SCENT AND THE AIR 111 



but if the game should have been run by a dog not 

 belonging to the pack, seldom will any scent remain. 



I believe it is very difficult to ascertain exactly 

 what scent is : I have known it alter very often in the 

 same day. I believe, however, that it depends chiefly 

 on two things — "the condition the ground is in, and the 

 temperattire of the air ;" both of which, I apprehend, 

 should be moist, without being wet. When both are 

 in this condition, the scent is then perfect ; and vice 

 versa, when the ground is hard and the air dry, there 

 seldom will be any scent. It scarcely ever lies with a 

 north, or an east wind : a southerly wind without rain, 

 and a westerly wind that is not rough, are the most 

 favourable. Storms in the air are great enemies to 

 scent, and seldom fail to take it entirely away. A fine 

 sunshiny day is not often a good hunting day ; but 

 what the French call jours des dames, warm without 

 sun, is generally a perfect one : there are not many 

 such in a whole season. In some fogs, I have 

 known the scent lie high ; in others, not at all ; de- 

 pending, I believe, on the quarter the wind is then in. 

 I have known it lie very high in a mist, when not too 

 wet ; but if the wet should hang on the boughs and 

 bushes, it will fall upon the scent, and deaden it. 

 When the dogs roll, the scent, I have frequently 

 observed, seldom lies ; for what reason, I know not : 

 but, with permission, if they smell strong when they 

 first come out of the kennel, the proverb is in their 

 favour ; and that smell is a prognostic of good luck. 

 When cobwebs hang on the bushes, there is seldom 

 much scent. During a white frost the scent lies high ; 



