268 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER. 



neither " ; " went a hunting . . . started a 

 Deer & then a Fox but got neither " ; and 

 " Went a hunting and after trailing a fox a 

 good while the Dogs Raized a Deer & ran 

 out of the Neck with it & did not some of 

 them at least come home till the next day." 

 If it was a small animal, however, it was soon 

 accounted for. " Went a Hunting . . . 

 catched a Rakoon but never found a Fox," 



The woods were so dense and continuous 

 that it was often impossible for the riders to 

 keep close to the hounds throughout the run ; 

 though in one or two of the best covers, as the 

 journal records, Washington " directed paths 

 to be cut for Fox Hunting." This thickness 

 of the timber made it difficult to keep the 

 hounds always under control ; and there are 

 frequent allusions to their going off on their 

 own account, as " Joined some dogs that were 

 self hunting." Sometimes the hounds got so 

 far away that it was impossible to tell whether 

 they had killed or not, the journal remarking 

 " catched nothing that we know of," or 

 " found a fox at the head of the blind Pocoson 

 which we suppose was killed in an hour but 

 could not find it." 



Another result of this density and contin- 

 uity of cover was the frequent recurrence of 

 days of ill success. There are many such 

 entries as : " Went Fox hunting, but started 

 nothing " ; " Went a hunting, but catched 

 nothing " ; " found nothing " ; " found a Fox 

 and lost it." Often failure followed long and 

 hard runs : " Started a Fox, run him four 



