PEASANT-POACIIIXG. 37 



instead of Cockneys. Although there is little preserving 

 in Britanny, the peasants poach. Game is valuable, and 

 the permis de cJiasse dear, and hence the poaching. The 

 authorities, too, are very lax in this particular, which is 

 curious, as Heaven knows they do not deserve to be 

 taxed with laxness genera^^', but the contrary ; for they 

 meddle and poke their noses into everything. The gen- 

 darmes pretend to be constantly after unlicensed sports- 

 men ; and yet the sale of game goes on without ques- 

 tion. I have seen in the market of a small town thirty 

 or forty brace of birds, fifty hares (few killed by shot 

 or dog), and twenty or thirty cocks, all offered for 

 sale by peasants, and no questions asked. I have often 

 wondered where it all comes from ; but the peasant is 

 awake, and has constant opportunities. He knows where 

 the hare runs, and nooses her ; snares the cocks ; and 

 nets or kills the partridges at roost. By these means 

 he destroys large quantities. In France a sportsman (so 

 called) will kill a whole covey on the ground, if he can ; 

 and thinks it anything but unsportsmanlike. On the con- 

 trary, to destroy a dozen at one sitting shot, is a grand 

 feat to the pot sportsman. A gentleman once told me that, 

 having marked down a covey at night, he w^ent early in 

 the morning to find them. Presently he saw the head of 

 one, and, on whistling, all lifted up to look about, when — 

 bang, bang ! and the whole covey was destroyed. " C'etait 

 un coup excellent," said he. 



In one of my expeditions to a wild part of the country 

 I dropped on a singular old man, who lived by his rod 

 and gun. He had served with Napoleon, and had re- 



c 3 



