Then came the burial, where knights and lords and bishops assisted; and the new Count of Castelbon, the heir of all the possessions of the magnificent Gaston, showed becoming honour to his remains.

Castelbon then took possession; and his first act was to provide for the two sons, who had no inheritance, and to release the prisoners in the tower of Orthez,--"of which," says Froissart, "there were many; for the Count of Foix, of excellent memory, was _very cruel in this particular_, and never spared man, how high soever, who had offended him: nor was any bold enough to plead for the ransom of a prisoner, for fear of meeting the same fate: _they were put in the fosse, and fed on bread and water_.

This very cousin, Castelbon, had been his captive in such a dungeon for eight months, and was ransomed only for forty thousand francs, and he held him in great hatred; and, had he lived two years more, he would never have had the heritage." The famous work of the count, on Hunting, he dedicated to the King of France; and in it he endeavours to prove the advantages, both to body _and soul_, of the manly exercise of which he was a passionate lover.
His own death appears to disprove his arguments, which are curious enough.

He thus expresses himself in his Prologue:--"I, Gaston, by the grace of God, surnamed Phoebus, Count of Foys, and Lord of Bearn, have, all my life, been fond of three things--war, love, and hunting; in the two first others may have excelled me, and been more fortunate; but, in the last, I flatter myself, without boasting, that I have no superior.
* * * and, besides treating of beasts of chase and their natures, I am convinced that my book is calculated to prove the great good that may arise from the exercise of hunting.

A man, by its means, avoids the seven mortal sins; for he has no time to think of the commission of any while he is engaged with his horses and hounds: he is more lively, more ready, more expert, more enterprising, makes himself acquainted with countries, and is quick and active: all good habits and manners follow, and the salvation of his soul as well; for, by avoiding sin, a Christian shall be saved; and this he does; therefore, a hunter must be saved.