218 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



fails to try the rest. A huntsman may take advantage 

 of this : they are certain casts, and may help him to 

 get nearer to his fox. 



Great caution is necessary when a fox runs into a 

 village : if he be halloo'd there, get forward as fast as 

 you can. Foxes, when tired, will lie down anywhere, 

 and are often lost by it. A wide cast is not the best 

 to recover a tired fox with tired hounds : they should 

 hunt him out, inch by inch, though they are ever so 

 long about it, for the reason I have just given, that he 

 will lie down anywhere. 



In chases and forests, where high fences are made 

 to preserve the coppices, I like to see a huntsman put 

 only a few hounds over, enough to carry on the scent, 

 and get forward with the rest : it is a proof that he 

 knows his business. 



A huntsman must take care, where foxes are in 

 plenty, lest he should run the heel ; for it frequently 

 happens, that hounds can run the wrong way of the 

 scent better than they can the right, when one is up 

 the wind, and the other down. 



Fox-hunters, I think, are never guilty of the fault 

 of trying up the wind before they have tried down : I 

 have known them lose foxes, rather than condescend 

 to try up the wind at all. 



When a huntsman hears a halloo, and has five or 

 six couple of hounds along with him, the pack not 

 running, let him get forward with those which he has: 



inclines them so much to riot, as taking them out to hunt when there is 

 little or no scent, and particularly on windy days, when they cannot hear 

 one another. 



