92 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



pointers as a pack. The foxhound stands alone 

 in his amcnableness to discipHne ; he can stand 

 the strain of rigid training without losing anything 

 of his courage and eagerness. Offshoots from 

 the true foxhound, such as the Welsh hound, fail 

 as a pack. Either from timidity or sulkiness, they 

 will not stand a "rating," nor will they attempt to 

 thread their way through a field of horses when 

 left behind in cover after a find. 



It was somewhere in the seventeen-forties that 

 hunting was seriously taken up and became part of 

 our national life. As standards of excellence do 

 not remain stationary, the question arises, Have 

 hunting and all the matters connected with the 

 sport gone back or progressed during the last 

 two centuries ? Some of the best authorities 

 aver that the art of conditioning hounds has been 

 lost ; consequently, fewer foxes have been killed in 

 the open than was the case five or six decades 

 ago. Others contend that if the sport indicates 

 a falling off in this respect it is due to the fields 

 being too big and unwieldy, and the fact that 

 there are too many foxes about. Whatever may 

 be the true explanation, condition should be the 

 chief object of a huntsman, although attention 

 to minute details in other matters is absolutely 

 necessary. Unless hounds are in the best of 

 health and condition they can never catch good 



