126 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



The keeping of hounds clean and healthy, and bringing them into the 

 field in their fullest vigour, is the excellence of a good kennel-huntsman ; 1 

 if, besides this, he make his hounds both love and fear him ; if he be active, 

 And press them on while the scent is good, always aiming to keep as near 

 the fox as he can ; if, when his hounds are at fault, he makes his cast with 

 judgment, not casting the wrong way first, and only blundering upon the 

 right at last, as many do ; if, added to this, he be patient and persevering, 

 never giving up a fox while there remains a chance of killing him he then 

 is a perfect huntsman. 



Did I not know your love of this diversion, I should think, by this time, 

 that I must have tired you completely. You are not singular, however, in 

 your partiality to it ; for, to show you the effect which fox-hunting has on 

 those who are really fond of it, I must tell you what happened to me not 

 long ago : My hounds, in running a fox, crossed the great Western road, 

 where I met a gentleman travelling on horseback, his servant, with a port- 

 manteau, following him. He no sooner saw the hounds, than he rode up 

 to me with the greatest eagerness. ' Sir,' said he, ' are you after a fox ? ' 

 When I told him that we were, he immediately stuck spurs to his horse, 

 took a monstrous leap, and never quitted us any more till the fox was killed. 

 I suppose, had I said that we were after a hare, my gentleman would have 

 pursued his journey. 



1 To make the most of a pack of hounds, and bring them into the field in their fullest 

 vigour, is 'an excellence that huntsmen are very deficient in. To obtain a knowledge of the 

 different constitutions of so many animals, requires more discernment than most of them are 

 endowed with. To apply that knowledge, by making separate drafts when they feed them 

 would also take up more time than they choose to bestow : hence it is that they generally are 

 fed all together : they may be well fed, but I much doubt whether they are ever made the 

 most of ; such as require to be fed a little at a time, and often, must, I believe, be contented 

 with a little only. Few huntsmen seem fond of their hounds : one reason of it, perhaps, may 

 be, that they are paid for looking after them. 



