214 The Chase 



And that thy deeds may in memory dwell, 



An epitaph over the place shall tell, 



To every one who chooses to read, 



The wondrous feats of my coal-black steed. 



G. /. IVhyte-Mehille. 



Hare v. Fox <:> s^ o 



A LOVER of hunting almost every man is, or 

 would be thought ; but twenty in the field after 

 an hare find more delight and sincere enjoyment 

 than one in twenty in a fox-chase, the former 

 consisting of an endless variety of accidental delights, 

 the latter little more than hard riding, the pleasure 

 of clearing some dangerous leap, the pride of be- 

 striding the best nag, and showing somewhat of the 

 bold horseman ; and (equal to anything) of being 

 first in at the death, after a chase frequently from 

 county to county, and perhaps half the way out of 

 sight or hearing of the hounds. So that, but for the 

 name of fox-hunting, a man might as well mount at 

 his stable-door, and determine to gallop twenty miles 

 on end into another county. 



John Smallman Gardiner. 



A Frequent Cause y^^^ ^:> e> 



THE most frequent cause of failure in the pur- 

 suit of a hare is changing. Just when the one 

 you are hunting is getting tired, up jumps another 

 fresh from her form, and away go the pack in full 

 view. There is very little hope of stopping them, 

 and when you do succeed the chances are you will 

 not be able to recover your original quarry, either 

 that the lapse of time has allowed the scent to 

 disappear, or "puss" stole away when her enemies* 



