ON HUNTING. 9 



II. 



THE FOX AND THE HOUNDS. 



IN the previous letter we had arrived at the meet, and 

 nothing up to that point had occurred to suggest that we 

 were not old hands. Unless something of a game is 

 understood by the spectator much of the enjoyment is 

 lost. We watch and read of cricket with interest because 

 we know the rudiments of the game, if we are not all entirely 

 familiar with the science and niceties of it. Baseball may be 

 quite as good a game, but the first time we see it, not under- 

 standing what it is all about, we fail to appreciate its points 

 and the whole is a mixed-up affair. So it will be with hunting, 

 and in the following lines I will try to convey to you how the 

 game is played by fox, hounds and huntsman and, finally, 

 by that larger but less important body, the spectators. It is 

 quite easy to recognise the officials. The huntsman, whips 

 and second horsemen, also the Master, invariably wear red 

 coats and velvet hunting caps. If it were not for hunting the 

 fox would have disappeared from these islands long ago, 

 as did the wolf and wild boar. In non-hunting countries 

 he has many enemies and few friends. But in hunting 

 countries he is preserved and gamekeepers are paid certain 

 fees every time a fox is found in their coverts. Foxes move 

 about at night ; like dogs, they have big stomachs and slow 

 digestions — as opposed to the horse, which has a small stomach 

 and quick digestion — and sleep all day. They roam far and 

 wide after dark, and in their marauding expeditions learn 

 to know the country like a tax collector. At certain 

 seasons of the year they go for miles, and "travelling" foxes 

 usually give the big historic gallops. In the daytime they 

 mostly occupy holes in the ground, called " earths," made 

 by themselves, or artificial " earths " put down for their 



