1 84 FOX-HUNTING 



but avoid it if you possibly can, and send a whip 

 on to stop him. There are one or two runs on 

 record where the object of pursuit has been a cur, 

 and some men might think it fun if they had a 

 gallop ; but no good sportsman or any one who 

 cared about hounds could look upon such an 

 event as anything except a disaster. 



There are days when even the most steady 

 hounds seem ready to run anything, and the 

 same pack a day or two later will take no notice 

 of the scent they had previously been anxious to 

 hunt. I suppose there is something in the air 

 which prevents them distinguishing the smell 

 of the fox from that of other animals, but they 

 will on occasions descend even to birds, and I 

 have seen reliable hounds run both pheasants and 

 partridges. 



I think nothing of a hound running a wrong 

 scent for a few yards, or even half a field, if 

 he does not speak to it, for the instinct of a 

 well-bred foxhound teaches him to get forward 

 without loss of time, and he may be only follow- 

 ing this line up until he can be sure he is right 

 or wrong. You will see that in a case of this 

 kind it behoves you to be careful how you cheer 



