The Marquis de Clmmhray's Hounds 303 



writer knows by experience to be of a stirring nature! — well, 

 this two-wheeled French gig with a wild stallion to draw it, 

 and a very devil of a driver with a black snake behind him, 

 was gun-carriage, fire engine, and a runaway lumber wagon 

 combined. 



Out from their retreat broke at least twenty wild and 

 startled deer. It was as grand a sight as ever a huntsman 

 could wish to see. Among the lot, his head with towering 

 antlers sweeping liigh, came forth the lordly stag. What a 

 sight ! The females and younger members of the herd bounded 

 away, but not the monarch. Stately and proud, he moved 

 along as became his station. The woods, meanwhile, were 

 ringing with shouts of men, tooting of horns, and bajang of 

 hounds, to wliich music our stallion set up such a roar as would 

 shame a lion. 



The writer has witnessed many stirring sights in the forests 

 after the lordly moose, caribou and deer, but the carriage and 

 gentlemanly bearing of this noble stag, was a sight never to 

 be forgotten. It recalled an old school-day couplet among the 

 favourite selection for speaking pieces. 



"Ho! cowards! have ye left me to meet him all alone?" 

 Thus our grand, our haughty, our noble game, disdaining to 

 run, walked across the opening and disappeared among the 

 dense underbrush. On came the hounds, joined by relays from 

 different directions. 



Crack! Crack! went the black snake, and the chase was on. 

 What a ride! it was bad enough along the forest road. We 

 entered a lane with such a sharp turn to the right that the left 

 wheel of the cart went spinning around in mid air. There were 

 no carriages in front of us, and the way that great wild 

 stallion snatched that two-wheeled trap down this lane, was, I 

 am sure, a record breaker. Farm wagons had cut great ruts 

 in soft places during the wet season. Now it was dry, hard 

 and lumpy. In some places the undergrowth met over the 



