THE PACK. 253 



assertion that it was one of the ancestors of the 

 staghound pack, though probably ahnost any pack 

 of staghounds in England would contain some of 

 that blood. 



The Comte le Couteulx de Canteleu says : — 

 " Mais je crois que la derniere vieille meute de 

 staghounds proprement dits (qui avaient beaucoup 

 de sang Normand) etait I'ancienne meute de Devon 

 et Somerset, vendue pour I'Autriche en 1827." M. 

 de Canteleu's learned work was published in 1890, 

 and one cannot help wondering how he got his 

 information save from Dr. Collyns's book. But in 

 the same book he publishes a picture of the Vendeen 

 hounds, now nearly extinct, which, as we have seen, 

 are the descendants of the " grands chiens blancs 

 du roi " and of their celebrated ancestor Souillard. 

 No one, I think, putting this picture alongside that 

 of the hounds of the old pack in Dr. Collyns's book, 

 can doubt for a moment that they represent 

 substantially the same breed. This is further borne 

 out when we come to read the description of them : 

 " Tres grands, blancs, a poil tres ras et fin, quelques 

 laches tres pales, jaunatres, la tete nerveuse, 

 I'oreille longue et attachee bas, souple et mince, 

 la queue longue, fine et effilee, le rein bien fait, 

 assez de cuisse, ils ont la poitrine peu profonde 

 et ne descendant pas assez bas." 



Here we get the size and colouring, the only 

 difference being as to the depth of chest. The 

 description goes on to say that they are good hunters, 



