1 8 FOX-HUNTING 



a chance circumstance brings it out. They 

 thoroughly enjoy a run, and think the pleasure 

 they experience is due entirely to the riding over 

 fences ; but if that were the case they might as 

 well ride to a drag. How few people who have 

 the opportunity of following fox-hounds ever 

 patronise a drag-hunt, and yet the red herring or 

 the aniseed will always ensure a good scent. If 

 good sportsmen were as scarce as alleged, you 

 might well imagine there would be many more 

 packs following the drag than pursuing the 

 fox. There are probably very few men who ride 

 to drag-hounds for choice, and I think they look 

 on it merely as a substitute for the real thing, 

 which circumstances make it impossible for them 

 to enjoy. It is not a legitimate sport at all, and 

 is only a base imitation ; but it serves as a 

 reminder of fox-hunting, and as a means of 

 schooling a hunter. 



My idea is that the bump of hunting is not 

 wanting in the crowd, but that the principles and 

 methods of the sport were not instilled in early 

 youth. Consequently the points of interest which 

 appeal to those who know something are entirely 

 lost on the others. It is for this reason that I 



