COOKERY OF THE HARE 247 



ever make a Nilgiri hare fit to be mentioned in com- 

 parison with an Enghsh one, while I humbly stated 

 my opinion that the edible quality in either instance 

 very much depended on the cooking. A test case 

 was ultimately determined upon ; he was to shoot 

 the hare, and I to cook it. Accordingly, a particularly 

 nice one reached me the next day ; but of course I 

 waited till it was inortifie a point as the chef hath it, 

 and then had it dressed in the manner I shall 

 presently explain for rable de licvre. We decided to 

 have the dish served as the salient feature of our 

 little dinner. It came and was carved, the adjuncts 

 were distributed, and then there followed what Mr. 

 Hay ward calls a long 'flash of silence.' All conversa- 

 tion ceased, not a word being spoken till the bones of 

 the rable were carried away. Then, as we drank a 

 glass each of sound yet unpretentious claret, the 

 arbiter tersely remarked, ' Well, if we had had a bet 

 over this, I should have lost ! ' 



.V little story told by Brillat Savarin illustrates his 

 opinion of the merits of un levraut rati. One day 

 when crossing the Jura Mountains he halted for the 

 night at an inn in the village of Mont-sous-Vaudrey 

 full of apprehension as to his chances of even a fair 

 dinner. To peep into the kitchen, therefore, after 



