238 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



your sport. A hound capable of spoiling one day's 

 sport, is scarcely worth your keeping : indifferent ones, 

 such as I have above described, may be kept till you 

 have better to supply their places. 



A huntsman should know how to marshal every 

 hound in his pack, giving to each his proper rank and 

 precedence ; for, without this knowledge, it is not 

 possible that he should make a large draft, as he 

 ought. There are, in most packs, some hounds that 

 assist but little in killing a fox ; and it is the judicious 

 drafting off of such hounds that is a certain sign of a 

 good huntsman. 



My huntsman is very exact : he always carries a 

 list of his hounds in his pocket, and when in a distant 

 country, he looks it over, to see if any of them be 

 missing ; he has also a book in which he keeps a 

 regular account where every fox is found, and where 

 he is killed. 



Your huntsman, you say, knows perfectly the 

 country that he has to hunt : let him then acquire 

 as perfect a knowledge of his hounds : good sense 

 and observation will do the rest ; at least, will do as 

 much as you seem to require of him ; for I am 

 glad to find, that you would rather depend upon the 

 goodness of your hounds for sport, than the genius 

 of your huntsman : it is, believe me, a much surer 

 dependence. 



