12 FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 



stances. There was also the drawback that 

 some of the hounds did not reUsh the idea. An 

 obstinate old fellow called '' Foiler '' positively 

 declined to hunt the wolf at all, and was conse- 

 quently left at home. Two or three couples 

 decided to vote with '' Foiler/' and only one 

 young wolf was killed during the month. One 

 really fine run out there, however, is worthy of 

 record. An old wolf had been seen to enter an 

 immense wood at daybreak; the Duke on his 

 way to hunt was told of this, and decided to 

 draw for him with the whole pack (tufting had 

 hitherto been tried most days), so as to force him 

 to face the open. The plan succeeded — the wolf 

 broke away, ran quite straight for eight or ten 

 miles — in a cloud of dust never more than half a 

 mile before the pack, and evidently with no idea 

 of being caught that day. At last he ran 

 through a plantation full of roe deer which 

 jumped up in view, and away went the hounds 

 after them. By the time they were got together 

 again the wolf was gone, the sun was out, and 

 the hunt was over. 



From all parts of France sportsmen flocked 

 to Poitou, and there were large fields in conse- 

 quence. At the end of April the estabhshment 

 returned to England, and our party stayed a day 

 or two in Paris, where the Duke was entertained 



