350 SHORT STALKS 



their methods woiikl he despised as unworthy, in regions 

 where the honourable rules of the chase are as much 

 regarded as they are with us. A gcmsen-jager prides 

 himself on his fine rifle-shooting, and practises the art 

 every Sunday in friendly rivalry with his neighbours, but 

 the chasseur cVizzards will tell you that there is a better 

 chance of killing two at a shot if you use a charge of buck- 

 shot, and that tlie herds are tamer in the spring when the 

 kids are runnino; at the sides of their dams. 



My first introduction to the izzard was, in fact, in the 

 month of March. I paid a l;)rief visit to the charming 

 villao-e of Gavarnie without any idea of huntino- at that 

 time. There is a finely -engineered road to it, one of 

 Napoleon's III.'s extravagances, but more excusable than 

 some of his follies, for it was constructed to please his 

 wife. This, and the miracles of Lourdes have had a vulgar- 

 isinn; effect on Gavarnie since I first knew it, and at the 

 present time the hunter who regards his bag, will do 

 wisely to seek more unsophisticated quarters. But this 

 remark requires explanation. It is aljout twenty-five years 

 since a hidy in gauze wings appeared to a shepherdess at 

 that hamlet. The miracle was endorsed by the Pope and 

 all his cardinals, and has brought much pelf to the coffers 

 of the church, as well as to the ecstatic damsel's cousins 

 and aunts, who advertise themselves as such over the 

 doors of the wine-shops. The j9c/'er /??.<? flock in thousands 

 from every part of Catholic Europe, and great numbers of 

 them find their way up, twenty-eight miles farther, to 

 Gavarnie. This has not improved its moral atmosphere, 

 but it is still delightful (juarters, and the eternal features 

 are always there. 



