LETTER XVI 



I ENDED my last Letter, I think, in a violent passion. The hounds, I 

 believe, were at fault also. I shall now continue the further explana- 

 tion of my thirteenth Letter from that time. 



The first moment that hounds are at fault, is a critical one for the 

 sport : people then should be very attentive. Those who look forward, 

 perhaps, may see the fox ; or the running of sheep, or the pursuit of crows, 

 may give them some tidings of him. Those who listen, may sometimes 

 take a hint which way he is gone, from the chattering of a magpie, or per- 

 haps be at a certainty from a distant halloo : nothing, that can give any 

 intelligence at such a time, is to be neglected. Gentlemen are too apt to 

 ride all together : were they to spread more, they might sometimes be of 

 service, particularly those who, from a knowledge of the sport, keep down 

 the wind : it would then be difficult for either hounds or fox to escape their 

 observation. 1 



You should, however, be cautious how you go to a halloo. The halloo 

 itself must, in a great measure, direct you ; and though it afford no certain 

 rule, yet you may frequently guess by it whether it may be depended on or 

 not. At the sowing time, when boys are bird-keeping, if you be not very 

 much on your guard, their halloo will sometimes deceive you. It is best, 

 when you are in doubt, to send on a whipper-in to know : the worst, then, 

 that can befall you, is the loss of a little time ; whereas, if you gallop away 

 with the hounds to the halloo, and are obliged to return, it is a chance if 

 they try for the scent afterwards : on the other hand, if, certain of the 

 halloo, you intend going to it, then the sooner you get to it the better. I 

 have been more angry with my huntsman for being slow at a time like this, 

 than for any other fault whatsoever. Huntsmen who are slow at getting 

 to a halloo, are void of common sense. 



They frequently commit another fault, by being in too great a hurry 

 when they get there. It is hardly credible how much our eagerness is apt, 

 at such a time, to mislead our judgment ; for instance, when we get to the 

 halloo, the first questions are natural enough Did you see the fox ? Which 

 way did he go ? The man points with his finger, perhaps, and then away 

 you all ride as fast as you can, and in such a hurry, that not one will stay 

 to hear the answer to the question which all were so ready to ask : the 



1 Those sportsmen only who wish to be of service to the hounds, and know how, should 

 ride wide of them. 



a 



