16 BEITANNY AND THE CHASE. 



seen before ; but as it is the real game preserver of Britanny, 

 we must speak well of it. One wet day, when I had been 

 toilincr for nothino;, and was restin.c^ under a bank, I saw a 

 covey quietly drop into a furze field opposite to me. " Bon! 

 I will take your census, and account for you, gentlemen." 

 I marked them down well, tied up my young dog, and 

 with the bitch got into the furze, which was generally 

 above my head. With much struggling, and many ex- 

 clamations, I reached the place. Presently a flutter at my 

 feet, and a partridge rose, almost touching my face ; as it 

 bustled up though the gorse I fired, and it fell ; and, while 

 loading, another rose in like manner, which I also killed. 

 It was time to collect the dead ; and in pushing after them, 

 head down, through the furze, up got two more, both of 

 which I also dropped. By this time my bitch had brought 

 me one of the first lot, and I sent her for the others ; but 

 neither she nor I could find the dead or put up the living ; 

 they were snugly housed in the thick cover, and nothing- 

 less than a pack of fox-hounds would have roused them. 

 I hunted for half an hour in vain ; and came out at last 

 well carbonadoed, with a single bird, leaving behind me 

 some three killed or wounded, and eight or ten remaining 

 birds. 



The setter is a better dog for Britanny, being thicker 

 in the coat, and more ready for wood or water ; and also 

 retrieving better. There are many decent breeds of set- 

 ters in the country, and one, a clouded brown and white 

 or strawberry, is equal in quality to anything. They 

 set and beat well, like the water, retrieve beautifully, and 

 ?ire very intelligent. I have a little bitch of this breed. 



