CHANGING FOXES 89 



they will never come to a halloo, which every hound that is off the scent, 

 or behind the rest, should not fail to do ; and they are always more likely 

 to draw you back than help you forward. 1 



You think me too Severe on skirters. I must confess, that I have but 

 one objection to them, and it is this I have constantly seen them do more 

 harm than good. 



Changing from the hunted fox to a fresh one, is as bad an accident as 

 can happen to a pack of fox-hounds, and requires all the observation and 

 all the ingenuity that man is capable of, to guard against it. Could a fox- 

 hound distinguish a hunted fox as the deer-hound does the deer that is 

 blown, fox-hunting would then be perfect. There are certain rules that 

 ought to be observed by huntsmen. A huntsman should always listen to 

 his hounds while they are running in cover ; he should be particularly 

 attentive to the headmost hounds, and should be constantly on his guard 

 against a skirter ; for, if there be two scents, he must be wrong. Generally 

 speaking, the best scent is least likely to be that of the hunted fox ; and as 

 a fox seldom suffers hounds to run up to him as long as he is able to prevent 

 it, so, nine times out of ten, when foxes are hallooed early in the day, they 

 are all fresh foxes. The hounds most likely to be right, are the hard-running 

 line-hunting hounds, or such as the huntsman knows had the lead before 

 there arose any doubt of changing. With regard to the fox, if he break 

 over an open country, it is no sign that he is hard-run ; for they seldom at 

 any time will do that, unless they be a great way before the hounds ; also, 

 if he run up the wind ; as they seldom or ever do that when they have been 

 long hunted and grow weak ; and when they run their foil, that also may 

 direct him. All this, as you will perceive, requires a good ear and nice 

 observation ; and, indeed, in that consists the chief excellence of a hunts- 

 man. 



When the hounds divide and are in two parts, the whipper-in, in stop- 

 ping, must attend to the huntsman, and wait for his halloo, before he 

 attempts to stop either ; for want of proper management in this particular, 

 I have known the hounds stopped at both places, and both foxes lost by it. 

 If they have many scents, and it is quite uncertain which is the hunted fox, 

 let him stop those that are farthest down the wind, as they can hear the 

 others, and will reach them soonest : in such a case, there will be little use 

 in stopping those that are up the wind. 



When hounds are at a check, let every one be silent and stand still : 



1 From this passage, the critic endeavours to prove the sportsman's ingratitude ; and 

 yet common sense, I believe, induces most men to rid themselves of that, which, if kept, would 

 be prejudicial to them. The critic seems to allude to a well-known fable of ^Esop, but is not 

 very happy in the application. He has also misquoted the passage the author does not say 

 tire, but tie upon the scent. Good hounds, when they become aged, are liable to the first ; 

 bad ones only, are guilty of the last. In either case, death is not meant as a punishment, nor 

 is it considered ad a misfortune. Vide Monthly Review. 



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