FRENCH AND OTHER CONTINENTAL HOUNDS. 487 



GRIFFON VENDEEN-NIVERNAIS PISTOLET. 

 PROPERTY OF M. E COSTE, LACAUCHE. 



velvety, folding inwards. The body is long 

 and heavy, broad and muscular, the neck 

 short in proportion and heavily dewlapped. 

 His short coat is harsh, in colour usually 

 white with large brown, black or grizzle 

 patches ; occasionally it is tricolour with a 

 grizzle saddle. The height is often 29 

 inches, and the weight about 78 Ib. 



A more generally useful hound is the 

 Chien de Gascogne. He is lighter built, 

 weighing about 62 Ib., but he 

 is strong and of great endur- 

 ance. He, too, has something 

 of the St. Hubert in his in- 

 heritance, which is visible in 

 his occipital peak, his very 

 long and much-folded ears, his 

 wrinkled visage and deep flews. 

 His coat is hard on the body, 

 but soft and silky about the 

 head and ears. In colour he is 

 blue, or white with many black 

 spots, blue mottled, with slight 

 pale tan markings. Often there 

 is a pale tan about the eyes and 

 feet. One of the best packs in 

 France is that of M. le Prince 

 de la Tour d'Auvergne. This 

 hound has been successfully 

 crossed with the Saintongeois. 



The Gascon-Saintongeois is quite unlike 

 any hound we have in England. It is 

 larger, less compact, and more leggy than 

 the English Foxhound, and the loose skin 

 about the head and throat, the long muzzle 

 and heavy flews, with the high occiput and 

 the low, pendulous ears give the dog a 

 character peculiarly his own. The smooth 

 white coat is marked with large black 

 patches, and frequently speckled with black 

 spots. The height averages 29% inches. 



In many departments there are hounds 

 which, although possessing distinctive fea- 

 tures, are yet of a type approximating to 

 those already referred to. One needs to 

 see them and make intimate comparisons 

 in order to detect the shades of difference. 

 Illustrations and bald descriptions are of 

 little help in defining the disparities between 

 the Gascon and the Saintongeois, the 

 Montemboeuf, and the Haut-Poitou, or 

 between any of these and the multitude of 

 bdtards, limiers and briquets that give 

 distinction to the hunting equipages of the 

 nobility of France. 



It would become tedious, too, if one were 

 to attempt to particularise the countless 

 varieties of dogs used in the chase in other 

 Continental countries ; although in some 

 instances these differ considerably from our 

 familiar Foxhound and Harrier types. There 



TYPICAL NORMAN HOUND LANCIER. 



OWNED BY COMTE H. MALEYSSIE, CHARTRES. 



