216 THE IMAGE OF WAR 



lowered with small doses of tartar-emetic, after which 

 quinine was freely administered. Above all, the 

 hounds were never exposed to the rays of the sun 

 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. A covered van, rather 

 larger than that mentioned before, was used to take 

 them out and bring them home. It is my belief 

 that by following this system hounds can be kept 

 in India in good condition for some years, provided 

 that they are sent to the hills from April to Septem- 

 ber. There is an idea that hounds lose their scenting 

 powers in India, but I believe it to be unfounded. 

 Mine had been out a few years all but some months, 

 and their scent was quite normal. I should advise 

 any one who feels inclined to go in for hounds in 

 India to keep a sharp look-out among the natives' 

 dogs. Some very hound-like animals can be picked 

 up, and these crossed with the fox-hound and then 

 crossed back again, should produce useful hounds 

 that would stand the climate well. 



After some preliminary exercise and drilling, my 

 dog-boy to act as a whipper-in, I felt ready to try 

 a by -day. Accordingly on the 8 th of October, I 

 proceeded to draw some patches of cotton within a 

 mile of my house. The cotton-fields are the best 

 of all coverts in the Indian plains. They are artifi- 

 cially irrigated, and consequently the damp soil 

 generally carries a scent and enables hounds to get 

 away on good terms with their jack. Again, they 

 are generally not more than an acre or two in extent, 

 which enables the huntsman to see the jackal break 

 away. On this occasion hounds found in a very 

 small patch. The cotton usuall}^' being about thirty 

 inches high, it is a very pretty sight to see hounds 

 running in covert, the waving sterns, and now and 



