ELK HUNTING 



grass and galloped a bare patch of patna in full view of 

 the whole field, and in spite of voice and horn not a hound 

 would open on his line. It is pace that kills more than 

 anything, and no elk can stand up against it. Hunt a stag 

 or hind slowly, with a pottering lot of line-hunters, and 

 they will run for three and a half hours. This I have 

 generally found to be the limit of endurance, if not much 

 pressed ; and if he is not accounted for by then, he will 

 oftener than not live to run another day. A fast pack that 

 will drive is very killing, and if added thereto one has two 

 or three couple of Norfolk lurchers or English half-breds 

 to nip the heels of a stubborn fighting stag, so much the 

 better, for he must be kept moving. 



These half-breds should have a strong strain of English 

 blood in them, chiefly collie, pointer, retriever, or setter crosses, 

 with a little hound or terrier strain. The prick-eared, bob- 

 tailed pariah of ruddy or ginger hue I have no use for. 1 

 have enjoyed excellent sport with the best of sportsmen who 

 have employed such dogs as I name, but to my mind they 

 are apt to spoil sport. When scent is bad they will often, 

 after the first burst, sit up and howl " lost-dog," and so 

 handicap your staunch hounds who are carefully working out 

 the line ; and when scent is good they are not wanted at all, 

 for your finders and half-breds will drive the stag to bay. 



Pariah packs pure and simple afford me no sport com- 

 pared with hounds. To the hunter the great charm of all 

 hunting is the " cry of his hounds," and what is there more 

 thrilling than the opening burst of a pack of English 

 hounds proclaiming a find amongst the forest-clad hills of 

 the uplands of Ceylon ! The master recognises the note 

 of some favourite and the answering cry of another, and 

 then the grand chorus of music, as the whole pack gathers 

 on a burning scent, is something to live for. 



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