132 EEMIXISCENCES OF A SPORTSilAX. 



incalculable injury to his crops, more particularly so to 

 the corn when in the young blade. We, accordingly, 

 entered upon the adventure, which afforded us ad- 

 mirable sport, and in the course of three successive 

 days, with double-barrelled guns, we managed to kill 

 upwards of six dozen of the furry nuisances ; but the 

 most remarkable fact connected with this event was, 

 that upon opening a dozen of the above animals Avith a 

 view to paunch them, to render them lighter to carry, 

 in no less than ten cases out of twelve, I was surprised 

 to discover the internal organs affected with a peculiarly 

 looking parasitical worm of a white complexion, which 

 adhered with some degree of tenacity, to the exterior 

 surfaces of the liver, spleen, paunches, and intestines 

 of the rabbits. The form of this worm was similar to 

 that of a small leech when quite contracted. I counted 

 fifteen of these unseemly looking vermin in the ventral 

 portions of one single rabbit." '* 



Some persons course rabbits with small beagles. I 

 once went out in my younger days, on foot, with a pack 

 of rabbit beagles, belonging to some farmer in Dorset- 

 shire ; the meet was on a large furze common, and most 

 of the burrows had been stopped up during the night. 

 We had excellent sport, and killed a considerable num- 

 ber of rabbits. We had about ten couples of these 

 handsome little hounds, and it was quite gratifying to 

 see how they stuck to the scent of a rabbit which 

 they had started, although in the chase, which generally 

 lasted ten or twelve minutes, other rabbits had crossed 



* There was a field of -white turnips growing on the confines of the 

 lea ; might not this cii-cnmstanee have had some effect on the consti- 

 tutional system of the rabbits. They were not emaciated, or in bad 

 condition. 



