THE BEAGLE 679 



good, like all other hounds, must be kept to their own 

 game : if they are permitted to run a fox, they are 

 afterwards spoiled, and no reliance can thereafter be 

 placed upon them. Hounds of all kinds cannot be 

 perfect, unless used to one scent and one style of 

 hunting." Somerville says, 



" A different hound for every different chase 

 Select with judgment ; nor the timorous hare 

 O'ermatch'd destroy, but leave that vile offence 

 To the mean, murderous, coursing crew, intent 

 On blood and spoil." 



THE BEAGLE. 



The beagle is the smallest of the dogs of the chase. 

 In form he bears considerable resemblance to the 

 harrier, but with his limbs proportionally much 

 shorter, and on that account much inferior to that 

 dog in point of speed. His sense of smell, however, 

 is equally acute, and he pursues the hare with inde- 

 fatigable vigilance and energy. Every winding, and 

 all her mazes are traced by him with a matchless 

 degree of exactness, whilst the soft and melodious 

 tones of the pack afford ecstatic pleasure to the lovers 

 of the chase, and is thus beautifully described by the 

 poet of "The Chase": 



" Hark ! from yon covert, where those towering oaks 

 Above the humble copse aspiring rise, 

 What glorious triumphs burst in every gale 

 Upon our ravish'd ears ! The hunter's shout, 

 The clanging horns swell their sweet winding notes, 

 The pack wide opening load the trembling air 

 With various melody ; from tree to tree 

 The propagated cry redoubling bounds, 

 And winged zephyrs waft the floating joy 



Through all the regions near 



The puzzling pack unravel, mile by mile, 

 Maze within maze." 



