WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 273 



franc j a brace of birds or a couple of woodcock for sixteen sous, 

 and a couple of wild-duck for one franc. The best beef, too, 

 was only four sous, or twopence, a pound ; and, in fact, at that 

 period, before railways had equalised the prices of Europe, all 

 the ordinary articles of food were equally low at Carhaix and 

 the other inland towns of Lower Brittany. While on this subject 

 let me add that the charge for board and lodging, both as 

 liberal and good as a bachelor could wish, at the Hotel la Tour 

 d'Auvergne, was on a scale quite commensurate with the above 

 prices, namely, seventy-five francs per head per month ! For 

 this sum, just three pounds, a comfortable bed-room, with linen, 

 lights, and firewood, two bountiful meals a-day, including a variety 

 of dishes as well cooked as they would have been at a first-class 

 Paris restaurant, with vin ordinaire ad libitum, was supplied to 

 the guest en pension par mois ; and after a long experience and a 

 somewhat extensive acquaintance with European hotels, I can 

 with truth say I never fared better in my life than at the Hotel 

 la Tour d'Auvergne. But at the present time, if anyone ventured 

 to ask for the like accommodation at the like price, Marseillier 

 if he, or rather Madame, still rules the roast of that " festive 

 place " would stare with astonishment, and probably return for 

 answer, "Nous avons change tout-cela" 



But to proceed with the chasse. Descending now from the 

 heathery plain, we drew a long scrubby cover, occupying both 

 sides of a narrow valley, and filled with alders, sedge, and slush, 

 the very ground, it might be imagined, to which woodcock would 

 resort both for food and shelter. But after struggling for a mile 

 "through bog, bush, and briar," we scarcely flushed above a 

 dozen cock, and out of these bagged but seven along the whole 

 line. The grass under this copsewood was far too long and thick 

 to allow a free passage for the bird in his gait for food, and hence 

 the paucity of that game in apparently so likely a spot. Farther 

 on, however, the ground improved ; the alders were higher, in 



