LETTER VII. 



UNLESS I had kept a regular journal of all that 

 has been done in the kennel, from the time 

 when my young hounds were first taken in, to the end 

 of the last season, it would be impossible, I think, to 

 answer all the questions which, in your last Letter, 

 you ask concerning them. I wish that a memory, 

 which is far from a good one, would enable me to 

 give the information that you desire. If I am to be 

 more circumstantial than in my former Letter, I must 

 recollect as well as I can the regular system of my 

 own kennel ; and, if I am to write from memory, 

 you will, without doubt, excuse the want of the 

 lucidtis ordo. It shall be my endeavour, that the 

 information which these Letters contain shall not 

 mislead you. 



You wish me to explain what I mean by hounds 

 being handy. It respects their readiness to do what- 

 ever is required of them ; and particularly, when cast, 

 to turn easily which way the huntsman pleases. l 



I was told the other day by a sportsman, that he 



1 My hounds are frequently walked about the courts of the kennel, the 

 whipper-in following them, and rating them after the huntsman : this 

 and the sending them out (after they have been fed) with the people on 

 foot, contribute greatly to make them handy. 



74 



