fierce greyhounds, of the race of those deer-dogs 

 which were formerly used in that country, but 

 greatly lessened in size from being crossed with 

 the common breed. The huntsman, a sort of 

 provincial officer of the district, who receives a 

 certain supply of meal, and a reward for every 

 fox he destroys, was already at the bottom of the 

 dell, whose echoes thundered to the chiding of two 

 or three brace of foxhounds. Terriers, including 

 the whole generation of Pepper and Mustard, were 

 also in attendance, having been sent forward under 

 the care of a shepherd. Mongrel, whelp, and cur 

 of low degree, filled up the burden of the chorus. 

 The spectators on the brink of the ravine, or glen, 

 held their greyhounds in leash in readiness to slip 

 them at the fox, as soon as the activity of the 

 party below should force him to abandon his 

 cover. 



The scene, though uncouth to the eye of a pro- 

 fessed sportsman, had something in it wildly 

 captivating. The shifting figures on the mountain 

 ridge, having the sky for their back -ground, 

 appeared to move in the air. The dogs, impatient 

 of their restraint, and maddened with the baying 

 beneath, sprung here and there, and strained at 

 the slips, which prevented them from joining their 

 companions. Looking down, the view was equally 

 striking. The thin mists were not totally dis- 

 ed in the glen, so that it was often through 

 i-5 



