92 BRITANNY AND THE CHASE. 



it is a game which wiae men are, or think themselves, 

 obliged sometimes to play at. A man insults you, gallants 

 your wife or seduces your daughter ; you complain and 

 he offers you — satisfaction ! in other words, says that he 

 is ready to give you a chance of being shot by him, {71 

 addition to the other injuries he has done you, whenever 

 you think proper. Precious satisfaction, forsooth ! to lose 

 your arm as well as your daughter, or to have your leg 

 walked off with to accompany your wife. Let the matter 

 be arranged on equal principles, if we are to have it ; let 

 the injured man have his shot first, and then let the two 

 fire together; this would be fair. You have stolen my 

 honour — well, then, give me a shot for nothing, and if 1 

 miss, then let the chances be equal ; but in commencing 

 with equal chances you are always one a-head of me in 

 the game. There are few French gentlemen v*dio are not 

 most expert with the sword, but with the pistol they are 

 much less formidable, though they generally possess three 

 or four pair and handle them with the gont of amateurs. I 

 have never seen a first-rate shot am.ong them ; for instance, 

 a man who could hit a sixpence at fifteen yards six times 

 running, as I have seen done in England. 



Of boxing, the French are wholly ignorant, and it is 

 amusing when they are sparring, to see them hitting round 

 like a smith with his hammer, and to think how a well 

 meant straight hit would send them flying. But to see a 

 fight is disgusting, so savage and unfair is the manner, or 

 rather so complete is the absence of all rules of fair play. 

 The men kick, grapple, hit high and low, bite, pull hair, 

 in fact, endeavour by all possible means to spoil and 



