: 
DANIEL’S RURAL SPORTS, 
ing) is equabto that of the greyhound; and 
to what distance, within that of a mile, the 
hare could exert that superiority of speed, 
‘ supposing the hare to be the fastest animal of 
the two? His opinion was, that, upona fiat, 
a first rate horse would be superior to the 
greyhound, but in a hilly country, as in 
Wiltshire, a good greyhound would have the 
advantage; on the second point, that al- 
though he had seen many hares go away 
‘from greyhounds, laid close in with them, 
without a turn, yet he believes a capital grey- 
‘hound (so laid in) would not suffer a hare to 
tun from him without turning ber. An in- 
cident, however, occurred in December 1800, 
which brought the speed of the greyhound 
' and race-horse into competition. A match 
was to have been rup.over Doncaster course 
for one hundred guineas, but one of the 
horses having been drawn, a mare started 
alone to make good the bet, and after having 
gone the @istance of about a mile, a grey- 
hound bitch started from the side of the 
course, and ran with her the other three 
miles, keeping nearly head to head, which 
produced a singular race, ‘and when they ar- 
rived at the distance-post, five to four was 
betted on the greyhound ; when they came 
to the stand it was even betting. The mare 
won by about a head. 
__ In February 1800, a brace of greyhounds 
in Lincolnshire ran a hare from her seat to 
where killed, a distance, measuring straight, 
upwards of four miles, in twelye minutes : 
during the course there was a great number 
of turns, which very considerably increased 
the space gone over; the hare ran herself dead 
before the greyhounds touched her; this ex- 
tensive course, in so short a time, Is a strong 
roof of the strength and swiftness of the 
hind Horses have been as much distressed 
_in-keeping up for their riders to see a course, 
_ asin much Songer chases with hounds. The, 
‘ 
“ 
eo"? 
4 
‘ 
+ 
struction. 
compiler recollects a hare being found close 
to the town of Bottisham, in Cambridgeshire, 
-and.which took away for the six-mile bot- 
tom, twenty two horses started, but only one 
could makea gallop at the conclusion of the 
course; the hare (who was within fifty paces 
of the cover) was dead some yards before the 
_ greyhounds, who were obliged to be bled to 
recover them.” 
he MO cdi cob hes 
_* The uncommon ardour and velocity of 
greyhounds have often occasioned their de- 
, An instance happened many 
vears since to a famous dog of the Rey. Mr. 
»Corsellis, who chanced to be wind-b6und at 
Dover. A hare in the neighbourhood had 
beat all her pursuers until this attack, when 
_the dog, was so superior to her in speed, and 
_ pressed her so close, that she ran for the clitf 
as her only chance of escaping; but the grey- 
wi nd threw at, and caught her at the brink, 
and went with the have in his mouth to) the 
bottom of the precipice, where they werg 
hoth literally dashed to atoms.” 
Ann. Rey. Vor. II. 
849 
The first volume concludes with brief 
accounts of the rabbit, martin, badger, 
and otter. ty 
The second volume, in. compliance 
with a prevailing modern custom, is di- 
vided into two separate parts: a custom 
which, in our judgment, would be “ more 
honoured in the breach than the observ- 
ance.” It cannot but be peculiarly dis- 
pleasing to a naturalist, who loves to dis- 
tinguish by appropriate characters all ob- 
jects which bear diiferent names. As 
matters are now ordered, we are utterly 
unable to determine in what the essential 
difference between a volume and a part 
of a volume consists. 7 
The first part of the second volume, if 
part it must be called, is devoted to the 
calm and sober amusement of fishing in 
fresh waters. In every respect unlike 
the fox-hunter, the hare-hunter, or even 
the courser, the angler takes his solitary 
stand, and sometimes remains for hours 
together almost. fixed to the same spot. 
Mr. Daniel, whose passion for the country 
and its amusements knows no bounds, 
notwithstanding his indifference to hare- 
hunting, which he probably thinks nei- 
ther one thing nor the other, can steal 
along the verdant bank with the stillnessof 
patient expectation, as well as follow the 
music of the cheerful horn. and sweet- 
toned hound over ditches and five.barred 
gates. He speaks of both with the fond- 
ness of an amateur, and relates achieve- 
ments in each. 
—quorum pars magna fuit. 
In this as well as the former section of 
the work, the preceptive part is preceded 
by a dissertation on the external form, 
inward structure, and general economy 
of fishes. Here also he appears chiefly 
in the character of a compiler; and 
though he has made extracts from vari- 
ous authors, he has drawn most of his 
materials from a System of Natural His- 
tory, in four volumes, printed at Edin- 
burgh in'1792; but, contrary to his usual 
practice,has often transcribed the lan- 
guage ofthe anonymous author, without 
once referring to his work, BN s 
A detailed description of the rivers of 
Great Britain and Ireland follows ; but 
we know not for what reason or with 
what use. - Its connection with the im- ~ 
mediate subject of the work'is too gene- 
ral to excite any lively interest.. The 
geographer: knows its value when accu- 
rate a complete; but a fisher on the 
8 
