LETTER XXIII 



I TOLD you, I believe, at the beginning of our correspondence, that 

 I disliked bag-foxes : I shall now tell you what my objections to 

 them are : the scent of them is different from that of other foxes : it 

 is too good, and makes hounds idle ; besides, in the manner in which they 

 generally are turned out, it makes hounds very wild : they seldom fail 

 to know what you are going about before you begin ; and, if often used 

 to hunt bag-foxes, will become riotous enough to run anything. A fox 

 that has been confined long in a small place, and carried out afterwards 

 in a sack, many miles perhaps, his own ordure hanging about him, must 

 needs stink extravagantly. You are also to add to this account, that 

 he most probably is weakened for want of his natural food and usual exer- 

 cise ; his spirit broken by despair, and his limbs stiffened by confinement : 

 he then is turned out in open ground, without any point to go to. He 

 runs down the wind, it is true ; but he is so much at a loss all the while, 

 that he loses a deal of time, in not knowing what to do ; while the hounds, 

 who have no occasion to hunt, pursue as closely as if they were tied to 

 him. I remember once to have hunted a bag-fox with a gentleman, who, 

 not thinking these advantages enough, poured a whole bottle of aniseed 

 on the fox's back. I cannot say that I could have hunted the fox, but 

 I assure you I could very easily have hunted the aniseed. Is it to be 

 expected, that the same hounds will have patience to hunt a cold scent the 

 next day o'er greasy fallows, through flocks of sheep, or on stony roads ? 

 However capable they may be of doing it, I should much doubt their 

 giving themselves the trouble. If, notwithstanding these objections, 

 you still choose to turn one out, turn him into a small cover ; give him 

 what time you judge necessary, and lay on your hounds as quietly as you 

 can ; and, if it be possible, let them think they find him. If you turn 

 out a fox for blood, I should, in that case, prefer the turning him into a 

 large cover, first drawing it well, to prevent a change. The hounds should 

 then find him themselves ; and the sooner he is killed the better. Fif- 

 teen or twenty minutes is as long as I should ever wish a bag-fox to run, 

 that is designed for blood : the hounds should then go home. 



Bag-foxes always run down the wind : such sportsmen, therefore, 

 as choose to turn them out, may at the same time choose what country 

 they shall run. Foxes that are found, do not follow this rule invariably. 

 Strong earths, and large covers, are great inducements ; and it is no incon- 



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