48 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



Mark well the wanton females of thy pack, 

 That curl their taper tails, and frisking court 

 Their pyebald mates enamour'd : their red eyes 

 Flash fires impure ; nor rest nor food they take, 

 Goaded by furious love. In sep'rate cells 

 Confine them now, lest bloody civil wars 

 Annoy thy peaceful state. — Somerville. 



I have known huntsmen perfectly ignorant of the 

 breed of their hounds, from inattention in this 

 particular ; and I have also known many good dogs 

 fall a sacrifice to it. 



The earlier in the year you breed, the better ; 

 January, February, and March, are the best months. 

 Late puppies seldom thrive ; if you have any such, 

 put them to the best walks. 1 When the bitches 

 begin to get big, let them not hunt any more : it 

 proves frequently fatal to the puppies, sometimes 

 to the bitch herself; nor is it safe for them to remain 

 much longer in the kennel. If one bitch have many 

 puppies, more than she can well rear, you may 

 put some of them to another bitch ; or, if you destroy 

 any of them, you may keep the best coloured. They 

 sometimes will have an extraordinary number : I 

 have known an instance of one having fifteen ; and 

 a friend of mine, whose veracity I cannot doubt, 

 has assured me that a hound in his pack brought 

 forth sixteen, all alive. When you breed from a 

 very favourite sort, and can have another bitch 

 warded at the same time, it will have this advantage, 

 it will enable you to save all the puppies. Give 

 particular orders that the bitches be well fed with 



1 Of the early whelps I keep five or six, of the late ones only two 

 or three. 



