"Monsieur Delsarte. Your Majesty has perhaps heard of him?" "No," answered the Emperor. "I have never heard of him. Is he a great singer?" "He cannot sing at all, your Majesty; but he has wonderful theories which go to prove that one does not need any voice at all to sing; one only needs features to express one's emotions." "He must be wonderful," the Emperor remarked. "He is, your Majesty, and quite unique in his way. He says, for instance, when he sings, 'J'ai du bon tabac dans ma tabatière,' and comes to 'Tu n'en auras pas,' he can make people shed bitter tears, as though it were too much to bear." "His tobacco must be very good?" laughed the Emperor. "It is the worst thing of its kind, your Majesty, one can imagine," I answered. "Is it perhaps Caporal?" said he, with a merry twinkle in his eye. "I don't know anything about military grades, but, if there were anything lower than a Caporal I should say it was the name of his tobacco." "Well," he said, "if he taught you to sing as you sing, _il mérite de la patrie._" The Emperor was perfectly delightful, witty, amusing, and laughing continually, with such a keen appreciation he seemed really to enjoy himself. As the programme in our room this morning read, _chasse à courre_, on went the green dress for the second time, and, of course, the button. The Duchess de Fernan Nuñez asked me to drive with her, which I was happy to do, as I like her very much. We sat on the front seat, so as to have the best view of the proceedings. The Emperor and Empress were on horseback; all the gentlemen were in red coats, white breeches, top-boots, and velvet caps, which made them look very picturesque. The rendezvous was at the Carrefour l'Étoile, and when we arrived the hunters and equipage, with the _piqueurs_ and the _chasseurs_ from the neighborhood, who belonged to the Imperial Hunt, were already there. The Imperial _équipage de chasse_ is composed of ten _piqueurs, valets de chien, valets à pieds, valets à cheval_, and _valets de limiers_, and one hundred English hounds. The hounds are trained by the use of drags, which are, as perhaps you know, bundles of something saturated in blood, which the horses drag and the scent of which the hounds follow. The carriages were drawn up on the side of the road to wait until their Majesties appeared. The ladies dressed in rich furs and velvets, the riders in brilliant red coats on prancing horses, the attendant grooms, the _piqueurs_ in their gay liveries, green and gold with green-velvet jockey caps, made a wonderful spectacle. The day was superb, the sun shone brilliantly through the autumn foliage, the hazy distances were of a tender hue, and everything had an exquisite tint. Never shall I forget it! Unfortunately our coachman neglected to follow the other carriages, and we drove about a long time before we discovered that we were on the wrong road, and then he became quite bewildered and seemed to lose his head completely.