26 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



recorded in the Field. The pack referred to was 

 kept by a relation of mine. For those people 

 who are able to appreciate the hunting and 

 working of hounds, hare-hunting affords greater 

 opportunities for witnessing the intricate dif- 

 ficulties of hunting by scent than any similar 

 description of sport. The man who is able to 

 handle harriers well and successfully should be 

 able to circumvent a fox, although the tactics of 

 the two animals pursued are different ; for where- 

 as a forward cast will generally succeed in hitting 

 off the line of a fox, when hounds are at fault, 

 nine times out of ten it is on one of the backward 

 casts that the true line of a hare will be found. It 

 may well be said that the direction a lost hare has 

 taken will most surely be the one which appears 

 least likely. It is the constant ' doubling ' on scent 

 which renders hare-hunting so difficult. The best 

 pack of harriers I have ever seen at work is 

 one belonging to Mr. Jeffreys. In colour they 

 are black and tan, owing to a strong infusion of 

 the bloodhound cross. These hounds, which 

 are notorious, are excellently well handled by 

 their owner, who contrives to account for an 

 incredible number of hares in the course of the 

 season. They are somewhat light-limbed, very 

 speedy, and possess the most wondrous noses. 

 No matter what the weather or country may be, 

 they can pick up a scent where other hounds 

 could not run for a yard, and even in the driest 

 fallow or road in March ; I; should say that they 



