MODERN FARRIER. 541 



first, it is true, liave most excellent noses, and will 

 kill their game at last, if the day be long enough ; 

 but the days are short in winter, and it is bad hunt- 

 ing in the dark. The others, on the contrary, fling 

 and dash, and are all alive; but every cold blast 

 affects them, and if the country be deep and wet, it 

 is not impossible but some may be drowned. 



The huntsman should be quiet, patient, and have 

 infinite perseverance; for a hare should never be 

 given up while it is possible to hunt her : she is sure 

 to stop, and therefore may ahvays be recovered. 



The whipper-in must not act without the hunts- 

 man's orders. INIuch noise and rattle is directly 

 contrary to the first principles of hare-hunting, 

 which is to be perfectly quiet, and to let the hounds 

 alone. If they have no one to help them, they 

 have, at the same time, no one to spoil them, which, 

 for this kind of hunting is more material. There 

 is, however, a fault, and which such hounds of ne- 

 cessity must sometimes be guilty of, that is, running 

 hack the heel. Hounds are naturally fond of scent ; 

 if they cannot carry it forward, they will turn, and 

 hunt it back again ; hounds that are left to them- 

 selves make a fault of this, and it is the only one 

 they commonly have. Though it is certainly best 

 to let the hounds alone, and thereby give as much 

 scope to their natural instinct as possible, yet in this 

 particular instance they should be cheeked mildly ; 

 for, as it is an almost invariable rule in all hunting 

 to make the head good, they should be encouraged 

 to try forward first ; w^iich may be done without 

 taking them off their noses, or without the least 

 prejudice to their hunting. If trying forward 

 should not succeed, they may then be suffered to 

 try back again, which they will all be ready enough 

 to do ; for they are sensible how far they brought 

 the scent, and where they left it. 



Harriers, to be good, like all other hounds, must 

 be kept to their own game. If you run fox with 



