114 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



break off till he chooses that they should. When he goes by the side of 

 a cover which he does not intend to draw, his whippers-in must be in their 

 proper places ; for if he should ride up to a cover with them unawed, uncon- 

 trolled ; a cover where they have been used to find they must be slack 

 indeed, if they do not dash into it. It is, for that reason, better, not to 

 come into a cover always the same way : hounds, by not knowing what 

 is going forward, will be less likely to break off, and will draw more quietly. 

 I have seen hounds so flashy, that they would break away from the hunts- 

 man as soon as they saw a cover ; and I have seen the same hounds stop 

 when they got to the cover-side, and not go into it. It is want of proper 

 discipline which occasions faults like these. Hounds that are under such 

 command, as never to leave their huntsman till he encourage them to do 

 it, will then be so confident that they will not return to him again. 



Were fox-hounds to stop, like stop-hounds, at the smack of a whip, 

 they would not do their business the worse for it, and it would give you 

 many advantages, very essential to your sport ; such as, when they have 

 to wait under a cover-side ; when they run riot ; when they change scents ; 

 when a single hound is on before ; and when a fox is headed back into a 

 cover. Hounds that are not under good command, subject you to many 

 inconveniences ; and you may, at times, be obliged to go out of your way, 

 or be made to draw a cover against your will. A famous pack of hounds 

 in my neighbourhood, I mean the late Lord C- n's, 1 had no fault but 

 what had its rise from bad management : nor is it possible to do anything 

 with a pack of fox-hounds, unless they be obedient : they should both love 

 and fear the huntsman : they should fear him much, yet they should love 

 him more. Without doubt, hounds would do more for the huntsman, if 

 they loved him better. Dogs that are constantly with their masters, 

 acquire a wonderful deal of penetration, and much may be done through 

 the medium of their affections. I attribute the extraordinary sagacity 

 of the buck-hound to the manner in which he is treated : he is the constant 

 companion of his instructor and benefactor ; the man whom he was first 

 taught to fear, and has since learned to love. Ought we to wonder that 

 he should be obedient to him ? Yet who can view without surprise, tli :> 

 hounds and the deer amusing themselves familiarly together upon the 

 same lawn ; living, as it were, in the most friendly intercourse ; and know 

 that a word from the keeper will dissolve the amity ? The obedient dog,. < 

 gentle when unprovoked, flies to the well-known summons : how changed 

 from what he was ! Roused from his peaceful state, and cheered by his 

 master's voice, he is now urged on with a relentless fury, that only death 

 can satisfy the death of the very deer he is encouraged to pursue ; and 

 which the various scents that cross him in his way cannot tempt him to 

 forsake. The business of the day over, see him follow, careless and con- 

 * 1 Lord Castlehaven, who occupied Grovely House, Dorset, as a hunting box. 



