3 2 4 . WOLF-HUNTING. 



After that day at Pleyben no particular incident worthy of 

 record, with respect to the wild sport of the forest or the social 

 amusements of the people, occurs to my recollection during the 

 remainder of my stay in Brittany. Carhaix being my head- 

 quarters, the centre of the roughest and wildest country between 

 St. Brieuc and Douarnenez, the point of divergence from which 

 the best hunting and shooting could be obtained, and the town 

 of all others the least frequented by strangers, I returned thither 

 to pack up my goods and bid adieu to the many Breton 

 friends, gentle and simple, who had shown me no little kind- 

 ness during my long and pleasant sojourn amongst them. To 

 M. de Leseleuc, a grand specimen of a native gentleman, I was 

 especially indebted for his never-failing courtesy and counsel with 

 respect to the customs of the people, for his hospitality, and, 

 above all, for his good company on many a shooting excursion 

 in the surrounding forests. On shaking him by the hand for the 

 last time, and thanking him for all the favour he had shown 

 me " It is nothing," he said ; " nothing at all : nor can I ever 

 repay the kindness my father received from your countrymen 

 when he was a prisoner of war so long at Wincanton." 



Great was my regret on parting with these primitive people, 

 among whom I do not remember to have passed a single unhappy 

 hour ; for, wander where I would in search of game, I was never 

 once given to understand that I was an intruder on the soil, nor, 

 with one exception, and that most justifiably, was my per mis de 

 chasse ever demanded either by a gendarme or a peasant pro- 

 prietor. I had just shot a woodcock which rose from a spring 

 close to a peasant's homestead ; and, as my faithful old Rover 

 brought me the bird, a wild-looking Breton rushed out upon me, 

 exclaiming with great excitement, " That's my fowl ; I have been 

 feeding it daily for the last fortnight ; there are my traps (da 

 lindag) by which I hoped to have caught it." 



I looked down, and saw the bog round the spring pegged all 



