THE HARRIER 



'85 



Harriers, like other classes of hounds, have been bred and 

 varied to suit the requirements of the country they are hunted in, 

 and the taste, and even whims, of the owner. " Stonehenge," in 

 his original work on the dog, says: "The true Harrier is a dwarf 

 Southern Hound, with a very slight infusion of the Greyhound in 

 him." But to get the increased speed required, it would seem 

 to be quite unnecessary to go to the Greyhound. Beckford, a 

 sportsman, and brilliant writer on sport, whose opinions were, 



FIG. 49. BEVER, A HOLCOMBE HARRIER. 



and still are, authoritative as far as applicable to the altered 

 circumstances of our day, writing at the end of last century, says : 

 " The hounds I think most likely to show you sport are between 

 the large, slow-hunting Harrier and the little Fox-Beagle. . . . 

 The first, it is true, have most excellent noses, and I make no 

 doubt will kill their game at last if the day be long enough ; but 

 the days are short in winter, and it is bad hunting in the dark. 

 The other, on the contrary, fling and dash, and are all alive; 

 but every cold blast affects them, and if your country be deep 



