14 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



a small square of gorse or whins planted specially for 

 foxes, and if there are likely to be several foxes in it, the 

 huntsman blows his horn and cracks his whip and often 

 a fox quits ; he then lays hounds on, does not disturb the 

 covert, and gets a better start close on his fox ; but it 

 is a bad thing for hounds ; their heads are always up, 

 and they will not draw well when wanted. Good hounds 

 are known by their drawing qualities, trying here, 

 trying there. If they gaze about, scratch themselves and 

 roll about, they had better be hanged. Some odd hounds, 

 however, are very good on the line, but won't draw, and hang 

 about the huntsman's heels ; but they have to be very good 

 hunting hounds to avoid the rope. A whipper-in is usually 

 placed at some vantage point at the corner of the covert 

 from which he can see both sides, and another or a second 

 horseman at some other point from which he commands a 

 view of a fox " breaking " covert. These are to " holloa " 

 a fox away — that is, give the huntsman warning when a 

 fox quits. The duties of whippers-in and the art and abuse 

 of " holloaing " need a word, but of this later. The huntsman, 

 and the huntsman only, goes into covert if it is of any size, 

 with hounds, and by voice and horn draws the pack to places 

 which have not been tried and cheers them on a fox when 

 found and gets them out of covert as quickly as possible if a 

 fox is " holloaed away." 



Get familiar with the sound of the huntsman's voice 

 and know what the various weird noises mean and what the 

 " toots " on his horn imply and then, though you do not 

 see him, you will know what is going on. " Hound language " 

 is very difficult to explain, as these sounds have no equivalent 

 in spelling. " Yoicks," " Forward on," " Hark to Rover," 

 and so on are only used in poetry and on the music-hall stage 

 in sporting revues. A man would need lungs like a gladstone 

 bag and a larynx of brass to shout " Yoicks" very loud and 

 often. Let me try phonetically to convey what language the 

 huntsman employs. As he puts hounds into covert he usually 

 says " 'Eu in there," and when inside, " toite, toite," or some- 

 thing like it, as he draws the pack towards any particular 

 spot, " Lu, Lu, Wind'im, wind'im " (English, smell him out), 

 with an occasional single staccato note on the horn. If the 



