274 THE SPORTSMAN IN FRANCE. 



after daylight, for the appointed scene of 

 action. A more joyous party never were 

 congregated together ; we were six in 

 number — Major Browne and Captain 

 Griffiths, of the 103rd Regiment; Mr. 

 Downes, a cornet of the 19th Light Dra- 

 goons; Captain Pearce, of the 60th Regi- 

 ment ; Mr. Hamilton, a West India 

 merchant ; and myself. Two domestics, 

 with a canteen and a bountiful supply of 

 provender, brought up the rear, in an 

 American waggon ; and any casual ob- 

 server might justly have imagined, by the 

 number of rods that protruded from the 

 three dog-carts which preceded the more 

 humble vehicle, that not a sahnon would 

 be left in the river to return to the ocean 

 at the end of the season. 



After a delightful drive of eighteen miles, 

 we stopped to break our fast at the half- 

 way house; and having given our horses 

 sufficient rest, we proceeded on our road. 



