DUELLING IN FRANCE. 91 



turned and alighted at a gate, and on my going up without 

 delay, expecting to find him there or thereabouts, he rose 

 at least one hundred and fifty yards off, having thus run 

 twice as last as my fast walk. I have a setter bitch, who 

 is excellent for cocks, and knows all their habits perfectly. 

 When arrived at the cover, she goes gently in, boats tlie 

 hedge and ditch first, then seeks any moist places or 

 thickets, to which the gentleman often retires to ruminate, 

 and then takes her general canter. If she crosses a scent, 

 she stops and interrogates it, and if it be a cock, she is 

 certain to find him. Arrived at her bird she points, but 

 will push, on being told, and when her prey is killed, she 

 seeks him, handles him gently, " as if she loved him," and 

 licks his glossy feathers. All this is the result of ex- 

 perience acting upon intelligence, and most certainly 

 proves the existence of mind in the animal in question. 

 She observes facts and adds them to her stock, and then 

 compares and draws conclusions from them, and right con- 

 clusions too. It would be well if men would do the same. 

 The men w^ho object to the lower animals possessing reason 

 are almost always those who are unacquainted with their 

 habits. Few men experienced in horses and dogs but can 

 give a thousand proofs of their reasoning powers. 



Duelling yet prevails largely in France, and tlie result 

 of a quarrel about a petty matter is often the loss of a 

 valuable life. A short time ago a young man near this 

 was killed in a duel, and another had his leg so much 

 shattered as to require amputation, and he remains a 

 cripple for life. Well may duelling be called the game of 

 fools, but unfortunately, unless the world becomes wiser. 



