-weapons; they introduced into France at great expense foreign
animals, which they took great pains in naturalising as game or in
training as auxiliaries in hunting. After having imported the reindeer
from Lapland, which did not succeed in their temperate climate, and the
pheasant from Tartary, with which they stocked the woods, they imported
with greater success the panther and the leopard from Africa, which were
used for furred game as the hawk was for feathered game. The mode of
hunting with these animals was as follows: The sportsmen, preceded by
their dogs, rode across country, each with a leopard sitting behind him on
his saddle. When the dogs had started the game the leopard jumped off the
saddle and sprang after it, and as soon as it was caught the hunters threw
the leopard a piece of raw flesh, for which he gave up the prey and
remounted behind his master (Fig. 142)

Louis XI., Charles VIII., and Louis XII. often hunted thus. The leopards,
which formed a part of the royal venery, were kept in an enclosure of the
Castle of Amboise, which still exists near the gate _des Lions_, so
called, no doubt, on account of these sporting and carnivorous animals
being mistaken for lions by the common people. There, were, however,
always lions in the menageries of the kings of France.

[Illustration: Fig. 139.--"The Way to catch Squirrels on the Ground in the
Woods"--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of the "Livre du Roy
Modus" (Fourteenth Century)]

Francis I. was quite as fond of hunting as any of his predecessors. His
innate taste for sport was increased during his travels in Italy, where he
lived with princes who displayed great splendour in their hunting
equipages. He even acquired the name of the _Father of Sportsmen_. His
_netting_ establishment alone, consisted of one captain, one lieutenant,
twelve mounted huntsmen, six varlets to attend the bloodhounds; six
whips, who had under their charge sixty hounds; and one hundred bowmen on
foot, carrying large stakes for fixing the nets and tents, which were
carried by fifty six-horsed chariots. He was much pleased when ladies
followed the chase; and amongst those who were most inclined to share its
pleasures, its toils, and even its perils, was Catherine de Medicis, then
Dauphine, who was distinguished for her agility and her graceful
appearance on horseback, and who became a thorough sportswoman.

[Illustration: Fig. 140.-"The Way of catching Partridges with an