well enough that virtually I had no intention of violating the law. I merely crossed one field between the marais and the road- and this field was as bare as the road-but as my dogs were not at heel, he swore, on making his procès, that he found 6 me en chasse sur la plaine,' and as this was after the clôture of the chasse, I was fined about sixty francs, with forfeiture of my gun. Having violated the letter of the law, you are not obliged to give up the identical gun with which you were shooting, but one as nearly like it as possible, and this can be purchased for about twenty francs. The armourier, i.e. gunsmith, of the locality has generally a stock on hand of these substitutes, to meet the demands of the numerous fines inflicted, as no penalty is ever pronounced for délit de chasse without its including the sacrifice of the gun. If therefore your gun be a double copper cap, then the substitute must be one also; and as for the locks, as the armourier said, 'pourvû que cela marche, voilà tout.' The garde de chasse, in my case, perjured himself; but as this worthy functionary is always believed by the Procureur du Roi, and the letter of the law is invariably applied in these cases, no explanation you can afford is ever of any avail. To procure a porte d'arme, you must, in the first instance, obtain the permission of two landed proprietors, in writing, to shoot over their land, and deposit this written document, with fifteen francs,* at the Mairie, i.e. Maison de Ville, or Town-hall. Afterwards, it is merely necessary to deposit the old porte d'arme and your money at the Mairie, to obtain a renewal; and this you had better do in the summer months, as portes d'arme are only issued from one town in each department, and there is sometimes a very great delay in responding to the application, so that if your demand had been sent in only a short time before the opening of the chasse, you might be disappointed, as was constantly the case during the time I was in France. I mention this because, although you might have paid the money, and subscribed to all necessary formalities, you could not safely venture out with your gun until your porte d'arme arrived, as you are bound to produce it for the inspection of every gendarme and garde-champêtre who may request to see it; and as an explanation, in the absence of it, would not satisfy the above functionaries, a declaration of procès verbal would be the immediate consequence, besides an order to you to desist from shooting—and I believe a gendarme might seize your gun if he pleased. The gardechampêtre, under all emergencies, is, however, easily appeased, a pièce de quarante sous, in ordi * I believe this amount is now increased to twenty-five francs. nary cases, sufficing; but the gensdarmes are incorruptible-so much so that I never knew, or even ever heard of, a solitary instance to the contrary, although they seldom interfere with persons shooting, except at the commencement of the season, and then only during the two or three first days, when they are ordered out in pairs by their superior officer to explore the country, and make their report on their return. Their province when out is to ascertain that all persons whom they may find shooting are furnished with a porte d'arme, and also to declare procès verbal against any chasseur they may find either trespassing on any standing corn, or allowing his dogs to do so. This is a délit de chasse against the public, from which there is no escape when a gendarme declares his procès, but is easily compromised with the garde-champêtre; in fact, five francs to each garde-champêtre, on the opening of the chasse, makes them blind during the entire season and this is very intelligible, as their pay is miserably low. Some of the private gardes-champêtre are, however, a little more difficult at first, and require stronger arguments than the former, but, with management, are not at all refractory. I never had any procès after my first year's residence in France. A garde-champêtre cannot declare his procès except he has his badge of office on him; and this consists of a - plate, in the centre of which is written the name of his parish, together with his title, functions, &c. which he has on his arm, or on a belt fastened round his body; but as it is bright, and may be seen at a distance, they frequently pocket it, when in pursuit of any delinquents, and only produce it when close at hand. As the gensdarmes are always on horseback, they are easily perceived from a distance, and their appearance at any time is hailed by the legitimate chasseur with pleasure, as the poachers, with whom every district more or less abounds, and who are considered a great nuisance, are immediately put to flight, and do not reappear for several days. The braconnier du village is never interfered with or molested by the garde de chasse, the latter being generally a neighbour, relative, or friend of his; and if you make any complaint to the garde, his reply invariably is, 'Mais, monsieur, il faut que tout le monde vive.' I have sometimes known gensdarmes to have visited particular districts on foot, disguised in a plain dress, when commanded so to do by their chef, in consequence of complaints having been made to the gendarmerie against certain individuals for poaching, i.e. shooting without a porte d'arme. The gensdarmes, however, never interfere with the huttiers, provided they confine themselves to their hut-shooting. There is one singular circumstance under which a gendarme can make a procès verbal, which I mention as illustrative of the paternal care of the French government, and that is, in the case of a chasseur being found shooting in his own standing corn. The proprietor, when detected in this predicament by a gendarme, is considered as doing a public injury, and is as liable to a procès for délit de chasse as a stranger. HUT-SHOOTING IN FRANCE. On the French coast, duck shooting from huts is so extensively resorted to by the peasants, and with so much success, that not only are the towns in the immediate vicinity of the operations supplied with wild-fowl during the season, but even Paris is indebted to this prolific source for a portion of its constant and abundant supply, as I believe they have no decoys in France similar to ours. Very few, if any, chasseurs pursue this sport as an amusement; it is purely one of business, and hundreds of the poorer classes obtain their livelihood by it during the winter months. involves little expense beyond ammunition, a gun, and a pair of marais boots, and no skill in shooting, all the shots being sitting ones, and at a short distance; and as the barrel of the gun rests It |