3rlitJincj; to ilountJ^. 129 



qualified to deal with. I, however, trust that if in 

 the following pages much good advice may, as it 

 certainly will, be omitted, I shall nevertheless not 

 lead such as are willing to wade through this imper- 

 fect chapter into any very grave errors. If, on the 

 other hand, a single pretext which. I may lay down 

 should save an individual farmer one act of unneces- 

 sary or heedless damage, or the advice I tender to 

 those whose ignorance of the science is greater than 

 miy own should cause hounds only once to be allowed 

 those moments, when at fault, which are so essential 

 to sport, then I shall feel that my efforts, however 

 feeble and incomplete, will not have been altogether 

 thrown away. 



In the first place, I would impress upon you to 

 give hounds room on all occasions — whether they are 

 clustered around their huntsman's horse at the tryst- 

 ing place upon the village green, jogging along from 

 covert to covert, or, as I shall further enlarge upon 

 hereafter — at work. The cry of " Hounds, gentlemen, 

 please," would seldom, indeed, be necessary if hunt- 

 ing men generally bore this maxim in mind, and the 

 limbs of many a good hound would be saved from 

 injury or fracture. 



But we will now suppose that you have reached 

 the covert side, and that the level and symmetrical 

 pack has, to a wave of the huntsman's hand, dashed 

 I 



