Hunting In Many Lands 



they not terrorized by the black nagaika — a 

 product of a country that has from remotest 

 times preferred the knout* to the gallows, and 

 so is skilled in its manufacture and use. At 

 the word go from the chief beater the seventy 

 fox-hounds, which have been huddled up as 

 closely as the encircling beaters could make 

 them, rush into the woods. In a few minutes, 

 sometimes seconds, the music begins — and 

 what music ! I really think there are too 

 many musicians, for the voices not being clas- 

 sified, there is no individuality, but simply a 

 prolonged howl. For my part, I prefer fewer 

 hounds, where the individual voices may be 

 distinguished. It seemed to be a needless use 

 of so many good dogs, for half the number 

 would drive as well ; but they were out for 

 exercise and training, and they must have it. 

 Subsequently the pack was divided into two, 

 but this was not necessitated by fatigue of the 



* Though not pertinent to the subject, I cannot refrain from 

 relating a curious comparison made to me by a very intelligent 

 Russian, aide-de-camp general of the late Emperor: "Just as the 

 scarcity of women in early American times caused them to be highly 

 appreciated and tenderly cared for, so the relative scarcity of men 

 in early Russia caused the Government to appreciate them and to 

 preserve them at all hazards. Logically follows the exalted position 

 of woman to-day in the United States and the absence of capital 

 punishment in Russia." 



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