STAG-HUNTING 



while a few veterans, who have lost their pace but 

 can still do good service in a difficulty, are put in 

 charge of a mounted man (relai volant}, who is ex- 

 pected to bring them up fresh at the right moment. 



I am not sure that either of these functionaries 

 is much to be envied. The man on foot, dragged 

 hither and thither by three or four couple of excited 

 puppies, all desirous of joining the chase which they 

 hear in the distance, and constantly in their eagerness 

 getting mixed up with the leash and each other's 

 couples, cannot have quite a happy time, especially as 

 he has a big horn that goes twice round his body to 

 carry besides his whip. And though the Comte de 

 Canteleu says that the duties of a relai volant are 

 nothing when you are used to them, yet four couple 

 of hounds tied to you and to each other appear 

 rather a handful to convey at speed over rough ground, 

 even on the handiest horse. If the stag is alone, the 

 French draw with the pack, otherwise they use tufters, 

 who do not always go on for the rest of the chase 

 as they almost invariably do with us. The pack is 

 usually kept at hand in couples, though the hounds 

 of some kennels are so well under control that the 

 couples can be dispensed with. French hounds, 

 perhaps because they are less high-couraged than 

 ours, certainly seem to be amenable to stricter 



