OF HALLOOS 167 



you may frequently guess by it whether it may be 

 depended on or not. At the sowing time, when boys 

 are bird-keeping, if you be not very much on your 

 guard, their halloo will sometimes deceive you. It is 

 best, when you are in doubt, to send on a whipper-in 

 to know : the worst, then, that can befall you, is the loss 

 of a little time ; whereas, if you gallop away with the 

 hounds to the halloo, and are obliged to return, it is a 

 chance if they try for the scent afterwards : on the 

 other hand, if, certain of the halloo, you intend going 

 to it, then the sooner you get to it the better. I have 

 been more angry with my huntsman for being slow at 

 a time like this, than for any other fault whatsoever. 

 Huntsmen who are slow at getting to a halloo, are 

 void of common sense. 



They frequently commit another fault, by being in 

 too great a hurry when they get there. It is hardly 

 credible how much our eagerness is apt, at such a time, 

 to mislead our judgment ; for instance, when we get to 

 the halloo, the first questions are natural enough — Did 

 you see the fox ? Which way did he go ? The man 

 points with his finger, perhaps, and then away you all 

 ride as fast as you can, and in such a hurry, that not 

 one will stay to hear the answer to the question which 

 all were so ready to ask : the general consequence of 

 which is, you mistake the place, and are obliged to 

 return to the man for better information. Depend 

 upon it, the less you hurry on this occasion, the more 

 time you save ; and wherever the fox was seen for a 

 certainty, whether near or distant, that will not only 

 be the surest, but also the best, place to take the 



