Wild Stag Hunting in France 297 



The Baron de Dorlodot is a very Jehu to drive, and he sent 

 the machine flying over the beautiful roads at the rate of forty 

 miles per hour for over a good part of the journey. It was a 

 glorious ride, and the writer's first experience in a conveyance 

 of this kind. All the time there kept running in his 

 mind the words of Sheridan's famous ride to Winchester. 

 Eleven-thirty-three! and the Marquis de Chambray only five 

 miles away. 



We arrived at the meet in time for a bit of lunch at a farm- 

 house, where we were introduced to the venerable JNIaster and 

 several of the prominent members of the chase, and with time 

 to inspect the hounds before going on to covert. 



Whatever may be said of the decline of athletic sports in 

 France or the gradual disappearance of the famous Royal hunt- 

 ing establishments of the country, still the Normans may point 

 with pride to a number of gentlemen who have preserved, to 

 the present time, the ardent love of the chase, and who take 

 pride in conducting the same in the brilliant costumes, and 

 according to the usages and traditions, of former times. First 

 among the number must be mentioned this famous Master of 

 staghounds, the Marquis de Chambray. During liis Master- 

 ship up to the day of our visit, January 24th, '91, he had taken 

 his nineteen hundred and eighth stag. Although his hair is as 

 white as snow, he seems as hale and hearty as most men of half 

 his years. In respect to the ancient custom of the chase, he 

 still wears deerskin breeches, tanned with hair on, as may be 

 seen in the accompanying illustration. It is claimed by the 

 members of the hunt, that should any of the famous hunting 

 Kings of France come to life, they could find little to criticise 

 in the methods of locating the game, the chase itself or the 

 breeding and management of the hounds; furthermore, this 

 most affable gentleman is held up as an example of the highest 

 type of the French nobility of the old regime. 



We must hasten on to notice the hounds, for they are hardly 



