84 BRITANNY AXD THE CHASE. 



we jogged heavily home, and so, as my friend observed, 

 ended the chasse at ^* that accursed St. Sil, where, after 

 hoping to kill twenty brace of birds, he returned with five 

 brace, and those all purchased with hard cash, except two 

 birds — he, a chasseur, buying his game like an old 

 woman." 



In thus buying his game, my friend was more generous 

 than many of his countrymen ; for, as a general rule, the 

 Prench are pot sportsmen, and they carry their maxims 

 of economy to the field with them. If they miss their aim, 

 it is not only the loss of their sporting character that they 

 deplore, but also the loss of the game in general, and of 

 iii'O sous, which they estimate as the price of the poicder and 

 shot wasted. In England we are not accustomed to regard 

 tlie subject from this point of view, and, probably, have 

 never calculated the combined expense of po^vder, shot, 

 cap, and A^adding; we are annoyed at the stain on our 

 escutcheon as a good shot, and that is all. A Frenchman 

 kills a hare — " Bon — well done I c'est un bon lievre — • 

 cela vaut bien 25 sous." A partridge falls — "Bon encore ! 

 il vant 12 sous." But, if a woodcock, " Ah, c'est tres bon ! 

 La becasse est tres cliere dans ce moment — elle vaudra 

 bien 30 sous au moins." The other day, in returning from 

 shooting, I met two young soldiers, and we walked and 

 talked together. I showed them two woodcocks I had 

 killed, and they turned them over and over, until at last 

 one said, " It must pay well to cliasser in this country, 

 I should think; those woodcocks, if at Paris, w^ould be 

 worth seven or eight francs." 



But^ in fact, with many chasseurs, it is a regular trade. 



