112 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



as it also does when the frost is quite gone. At the 

 time of its going off, scent never lies : it is a critical 

 minute for hounds, in which their game is frequently 

 lost. In a great dew, the scent is the same. In 

 healthy countries, where the game brushes as it goes 

 along, scent seldom fails. Where the ground carries, 

 the scent is bad, for a very evident reason, which hare- 

 hunters, who pursue their game over greasy fallows 

 and through dirty roads, have great cause to complain 

 of. A wet night frequently produces good chases, as 

 then the game neither like to run the cover nor the 

 roads. It has been often remarked, that scent lies best 

 in the richest soils ; and countries which are favourable 

 to horses, are seldom so to hounds. I have also 

 observed, that, in some particular places, let the tem- 

 perature of the air be as it may, scent never lies. 



Take not out your hounds on a very windy or 

 bad day. 1 



These inauspicious days, on other cares 

 Employ thy precious hours ; th' improving friend 

 With open arms embrace, and from his lips 

 Glean science, season'd with good-natur'd wit ; 

 But if th' inclement skies, and angry Jove, 

 Forbid the pleasing intercourse, thy books 

 Invite thy ready hand ; each sacred page 

 Rich with the wise remarks of heroes old. 



[* This familiar quotation is about all the man who hunts to ride 

 knows of Beckford, and because the advice is not practicable in these 

 days, he condemns the rest of the work as not worth reading. Because 

 it occasionally happens that there is a good scent in a high wind, 

 Beckford must necessarily be a fool. If the book is carefully read, it 

 will be seen Beckford only hunted two days a week, and as the weekly 

 fixtures were not published he had the choice of days. The advice was 

 given in the interest of hounds, not with any reference to the likelihood 

 of a gallop, and it holds good to this day. A windy day may do young 

 hounds a lot of harm, and will sometimes make old ones unsteady.] 



