 

 loth to lose his good company ; especially as we were not likely 

 to see anything more of him during the present season. 



It was a fine breezy morning, the wind blowing steadily from 

 the west and directly in our teeth, as we trotted along over that 

 dreary, serrated ridge, so well named the " backbone of Brittany," 

 a region of stunted heather and granite rocks, arid, barren, and 

 desolate, and at length, reaching the head of a deep ravine, the 

 woodlands of which appeared to be interminable, we crossed a 

 small brook and soon sighted the outskirts of Kilvern. The 

 scenery of this country is certainly not so grand as that of our 

 own Highlands ; but the wildest glen of the Trosachs is no wilder 

 than this vast gorge, rugged and seamed as it is, far as the eye 

 can see, with rock and chasm, forest, and fierce torrents a rare 

 homestead in all weather for the wolf and the boar ; which, so 

 long as Nature holds her own, will always find shelter and security 

 in the recesses of this rude domain. 



The site of the rendezvous, as the meet is termed, was a clitter 

 of rocks overhanging and frowning upon the dark cover below - } 



