116 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



to be chastised by the whipper-in, after he himself is gone on with the pack ; 

 the punishment over, let him again encourage the hound to come to him. 

 Hounds that are riotous in cover, and will not come off readily to the 

 huntsman's halloo, should be flogged in the cover, rather than out of it : 

 treated in this manner, you will not find any difficulty in getting your 

 hounds off ; otherwise, they will soon find that the cover will save them ; 

 from whence they will have more sense, when they have committed an 

 offence, than to come to receive punishment. A favourite hound, that 

 has acquired a habit of staying back in large covers, had better not be taken 

 into them. 



I am more particular than I otherwise should have been, upon a suppo- 

 sition that your hounds draw ill ; however, you need not observe all the 

 cautions that I have given, unless your hounds require them. 



Some art may be necessary, to make the most of the country that you 

 hunt. I would advise you not to draw the covers near your house, while 

 you can find elsewhere : it will make them certain places to find in when 

 you go out late, or may otherwise be in want of them : for the same reason, 

 I would advise you not to hunt those covers late in the season : they should 

 not be much disturbed after Christmas : foxes will then resort to them ; 

 will breed there ; and you can preserve them with little trouble. This 

 relates to the good management of a pack of hounds, which is a business 

 distinct from hunting them. 1 



Though a huntsman ought to be as silent as possible at going into a 

 cover, he cannot be too noisy at coming out of it again ; and, if at any 

 time he should turn back suddenly, let him give as much notice of it as he 

 can to his hounds, or he will leave many behind him ; and, should he turn 

 down the wind, he may see no more of them. 



I should be sorry that the silence of my huntsman should proceed 

 from either of the following causes : A huntsman that I once knew (who, 

 by the bye, I believe, is at this time a drummer in a marching regiment) 

 went out one morning so very drunk, that he got off his horse in the midst 

 of a thick cover, laid himself down, and went to sleep : he was lost ; nobody 

 knew what was become of him ; and he was at last found in the situation 

 that I have just described. He had, however, great good luck on his side ; 

 for, at the very instant he was found, a fox was halloo'd ; upon which he 

 mounted his horse, rode desperately, killed his fox handsomely, and was 

 forgiven. 



I remember another huntsman silent from a different cause : this 

 was a sulky one. Things did not go on to please him : he therefore alighted 



1 Breeding, feeding, steadying, drafting, and placing, are the essential parts of fox- 

 hunting ; when these are properly attended to, the hounds will require but little assistance 

 from the huntsman, whose chief business then will be to keep with them, say little, and do 

 nothing. 



