SINGULAR CHARACTERS 85 



huntsmen most certainly not : but the more assistants a huntsman has, 

 the better, in all probability, his hounds will be. Good sense, and a little 

 observation, will soon prevent such people from doing amiss ; and I hold 

 it as an almost invariable rule in hunting, that those who do not know how 

 to do good, are always liable to do harm. 1 There is scarcely an instant 

 during a whole chase, when a sportsman ought not to be in one particular 

 place ; and I will venture to say, that if he be not there, he might as well 

 be in his bed. 



I must give you an extraordinary instance of a gentleman's knowledge 

 of hunting : He had hired a house in a fine hunting country, with a good 

 kennel belonging to it, in the neighbourhood of two packs of fox-hounds, 

 of which mine was one ; and, that he might not offend the owner of either, 

 intended, as he said, to hunt with both. He offered me the use of his ken- 

 nel, which, for some reasons, I chose to decline : it was afterwards offered 

 to the other gentleman, who accepted it. The first day that the hounds 

 hunted his country, he did not appear : the second day, the hounds were 

 no sooner at the coverside, than my friend saw an odd figure, strangely 

 accoutred, riding up, with a spaniel following him. ' Sir,' said he, ' it gave 

 me great concern not to be able to attend you when you was here before : 

 I hope you was not offended at it ; for, to show you how well I am inclined 

 to assist your hunt, you see, / have brought my little dog.' 



I will now give you an instance of another gentleman's love of hunt- 

 ing : We were returning from hunting over a very fine country ; and, 

 upon its being remarked that we had a pleasant ride, he replied ' The 

 best part of the sport, in my opinion, is the riding home to dinner after- 

 wards.' He is, without doubt, of the same opinion with a fat old gentle- 

 man that I one day overtook upon the road, who, after having asked me, 

 ' How many foxes we usually killed in one day ? ' and ' Why I did not hunt 

 hare rather than fox, as she was better to eat ? ' concluded with saying, 

 ' There is but one part of hunting I likes it makes one very hungry.' 



There are two things which I particularly recommend to you ; the 

 one is, to make your hounds steady ; the other, to make them all draw. 

 Many huntsmen are fond of having them at their horse's heels ; but, believe 

 me, they never get so well, or so soon, together, as when they spread the 

 cover : besides, I have often known, when there have been only a few 

 finders, that they have found their fox, gone down the wind, and been heard 

 of no more that day. 



1 This is a better reason, perhaps, why gentlemen ought to understand this diversion, 

 than for the good they may do in it ; since a pack of hounds that are well manned will seldom 

 need any other assistance. A gentleman, perceiving his hounds to be much confused by the 

 frequent halloos of a stranger, rode up to him, and thanked him with great civility for the 

 trouble he was taking ; but, at the same time, acquainted him, that the two men he saw in 

 green coats, were paid so much a-year on purpose to halloo ; it would be needless for him, there- 

 fore, to give himself any further trouble. 



