BOAE-nuNTiNO.] FOE MOUNTAIN, FIELD, AND FARM, [iioauuuminu. 



to tliiuk that tlie only occupation fit for ft kiiifj I niomitaiii goat; ho had pressed closer and 

 was war and the chaso ; thougli ho never was closer ; ho had driven liigher and higher up; 

 unmindful of the uohlo saying of one of his he had knocked it up, blown all the wind out 

 ancestors, that "ft sovereign's greatest prerog- j of its panting body, and had, at last, brought it 

 ativo was to give and to forgive." During back triumphant, tlio prize of tliat untamed 

 his father's lifetime, in pt>aceful days, the then strength which has scarcely ft match anvwherc. 

 Duke of Savoy was only a forester. Men saw ' Feats like tiieso wo might expect to see in 

 but little of him, unless they chose to meet ' this island, performed by some daring Highland 

 him in the woods of Pollenzo or llacconigi, chief, in the days of George 11.; but, alas! 

 with a double-barrelled gun on his shoulders, money-hunting and mongrelism have made us 

 and so plainly attired, that a good peasant of I degenerate. 



the neighbourhood once mistook him for a I Turning from the hunting of the " buck and 

 gamekeeper, and ollered him a three-franc the roe," the chamois and the boiique/ins, to 

 bribe to shoot him a fox which laid waste his I that of the wild boar, a yet wilder enthusiasm 

 poultry-yard ; when the king humoured the is displayed. 



goodmau,aud,ef:ectingtheobject,acceptedand I Among the exercises that contribute most 

 pocketed the money. After Charles Albert's ' towards forming good military riders, arc the 

 death, when Victor had to play king in the j hunts organised in Nortiicra Africa, by tho 

 camp, in the council-chamber, and parliament, ! French Algerian authorities, for the destruction 



his favourite field amusements were greatly 

 curtailed. But the gun and the rifle were 

 never set aside ; and in the hot summer he had 

 his holiday, when ho would pitch his tent near 

 *■ Our Lady of the Snow," on the top of Val 

 d'Orco; or in some even more inaccessible 

 savage spot in Val d'Aosta, and thence run 

 and race, and climb and creep on all-fours, on 

 the brink of precipices, staking his royal life 

 against the carcass of a stambccco. Stara- 

 becco-stalking on the Alps lasts naturally but 



of dangerous animals. AVherever French 

 troops are, they require to be actively em- 

 ployed. Accordingly, they are sent to Algeria, 

 as to a school of adversity, to become inured 

 to toil and hardships ; and when not employed 

 in suppressing any disturbances that may arise 

 among the Arab tribes, or in opening up new 

 routes, or in constructing forts and earth- 

 works, the chase afl'ords an opportunity for tho 

 exertion and excitement so necessary for the 

 due maintenance of tho soldier's health and 



a short season ; yet business shortened it more j vigour. During a spring excursion, made hv 

 and more with the subsequent aggrandisement | the 1st regiment of the Chasseurs d'AJriquc, 



of the state, and the deepening of political 

 complications. His hunting habits are very 

 austere. He robs himself of sleep, rises regu- 

 larly at midnight, calls up the whole house- 

 hold, visits the stables, sees to horses, hounds, 

 and guns; and, after assuring himself that all 

 is right, and all in readiness, he snatches a few 

 hours more rest ; then up he is again at earliest 

 daybreak; the horn is wound, the hunt is up, 

 and away he rides as fast as the nimblest 

 mountain nag can carry him, and then takes 

 to his legs, and the I'ace is between him and 

 the swiftest quadrupeds, over crags and along 

 gullies common men shudder only to look at. 

 Once upon a time, it is related that he came 

 back to Turin in great glee, telling his friends 

 he had given chase to a houquetin for two 

 whole days ; had parted con)pany with his 

 aides-de-camp, his guides, his huntsmen, every 

 man in his suite. He had followed the coy 



a wild boar-hunt was got up at almost everv 

 halt. A. scene from a hunt which took place 

 at Bordj-Bou'ira, exhibits, in a forcible manner, 

 the excitement which animates all parties en- 

 gaged in it. 



On arriving at the bivouac of Bordj-Bou'ira, 

 the neighbouring ravines were pointed out to 

 the colonel of the regiment, who commanded 

 the column, as the resort of boars and other 

 wild beasts. By his orders, a gi'ande chasse 

 was immediately organised, and promised more 

 than the ordinary amount of excitement, as 

 the natives had announced the news of a lion 

 having been recently seen in the neighbour- 

 hood. The hunting-ground comprised a 

 number of parallel ravines, somewhat deep, 

 descending from the spur of the Jurjura, the 

 ridges of the different passes inclining gradu- 

 ally towards the plain of the Hamza. All tlie 

 country about here is either wooded or covered 



413 



