The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-12-29
A French Imperial Hunt--A Days
sport at Compeigne.--A Look nj the
rmaeror and His Son.

/ a French imperfhi Etuhta D"y
| sport at Compeigne.--A Look nj the
Emperor and His Son.
A correspondent of the London Iete-
Ordph writes as follows: The forest OF
! Compeigne must have been made for
spectacle hunting. Extending over the
space of thirty-six thousand English
acres, il il divided by vast main rides,
and at frequent intervals you mud
large circular open spaces, from whlch
radiate glades glorious To gallOp up,
/ and along which the female or the lazy
hunter NAV view the chase from her or
his carriage.
NAPOLEON THE FOURTH.
At one o'clock tho Prince Imperial
cantered into the ring and made II bow
to the assembled swells, which did
\ honor TO his tutor. He was riding "a
very clever Arab pony, a present from
/ n Sheikh, and was attended by his CON
slant companion, young Conneau, and
| his tutor. The Prince is much grown,
| and seems To me much stronger, and II
| ! may use the expression. JOlller than
he was. Coming home from hunting
we came suddenly on him in by-road;
I il had grown very cold, so the two
/ bows had got out of the carriage, and
were running races, singing, dancing,
I and cracking their infantile hunt
| ing whips with noise aud evident de-
| light which must he proper for princes
I rs for other juveniles. The Prince, too,
I | shall tell you, "rides like man"
"Just his fathers seat you see" was
observed To me yesterday; land j be-
/ lieve he will 20 rs well; and | myself
saw Prince Louis Napoleon stop "A
J spring field with the queens twice in
one day." / must add, the Prince wore
/ the uniform of the hunt, which is even
! prettier for children than for men. IL
| IL, YOU know, "A cross between IA high
wayman Of the last century and Edgar
of Ravenswood, before he goes into
mourning and the Sultd t0mbd business
the last act of Lucia, green velvet
irock, buckskins, lIesslan boots, heavy
spurs, a cOutedu de CHASER, and the
whole surmOunted by three cornered
Frederick the Great hat. Imagine
I about hundred of these gorgeous cos
! tunes galloping about the finest wood
J land scenery, To the cry of apack of
1 foxhounds, and the perhaps excessive
music of the echnIng horn; at every
turn carriage full of"fair women and
brave men," or bevy Of beauties on
horseback, looking even more beautiful
Tor their exercises; and you will have
/ AN idea, though only faint one, OF the
1 picturesque side Of a day in the forests
of France.
THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS.
Seven chdrs-d.bdHc, each drawn by
| four o! those wonderful mares which
/ seem capable of gallOping all day with
/ the heaviest carriage behind them,
/ brought TO the ground the Emperor,
Empress, and their visitors. IL was
clear from their dress that neither Em-
per0r nor Empress WAS going to ride,
and indeed there was council to he
held Just as the idle guests would he
"chasing the wild deer" A great shout
welcomed the Emperor, who got out of
| the chdr-d.bdHc, followed by that dear
old brown dog which never leaves him,
and smoking his cigar-fOr ] regret TO
say his Majesty does indulge IN that
pernicious habit-strolled about talking
I to every body. IL was generally re-
marked that his Majesty never looked
better, and So far as my very small eN-
perience and chance OF knowing go,
should say | have never seen him look
either more active or amused. Then
the fun began. The Princess Chika
gets out of her carriage, and mounts
/ her horse: such an animal. Long. low,
grand action, and the color, that dark
chestnut, which, rs in the case OF lsh-
mael and his son, the "switcher- Is
almost black in certain lights. The
/ first thing the horse did was TO stand
/ up on his hind legs and perform little
scenes in the circle, TO the delight
of the audience, and. as ! think, not
| IL l.... Il ri
/ | do not know which the public admir-
/ Ell most-puhlic taste j. eccentric; but
| really the Princess was SO tilted TO
/ the horse. and the horse 80 worthy Of
/ its rider, that am sure all the gallery
must have ielt inclined to join in the
/ recommendation of the Empress, who,
after the chestnut had made an awful
/ plunge, said, princess. pray take the
| greatest care of yourself"
More diversion. An equerry falls of
| his horse before he gets on. lie is car
ried into the lodge. The Emperor goes
. to visit him. There is little hurt, and
less dirt, for he fell in II clean place.
! Then the marshals get on their horses.
! Marshal M'Mahon rode a bay, and If
| he WAS not satisfied with his mount he
must be hard To please. Marshall Cam
I robert in mutt, and indeed all the
/ chefs OF the French army were present,
/ on wheels or in the saddle.
THE SPORT.
When the hour il come, and the
fanfare sounds, they proceed 10 rouse
the red deer from his lair;which they do,
/ not with great crash, as we like il, but
with "A couple of hounds. When this
/ proceeding took place we all began TO
/ gsllop. | do not think everybody
| knew why, but gallop We did.
1 Just as we turneda corner heard the
cry OF hounds. Two Wallets Immediate
| ly favored us with voluntary" on
! the horn, and two hounds carried the
scent over the ride; presently there was
| n rush, and another dog yarlet" came
! with lot of hounds, and loosed them
on the track. Then there was some
very pretty hunting, and the hounds
crossed wide open space with crash
which caused at least one Engllshman
| to cheer them on. Now the field went
mad, careering wildly along line grass
rides. General officers, with loose
reins and frequent spurs, pursued the
chase. A sportsman dressed in the Sc
verest school of MeltOnian costume
Poole's scarlet, we knew ii mile OIL
buckskins, brown tops, heavy spurs.
and mounted on piebald, created "a
great sensation. All, how the British
heart warns to that scarlet. But
"See from the brake the whirring pheasant
rise"
| mention this fact rs, with the excep-
ton of that one old cock, one buck rab-
bit, and fawn, did not see head of
game as the hounds ran through that
wood for about three hours. | was for
tunate enough to come across the "sec-
ond horses" and see the Marshals of
France, having bucketed one animal,
get on another and proceed TO bucket
him.
ACURIoUs CONCLUDING CEREMONY.
The curtain rises for the conclusion
of this long performance over the Pal
ace of Compiegne, fine structure occu-
pying three sides OF vast courtyard,
the fourth being the "Grande Grille"
iron palisades, and the great entrance
gate. The palace itself is, as yet, SOM
! bre without, but within all is revelry.
Household, guests and attendants,
there are nearly seven hundred persons
To sleep tonight under that roof and
they are at present banqueting ia the
great hall. A line of soldiers, reaching
from the iron gates TO the entrances
hall, keep clear space about twenty
yards In the centre; behind these SEN
tries are arranged the general public,
Just allowed to enter. Suddenly thirty
two footmen, in full livery, advance
and place themselves one between each
two soldiers. Each footman carries an
l..