150 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



one. He is otherwise from principle. In his opinion, 

 a fair sportsman, and a foolish sportsman, are synony- 

 mous : he therefore takes every advantage that he 

 can of the fox. You will think, perhaps, that he may 

 sometimes spoil his own sport by this : it is true, he 

 sometimes does, but then he makes his hounds ; the 

 whole art of fox-hunting being to keep the hounds 

 well in blood. Sport is but a secondary consideration 

 with a true fox-hunter. The first is the killing of the 

 fox: hence arises the eagerness of pursuit — chief 

 pleasure of the chase. I confess, I esteem blood so 

 necessary to a pack of fox-hounds, that, with regard 

 to myself, I always return home better pleased with 

 but an indifferent chase, with death at the end of it, 

 than with the best chase possible, if it end with the 

 loss of the fox. Good chases, generally speaking, 

 are long chases ; and, if not attended with success, 

 never fail to do more harm to hounds than good. Our 

 pleasures, I believe, for the most part, are greater 

 during the expectation than the enjoyment. In this 

 case, reality itself warrants the idea, and your present 

 success is almost a sure fore-runner of future sport. 1 



p The whole of the foregoing paragraph is full of wisdom, and it 

 would be impossible to call attention to any particular point. Most 

 people who are connected with hounds are quite aware of the necessity 

 for blood, but there are some men who have hunted for years and never 

 like a fox to be killed. These men want their gallop, and would be the 

 first to find fault if hounds grew slack, but they either don't care or 

 don't realise the means that are necessary to provide them with sport. 

 One pack will have good sport when at the same time another equally 

 good pack will never run for twenty minutes consecutively, and never 

 carry a run to a definite end. The reason for this is that one pack is in 

 blood and the other is not. Nothing succeeds like success in hunting, 

 and a pack of hounds in blood will carry all before them.] 



