FRENCH BREEDS. 53 



of haw its eyes display. It is very similar in many respects to the St. Hubert hound, from 

 which it is descended, and many good specimens may be found in the south-east of France. 



The following is the description, from the pen of Count Couteulx, of Major, the property 

 of Baron de Ruble. Head expressive, body powerful and muscular, tail fine and well carried 

 up. The following are some of the best packs of this variety of hound : Le Baron de Ruble, 

 au chateau de Bruka, par Aubiet (Gers); and M. J. Fourcade, au chateau de Caraman (Herault). 



Griffon De Bresse. 



This is one of the most ancient breeds in France, and has for centuries been a favourite 

 with sportsmen of all denominations. In appearance it closely resembles our English Otter- 

 hound. Count de Couteulx, in his work, thus refers to the Griffon de Bresse and the above 

 resemblance : " In my opinion this variety is still to be found in a degenerated form in the 

 Otterhounds of Lancaster, which have still much resemblance to the hounds of Bresse. Some 

 Griffons, the issue of a cross between Bresse and Vendee Hounds, which I sent to Scotland 

 to the master of a pack of Otterhounds, were found to have a complete analogy, except in 

 colour, with the dogs that were already in his kennel." 



There are still good specimens to be found in some of the packs of hounds which are 

 located in Burgundy and Nivernais, where they are treated with great respect, as they are 

 popularly believed to be descendants of the dogs alluded to by Arrian, who was naturally 

 the first to direct attention to the shaggy and unkempt appearance of the breed. It may also 

 be added that they were highly prized by the Romans and Gauls at the time when they were 

 supposed to be the exclusive property of the Segusii, a people who took their name from 

 their country, which was a district of Bresse. The Griffon de Bresse had a hard, bristly coat, 

 and those which the ancient Greeks considered the most hideous were much esteemed in Gaul. 

 The variety in question may be correctly taken as representing the primitive types of the old 

 French breeds, and is beyond a question the founder of most of the rough-coated hounds of 

 that country. As a proof of the value once set upon this breed it may be cited, on the 

 authority of an old document of the ninth century, quoted by M. de Noirmont, that Heccard, 

 Count of Autun, on his deathbed bequeathed, amongst his other most precious belongings, his 

 dogs. These dogs he alluded to as Segusii, and from the conspicuous position assigned to them 

 in his list of legacies, it is clearly proved that these dogs, which were described by Arrian in 

 the eleventh century, and in the barbaric codes of the sixth and seventh centuries, were still 

 an honoured race in the time of Louis the Debonnaire. 



We regret that we have been unable to give an illustration of this breed, but the resemblance 

 to our English Otterhound is, as before said, very marked. 



Chien Saintongeois. 



The above breed is tall yet lightly constructed, and authorities in Saintonge are generally 

 of the opinion, according to Count Couteulx, that it is an " ameliorated " descendant between 

 the white and black St. Hubert Hound. The only certain knowledge that we now have of 

 the origin of this breed comes from a MS. preserved among the family papers of the Marquis 

 de la Porte aux Loups. This states that at the time of the 1789 Revolution the last repre- 

 sentatives of the Saintonge breed were a bitch, called Minerva, and two dogs, Melanthd and 

 Fouiloux. After surviving the perils of that troublous time, they were presented by the 

 Marquis to his nephew, Count de Legier, and became the progenitors of the new breed of 



