4 o 4 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



packs should exist, as that any persons suffi- 

 ciently disinterested to undertake the duties and 

 responsibilities inseparable from such a position 

 should be forthcoming. There is an old saying, 

 that ' a Master of Hounds must ever have his hand 

 in his pocket, and a guinea at the bottom of it ' ; 

 and this is true enough. 



Unlike other sports, it will be seen by the fore- 

 going remarks that, in the matter of fox-hunting, 

 those who derive pleasure from it do so very much 

 through the generosity of our Masters of Hounds, 

 who are sufficiently disinterested to devote their 

 time and money to the maintenance of the packs 

 with which they are connected ; and if this is the 

 case, it surely behoves the hunting public to afford 

 them all possible support, not only by subscribing 

 as liberally as their means will admit, but also, by 

 their behaviour in the field, to lessen rather than 

 increase the labours and anxieties which they so 

 cheerfully encounter. 



If all hunting men were true sportsmen, I 

 take it that the labours and anxieties of a Master 

 of Hounds would be lessened by half. Unfor- 

 tunately it must, I fear, be admitted that the true 

 sportsmen are very much in the minority. It is 

 all very well for a man to be able to ride well, be 

 well mounted and turned out ; but something more 

 than this is requisite, viz., some knowledge of the 

 science of hunting at all events, sufficient to enable 

 him to know what the hounds are doing, and what 

 they are desired to do. This is but the A B C of 



