RECORDS OF THE CHASE 





CHAPTER I 



THE ORIGIN OF HUNTING 



WHATEVER period we select to investigate the manners, 

 customs, and occupations of the human race, we find 

 that hunting has formed a prominent and interesting 

 portion of their engagements. There are two conspicu- 

 ous causes from which the origin of the chase may be 

 traced one, for the purpose of procuring food ; the 

 other, that of destroying ferocious or noxious beasts. 

 The fox is the only one remaining in Great Britain 

 originally included in the latter category; a classifica- 

 tion in which it is scarcely consistent to retain him, now 

 that the pursuit of that animal has become one of our 

 principal and most popular national amusements. 

 Hunting is not confined to the civilised portion of man- 

 kind ; it still continues to be the engagement of the un- 

 cultivated savage, as >a means of obtaining sustenance. 

 It is a fact worthy of remark, which we derive from 

 ancient history, that as the prosperity of any country 

 has increased, gymnastic exercises and sporting enter- 

 prises have flourished ; and whenever they were aban- 

 doned, luxury, idleness, and debauchery obtained a 

 footing. As evidence of the great estimation in which 

 he held field sports, Alexander the Great commanded the 

 renowned Aristotle to write a treatise on the subject, 

 for which he was compensated with a; large sum of 

 money from the treasury. During the reign of the 

 Emperor Severus, who built the Picts Wall in England, 

 Appianus wrote four books on hunting. Grotius studied 

 the same subject, more intimately connected with the 

 sport of coursing. Nemesianus, likewise, wrote some 

 poems on hunting, and many other classic authors 



A 



