officers, it need scarcely be stated, behaved with courage and coolness.


PISTOL SHOOTING


From 1820 to 1830 pistol shooting was not much practised. One evening,
in the Salon des Etrangers, I was introduced to General F--, a very
great duellist, and the terror of every regiment he commanded; he was
considered by Napoleon to be one of his best cavalry officers, but was
never in favour, in consequence of his duelling propensities. It was
currently reported that F--, in a duel with a very young officer lost
his toss, and his antagonist fired first at him; when, finding he had
not been touched, he deliberately walked close up to the young man,
saying, "Je plains ta mere," and shot him dead. But there were some
doubts of the truth of this story; and I trust, for the honour of humanity,
that it was either an invention or a gross exaggeration.

The night I was introduced to F--, I was told to be on my guard, as
he was a dangerous character. He was very fond of practising with pistols,
and I frequently met him at Lapage's, the only place at that time where
gentlemen used to shoot. F--, in the year 1822, was very corpulent,
and wore an enormous cravat, in order, it was said, to hide two scars
received in battle. He was a very slow shot.

The famous Junot, Governor-General of Paris, whom I never saw, was considered
to be the best shot in France. My quick shooting surprised the habitues
at Lapage's, where we fired at a spot chalked on the figure of a Cossack
painted on a board, and by word of command, "One - two - three." F--,
upon my firing and hitting the mark forty times in succession, at the