226 THE SPORTSMAN IN FRANCE. 



doubt the selling of game is extremely 

 convenient to certain landed proprietors, 

 and by such needy gentlemen the pre- 

 sent game-laws are viewed with indiffer- 

 ence ; for so long as they can covertly 

 supply Leadenhall market, they will ta- 

 citly lend their aid to uphold this un- 

 sportsmanlike legislative enactment. 



Let any person, sportsman or not, 

 examine the greater part of the game ex- 

 posed for sale in the shops of this metro- 

 pohs, he will then find that nine birds out 

 of ten, and hares in the same ratio, have 

 not fallen by the gun. Not the mark of a 

 shot will he discover — for he will perceive 

 that the birds have been netted, and the 

 hares snared. 



It is notorious that the poachers adopt 

 these methods of taking game ; and game 

 so taken, being comparatively uninjured, 

 the poulterer will give a higher price 

 for, because the birds do not spoil so soon 



