HUNTING ON THE FELLS 95 



Whenever a hunted fox is coursed by a shep- 

 herd's dog, hounds invariably have great difficulty 

 in owning the line afterwards. It seems as if 

 the sudden fright contracts the glands, or whatever 

 it is that permits scent to exude from the fox, and 

 the scent never again appears to regain its original 

 strength. 



Water often saves a hunted fox, for I have 

 known many a one practically beaten, be com- 

 pletely lost after it had entered a stream. As 

 the fox's strength fails, scent becomes weaker 

 to some extent, and it only needs a sudden fright, 

 like the appearance of a cur dog, or an unexpected 

 haUoa, to cause it to fade altogether. For this 

 reason one cannot keep too quiet when hounds 

 are running almost in view of their beaten fox. 

 An injudicious halloa at such a time gets their 

 heads up, and it is ten to one that the fox makes 

 good his escape. Hounds know very well when 

 they are closing up to their fox, and they require 

 no outside assistance to expedite matters. 



If hounds get away on top of their fox on a 

 good scenting day, his doom is very Hkely to be 

 sealed, no matter how fast he runs. If, however, 

 he kept up the same pace for the same length of 

 time on a moderate or bad scenting day, he would 

 outrun them, especially if he put in a few sharpish 

 turns. 



Luckily for hounds, a fox never goes far at 



