HARE-SHOOTING 27 



could kill a fox, if entered to such a quarry, 

 equally well. 



Hare - shooting is but poor sport, and very 

 inferior, even under the best circumstances, to 

 good rabbit-shooting at all events, in my own 

 estimation. To miss a hare within easy distance 

 in the open is inexcusable, and to shoot at one 

 at a doubtful range still more so. To have to 

 carry it when shot is not a labour of love. Under 

 such circumstances it is better not to shoot at all. 

 Many a time have I had reason to abuse myself 

 for having been foolish enough to shoot a hare 

 when there was no one present with me to carry 

 it. I am very much inclined to the opinion that, 

 unless coursed or hunted, a hare is by no means 

 deserving of the repute in which it is held for 

 table purposes, and there is, moreover, compara- 

 tively little of its flesh worth eating. The following 

 method of preparing a hare may possibly be found 

 useful, viz. : After skinning the animal, immerse it 

 in vinegar and water with a few juniper-berries for 

 twelve or, better still, twenty-four hours previous 

 to roasting. By this means it will be found to 

 be little if at all inferior to a coursed or hunted 

 hare. 



' Si vespertinus subitb te oppresserit hospes. 

 Ne gallina malum responset dura palato, 

 Doctus eris vivam misto mersare Falerno : 

 Hoc teneram faciet.' 



HORACE : Satirarum^ II. iv. 



Hare skins are useful for a variety of pur- 



