108 SPORTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



shocked th e prejudices of poor Templar, an old and far-famed 

 master of hounds ; but he made his mind up to circum- 

 stances, and we all agreed to hire horses from an Irish livery- 

 stable keeper, who kept Us chevaux Anglais for all purposes, 

 from a ride in the bois to a hunt in the forest, and have 

 them sent on over-night to an auberge at the village of 

 Armanvilliers, to which place we were to proceed on the 

 following morning, in a four-in-hand drag, & VAnglaise, in 

 company with a large party of French sportsmen. Matters 

 were arranged according to our wishes, and if we were to 

 form any opinion of the anticipated sport by the exaggerated 

 reports of our companions of French hunting in general, and 

 their own prowess in particular, we could have no reason to 

 be dissatisfied. 



On reaching the inn where we expected to find our horses, 

 we discovered that the Colonel's and mine, under the charge 

 of one man, had arrived ; but Templar's, that was said to 

 have been subsequently dispatched, had not made its ap- 

 pearance, and, as it was now near the hour of the rendezvous 

 de la chasse (ten o'clock), this was rather an awkward con- 

 tretemps. 



We both of us tried hard to induce him to take one of 

 ours, but without effect. He expressed his conviction of 

 being able to see and enjoy as much of the hunt on foot as 

 any mounted cavalier of the party, and his determination to 

 proceed at once, under the guidance of a village boy, to the 

 rendezvous de la chasse in the forest close bordering on the 

 village. With a thorough contempt for all the artificial aid 

 of dress, in compliment to French stag-hunting in July, and 

 in sober contradistinction to the bright scarlet coats and 

 gaudy trappings of our Gallic friends, he was attired in a 

 lull suit of black, and, were it not for the jovial expression 

 of his countenance, and the merry twinkle of his eye, looked 

 far more like a well-conditioned member of the Established 



