1 32 ECHOES OF SPORT 



the centre or tail of a fast one where I can 

 neither keep up with nor see them. 



The charge of cruelty, so often levelled at 

 hunting, is I think, somewhat exaggerated. 

 Firstly, of the many foxes hunted compara- 

 tively few are killed or die of exhaustion. A 

 cub is bound to be very frightened for the 

 first few times he is hustled, but an older fox, 

 armed as he is with the slyest, cunningest 

 instincts of any of our wild animals, is prob- 

 ably not often half as frightened as some of 

 the people who ride in pursuit of him. The 

 fear of the most terrified fox at any rate only 

 begins with the hunt ; the nerves of the timid 

 pursuer may have started to quiver hours 

 before, and continue doing so till they safely 

 reach home again. Involuntary fear is bad 

 enough, but voluntary terror is worse, for it 

 dubs you fool as well as coward. 



For the beaten fox before he is killed, or 

 worse still, for the one who slinks into some 

 hole or drain, exhausted to die, I have the 

 profoundest pity, and I would that his pain 

 were not the price of our sport ; but compared 



