1 90 BRITISH DOGS 



of hunting them, but the humane and liberal-minded never deviate 

 from the consistency and strict impartiality of the chase. If the hare 

 is found sitting, and the hounds are too near at hand, they should 

 be immediately (and, as it were, accidentally) drawn off, to prevent 

 her being chopped in her form ; the hare should then be silently 

 walked up by the individual who found her, or knows where she 

 is seated, that she may be permitted to go off without alarm, at her 

 own pace. The hounds should then be drawn quietly over the spot 

 whence she started, where, being permitted to come calmly and 

 unexpectedly upon the scent, they then go away with it in a style 

 of uniformity, constituting what may be candidly considered the 

 consistency of the chase." 



It is of importance to the full enjoyment of the sport, whether 

 coursing or hunting the hare, to let her steal away quietly, for, 

 if she is hustled, being a timid creature, she is likely to double 

 instead of giving a tolerably straight run, without which there is 

 comparatively little enjoyment. It is in the nature of the hare 

 to run more or less in circles, and to make ever and again for 

 the home she has been driven from by her pursuers; and, when 

 hard pressed, her instinct or reason often instructs her to betake 

 herself for shelter to the midst of a flock of sheep, where, the 

 ground being soiled by them, the effluvia from her own heated 

 body may be overpowered by that of the sheep, and the hounds 

 thereby baffled. 



A long treatise would be necessary to do justice to the subject 

 of hare-hunting, but the object here has been to convey to the 

 uninitiated a general conception of the sport. No one, without 

 practical experience, can ever be a hunting man, in the sense 

 of fully understanding and enjoying the glories, the dangers, and 

 the pleasures of the chase ; and, as a stimulus to attain to that 

 position, we give a graphic description of hare-hunting from Somer- 

 ville's poem " The Chase " : 



Huntsman, take heed ; they stop in full career. 



Yon crowding flocks, that at a distance gaze, 



Have haply soil'd the turf. See ! that old hound ! 



How busily he works, but dares not trust 



His doubtful sense ; draw yet a wider ring. 



Hark ! now again the chorus fills. As bells, 



Sally'd awhile, at once their peal renew, 



And high in air the tuneful thunder rolls, 



See how they toss, with animated rage 



Recovering all they lost ! That eager haste 



Some doubling wile foreshows. Ah ! yet once more 



They're check'd, hold back with speed on either hand 



They flourish round e'en yet persist 'Tis right, 



Away they spring ; the rustling stubbles bend 



Beneath the driving storm. Now the poor chase 



