124 SPORTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



beaters that nearly surround him, and then woe to the 

 unfortunate individual who finds himself in his way, or 

 attempts to bar his passage. He will find flesh and blood 

 no match for the tusks of the boar. These incidents, how- 

 ever, do not interrupt the battue; it continues just the same, 

 and the ranks close up, just as those of a regiment in the field 

 of battle. 



" Fresh exclamations are heard, and the tumult becomes 

 general. 



" ' Attention, shooters ! Attention, sire !' 



"The game is approaching; but the king, who can never 

 remain still in one place, is pacing backwards and forwards 

 before the hedge, or line of artificial thickets that forms his 

 ambuscade, and often loses the chance of a shot. The boars 

 regulate their speed by the vicinity of the noise of the 

 beaters behind them, but in twenty paces more they will 

 arrive within shooting distance. 



" A report is heard, and at the same time a bullet whistles 

 through the branches. It is the king who has just fired. 



"'AuRoi!' 



" ' Au Monseigneur !' 



" ' A vous ! a vous !' 



" Shots now resound on every side, singly and in volleys, 

 to the right and left, behind and before. The boars are 

 driven into the arena where the sportsmen are placed in 

 ambuscade. Confused and frightened by the continued 

 firing, they redouble their speed in order to escape, and fly 

 before the shower of balls in one direction, only to meet the 

 same reception in another. 



" The king, excited by his passionate devotion to this kind 

 of sport, has quitted his post, and advanced towards an 

 ancient and enormous boar. His gun is at his shoulder. 

 He fires; but this time not with his usual precision. The 

 animal is only slightly wounded, and does not seem disposed 



