BEAGLES. 433 



BEAGLES. 



Imagine an ordinary fox-hound with his legs cut down about 

 half their natural length and bowed like those of a bull terrier, 

 with nose even elongated beyond that of the hound, and ears of 

 equal flaptitude, and body rounder and chunkier ; give him the 

 same tremendous power of yelping and howling— on every and 

 too often on unsuitable occasions — and you have a faint idea of the 

 beagle. 



The beagle is a very useful little dog for our junior friends, and 

 is generally used to track rabbits. There are two kinds, the rough 

 and the rabbit beagle ; the former is supposed to have been crossed 

 by the terrier, and his bark is rather that of the terrier than the 

 musical intonation of the beagle. The nose of this variety is fur- 

 nished with the stiff whisker-hairs which are found on the muzzle 

 of the rough terrier, and the fur is nearly as stiff as the terrier's. 

 The dwarf or rabbit beagle, as it is sometimes called, is the small- 

 est of the breed, delicate in form and aspect, but of good nose, and 

 swift of foot. So small are these little creatures, that a whole 

 pack of them have been conveyed to and from the field in baskets 

 slung over the back of a horse, and on one occasion three gentle- 

 men placed thirteen of these little dogs in their shooting jackets, 

 walked to the woods, hunted all day with them, killing eight rab- 

 bits, and then returning them to their pockets, thus saving the 

 dogs the fatiguing walk to the woods and back again. These lit- 

 tle dogs are chiefly employed by the rabbit shooter, and are not 

 sufficiently swift of foot to hunt the larger rabbit or hare. 



Beagles do not trust to their speed entirely for killing game, 

 but to their exquisiteness of nose, tracing it through all its wind- 

 ings with the greatest accuracy. The beagle will puzzle an hour 

 on one spot rather than leave the scent ; the slower he goes the 

 less likely he will be to overrun the scent, and will kill the game 

 sooner. The hare or rabbit generally describes a circle as he runs, 

 large or small, according to his strength, and the openness of the 

 country. Among enclosures where there is much cover and sheep- 

 stains, it is a constant puzzle to fox-hounds. Yet the beagle being 

 able to endure great fatigue, will invarisbly kill his game, if the day 

 be long enough. There are several good strains in this country 

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