HUNTING WITH HOUNDS. 157 



the animal to be half greyhound, but the other 

 half could be fox-hound, colley, or setter, it 

 mattered nothing to him. They were a wicked, 

 hardbiting crew for all that, and Mr. Cowley, 

 in his flapping linen duster, was a first-class 

 hunter and a good rider. He went almost 

 mad with excitement in every chase. His 

 pack usually hunted coyote, fox, jack-rabbit, 

 and deer; and I have had more than one 

 good run with it. 



My own experience is too limited to allow 

 me to pass judgment with certainty as to the 

 relative speed of the different beasts of the 

 chase, especially as there is so much individ- 

 ual variation. I consider the antelope the 

 fleetest of all however ; and in this opinion I 

 am sustained by Col. Roger D. Williams, of 

 Lexington, Kentucky, who, more than any 

 other American, is entitled to speak upon 

 coursing, and especially upon coursing large 

 game. Col. Williams, like a true son of Ken- 

 tucky, has bred his own thoroughbred horses 

 and thoroughbred hounds for many years ; and 

 during a series of long hunting trips extending 

 over nearly a quarter of a century he has tried 

 his pack on almost every game animal to be 

 found among the foot-hills of the Rockies and 

 on the great plains. His dogs, both smooth- 

 haired greyhounds and rough-coated deer- 

 hounds, have been bred by him for generations 

 with a special view to the chase of big game 

 not merely of hares ; they are large animals, 

 excelling not only in speed but in strength, 

 endurance, and ferocious courage. The sur* 



