THE HOUND 29 



honourable mention. The southern-hound was 

 chiefly used for hunting deer and hare, but I 

 doubt his capacity for catching a deer unless he 

 had a mixture of buck-hound blood in his veins. 

 Long ears that swept the ground and a deep bell- 

 like note were his chief features. With five or 

 six couple of these hounds our ancestors were 

 wont to hunt the hare in early morning, but 

 in spite of being slow for fox or deer, they were 

 too fast for the hare, and were therefore crossed 

 with the little fox-beagle to decrease the size. 

 The result of this cross was the harrier, but this 

 breed has again been crossed of late years with 

 the fox-hound, and there is very little of the old 

 harrier left. There are still two packs in exist- 

 ence which are called old English harriers, but 

 I doubt the antiquity of the breed as a separate 

 one, and believe they owe their origin to a 

 mixture of the southern-hound and the mottled 

 beagle. They are ungainly animals, standing 

 usually over twenty-four inches, inclined to babble 

 and tie on the line, but with excellent noses and 

 good tone. The fox-beagle, or northern-beagle, 

 was a small edition of the fox-hound in disposi- 

 tion, full of fire and dash, but lacking substance. 



