, 1883-02-03
European Letter.
from Our Regular Correspoudent-i
CARHAIx, BRITTANY, FRANCE,

CARHaIx, BRITTANY, France,
Jan. 3, 1888.
At no spot in Brittany could foreigner
station himself better for Joining IN the
sport Of wolf hunting than at CarhaiN- l.
is an old Celtic city, standing at the point
where the Departments Of F,uisterre,
Cotes du NoId and Norb!ham meet, and
adorned with a noble Gothic cathedral.
built in the sixtaynth century by English
hands. Carhaix has the additional inter
est of having given birth To the First
Grenadier Of France" Ia Tour D'Au-
vergne, who fell IN one OF Napo!eons bat
ties, close 10 the Rhine. IN 1890, and re-
ceive,l the unusual compliment 81 having
his name read always at the head OF the
muster role sf his company, the answer
being ccturned invariably by one OF his
comrades, amid the salut,s "f those gath
cred abont him, beng Dead upon the
Gt4l Nl HplatT- y tIbi &c Stdt.S "a -
Tour b'Auvergne, from MarocEetn's
hand, keeps the Bretors III mind Of their
countryman's pure, dauntless and devot-
ed character, and of truth Brittany Is
not a country which cpwards would ST.
lect as a congenial home The peasants
aud their women are Wild and rough al
t, ctionare To- those whom they know and
Ike, but rugged and suspicious towards "A
stranger. When, as not untrequenIly
happens, one Of the primitive Breton carts
Is dragged through the streets OF Caihalx
or oH Quimper with half d. Zen gaunt
dead wolves IN 1t, 4 stranger, fresh from
the United States. or even from the north
western province uf Fiance, might have
some difficulty in persuading himself that
history had not gone back for three OF
four centuries and plunged him into the
heart Of the MidGle Ages. As be be-
comes more familiar with the country dis
tric,s, lie viii fiBl that the Breton peasan-
try still believe firmly In the Lnupgarou
and, ting around the wood embers ot an
expiring fire i'll some hUt buried amidst
he lehse fuIes.s Of that Gloomy region,
the traveller has not much IA ed Of a crea-
tive imagination to make him fancy that
he hears the Wild scream OF tie demon
wolf waited as midnight strikes over
wastes and among glades where the sn"a
les deep. When morning comes he will
- forth on horseback to the meet, where
he viii encounter the LnuveIier and his
offici-ls, in command of pack OF large,
strong, WHY haired dogs, with which the
fable runs that the blood OF their quarry
the wolf is Intermingied. He will notice
the honorable and strongly marked scars
upon the muzz!rs OF the older hounds, L.
d;caiing many fierce tussle which they
have had with their savage and hard-bit-
ing foe. 1t seldom happens that big
wolf IS run into without dispatchrng two
or three yf his canine pursuers, and lrav-
ING the grim marks of his tee.h upon sew
eral others. Should any foreign sports
man be tempted 10 Try his hand al wolf
hunting in Brittany, he had bett TO stay
At houe. unless be can take with him two
or t..ree strong, short-legged horses Of un-
mist.kable stoutness. Runs after wolves
or boars are often of extraordinary length
in Brittany, and, according TO the CORES
pendent of weekly paper, 1t is on record
that m the reign OF Henry III, boar
found In Ii Verdee was not disposed Of
for SIX weeks, OF until he had reached the
Forest of Orleans, near the battle
Geld OF Waterloo, one hundred snd sixty
leagues away from his lair Although II
is not likely that modern sportsman
vii see run of this duration, yet few
weeks of woli hunting in Blit'any wi
test the courage and endurance, both of
himself and his s,eej.
When an extraordinarily active and
bold luplne marzuder plays havoc with
the calves. sheep and even with The Digs
OF some seeltded village or ,oxnship, a
loud cry Is raised, ard the Louvetier IS
forced 10 come to the rescue. In ordi-
nary times, however, he leavcr few pairs
OF wolrer, as ra,csisher does with rats,
to bread.