202 Hunting the Grisly 



their lives as fox-hunters grow to regard the 

 chase and the object of it alike with super- 

 stitious veneration. They attribute almost 

 mythical characters to the animal. I know 

 some of my good Virginian friends, for in- 

 stance, who seriously believe that the Virginia 

 red fox is a beast quite unparalleled for speed 

 and endurance no less than for cunning. This 

 is of course a mistake. Compared with a 

 wolf, an antelope, or even a deer, the fox's 

 speed and endurance do not stand very high. 

 A good pack of hounds starting him close 

 would speedily run into him in the open. The 

 reason that the hunts last so long in some 

 cases is because of the nature of the ground 

 which favors the fox at the expense of the 

 dogs, because of his having the advantage in 

 the start, and because of his cunning in turn- 

 ing to account everything which will tell in 

 his favor and against his pursuers. In the 

 same way I know plenty of English friends 

 who speak with bated breath of fox-hunting 

 but look down upon riding to drag-hounds. 

 Of course there is a difference in the two 

 sports, and the fun of actually hunting the 

 wild beast in the one case more than compen- 

 sates for the fact that in the other the riding 

 is apt to be harder and the jumping higher; 



