210 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



to preserve untarnished the highest ideals of true sport and 

 sportsmansliip. 



An advantage of hare hunting is that it is not nearly so 

 expensive a luxury as foxhunting, and is particularly enjoyable 

 for men past the prime of life, who no longer delight in the 

 more rigorous adventures of the chase of the fox. In other 

 words, it lets us down to our graves more gently, and is thus 

 well adapted to the latter stage of a sportsman's career in the 

 saddle. 



"As a lad he hunts with foot beagles. 



As a boy with otterhounds, 



As a young man with the harriers. 



Then to foxhunting he may turn in the days of his highest 

 ambition and bodily vigour. 



Afterwards to enjoy the downward slope of life, still out- 

 riding death in the saddle, in the chase of the hare." 



Long live the Chase! 



There is another system of hare hunting, i. e., foot harriers 

 — which the High Churchmen, so to speak, of the old school, 

 claim is the only way to hunt a hare. Hounds for this pur- 

 pose are of course still smaller or at least slower than the old 

 English harriers. They are usually a cross between a harrier 

 and a beagle, from say fifteen to eighteen inches. 



There are some popular packs of these foot harriers in Eng- 

 land. It is believed to be the most ancient form of the chase 

 of the hare. There are some very old packs of foot harriers, 

 especially in East Sussex, says H. A. Brayden, in his charm- 

 ing work, "Hare Hunting and Harriers." 



"A man must be an exceedingly good pedestrian, and in 

 the very best of trim, to keep within hail of a pack of hounds 

 standing eighteen or nineteen inches in height, and blessed with 

 plenty of pace." He says the packs of foot harriers in Great 

 Britain "do not number more than a dozen." 



