CHAPTER II 



THE BEAUFORT HUNT 



In the spring of 1863 I was still at Winchester 

 Barracks, and obtained leave of absence for a 

 month in order to join an expedition which was 

 then being organised to hunt wolves in the 

 South of France. The Duke of Beaufort took 

 out twenty-two couples of doghounds and his 

 hunting establishment to Poitou, where a good- 

 sized house with stabling and temporary kennels 

 had been engaged for him eight miles from 

 Poitiers. His party comprised the Honourable 

 Henry Wyndham, the Honourable Edward Russell, 

 Lord Worcester (then sixteen and still at Eton), 

 and myself. We all arrived early in April in 

 most unfavourable weather for the purpose — a 

 blazing sun every morning, very dry, and no 

 prospect of rain. The country was composed of 

 large woods surrounded by expansive plains 

 chiefly devoted to vineyards. We were out 

 three days a week, and at the fixtures generally 

 by eight or nine in the morning. The animal 

 was difficult to find, and altogether we had little 

 success owing to the heat and other circum- 



