Thus said : close following at her heel, 

 With cheerful heart he mounts the wheel. 



John Gay. 



A Fragment : Of a Poem on Hunting ^> ^> 



Dona cano divum laetas venantibus artes, 

 Auspicio, Diana, tuo Gratius. 



' I "HY care be first the various gifts to trace, 

 -*- The minds and genius of the latrant race. 

 In powers distinct the different clans excel, 

 In sight, or swiftness, or sagacious smell ; 

 By wiles ungenerous some surprise the prey, 

 And some by courage win the doubtful day. 

 Seest thou the gazehound ! how with glance 



severe, 

 From the close herd he marks the destin'd deer ! 

 How every nerve the greyhound's stretch displays, 

 The hare preventing in her airy maze ; 

 The luckless prey how treacherous tumblers gain, 

 And dauntless wolf-dogs shake the lion's mane ; 

 O'er all, the bloodhound boasts superior skill, 

 To scent, to view, to turn, and boldly kill : 

 His fellows' vain alarms rejects with scorn, 

 True to the master's voice, and learned horn. 

 His nostrils oft, if ancient Fame sing true, 

 Trace the sly felon through the tainted dew ; 



69 



