46 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



account breed from one that is not stout, that is not 

 tender-nosed, or that is either a dabbler 1 or a skirter. 



Observe with care his shape, sort, colour, size : 



Nor will sagacious huntsmen less regard 



His inward habits ; the vain babbler shun, 



Ever loquacious, ever in the wrong : 



His foolish offspring shall offend thy ears 



With false alarms, and loud impertinence: 



Nor less the shifting cur avoid, that breaks 



Illusive from the pack: to the next hedge 



Devious he strays ; there ev'ry muse he tries : 



If haply then he cross the streaming scent, 



Away he flies vain-glorious ; and exults 



As of the pack supreme, and in his speed 



And strength unrivall'd. Lo ! cast far behind, 



His vex'd associates pant, and lab'ring strain 



To climb the steep ascent. Soon as they reach 



Th' insulting boaster, his false courage fails : 



Behind he lags, doom'd to the fatal noose, 



His master's hate, and scorn of all the field. 



What can from such be hop'd, but a base brood 



Of coward curs, a frantic, vagrant race ? — SOMERVILLE. 



It is the judicious cross that makes the pack complete. 2 

 The faults and imperfections in one breed may be 

 rectified from another ; and, if this be properly 

 attended to, I see no reason why the breeding 

 of hounds may not improve till improvement can 

 go no further. If you find a cross hit, pursue 



1 Babbling is one of the worst faults that a hound can be guilty of; it 

 is constantly increasing, and is also catching. This fault, like many 

 others, will sometimes run in the blood. 



2 I have seen fox-hounds that were bred out of a Newfoundland 

 bitch and a fox-hound dog. They are monstrously ugly, are said to 

 give their tongues sparingly, and to tire soon. The experiment has not 

 succeeded : the cross most likely to be of service to a fox-hound, is the 

 beagle. I am well convinced, that a handsome, bony, tender-nosed, 

 stout beagle would, occasionally, be no improper cross for a high-bred 

 pack of fox-hounds. 



