LETTER IX 



THE variety of questions which you are pleased to ask concerning the 

 huntsman, will perhaps be better answered when we are on the subject 

 of hunting. In the meantime, I will endeavour to describe what a good 

 huntsman should be. He should be young, strong, active, bold, and enter- 

 prising ; fond of the diversion, and indefatigable in the pursuit of it : he 

 should be sensible and good-tempered ; he ought also to be sober ; he should 

 be exact, civil, and cleanly ; should be a good horseman and a good groom : 

 his voice should be strong and clear ; and he should have an eye so quick, 

 as to perceive which of his hounds carries the scent when all are running ; 

 and should have so excellent an ear, as always to distinguish the foremost 

 hounds when he does not see them : he should be quiet, patient, and without 

 conceit. Such are the excellences which constitute a good huntsman : he 

 should not, however, be too fond of displaying them till necessity calls them 

 forth : he should let his hounds alone whilst they can hunt, and he should 

 have genius to assist them when they cannot. 



With regard to the whipper-in, as you keep two of them (and no pack of 

 fox-hounds is complete without), the first may be considered as a second 

 huntsman, and should have nearly the same good qualities. It is necessary, 

 besides, that he should be attentive and obedient to the huntsman ; and, as 

 his horse will probably have most work to do, the lighter he is, the better ; 

 though, if he be a good horseman, the objection of his weight will be suffi- 

 ciently overbalanced. He must not be conceited. I had one formerly, who, 

 instead of stopping hounds as he ought, would try to kill a fox by himself. 

 This fault is unpardonable : he should always maintain to the huntsman's 

 halloo, and stop such hounds as divide from it. When stopped, he should 

 get forward with them after the huntsman. 



He must always be contented to act an under part, except when circum- 

 stances may require that he should act otherwise ; 1 and the moment they 

 cease, he must not fail to resume his former station. You have heard me 

 say, that where there is much riot, I prefer an excellent whipper-in to an 

 excellent huntsman. The opinion, I believe, is new ; I must, therefore, 

 endeavour to explain it. My meaning is this : That I think I should have 

 better sport, and kill more foxes, with a moderate huntsman, and an excel- 



1 When the huntsman cannot be up with the hounds, the whipper-in should ; in which 

 case, it is the business of the huntsman to bring on the tail hounds along with him. 



