UPLAND SHOOTING. 157 



marked to a square yard, get away, owing to the conviction of 

 the pursuers that he was dead, after the ground had been beaten 

 to and fro by a brace of capital dogs, and trampled all over by 

 as many men ; and I should like to know what can be more pro- 

 voking than such a consummation. 



For Snipe shooting, the most effective party that 1 can con- 

 ceive, will consist of two men, provided that they are sufficiently 

 well acquainted each with the other's style of shooting and hunt- 

 ing dogs, to work well together, — and two dogs, both belonging 

 to and hunted by one man. In this case the sportsman can 

 hunt their dogs alternate days, he whose tum it is not to hunt 

 carefully abstaining from uttering a word, or making a gesture 

 to the dogs. 



This, of course, can be only done by two old sportsmen, who 

 know each the other's style of sporting, and will consent to 

 give and take mutually something. 



The advantage gained is this, that a brace of dogs, used to 

 one another, knowing one another's ways, and accustomed to 

 Avork and live together, will do twice as much, and five times 

 as good work, as a pair of strangers, jealous, and very likely 

 broken in to different styles of action. 



No two men hunt their dogs precisely alike, — and, conse- 

 quently, no two strange dogs, hunted by two different strange 

 men, can or will work harmoniously together. If each man in- 

 sists on hunting his own dog each day, the men will have bet- 

 ter sport by hunting singly. But, in my opinion, one man 

 wants a brace of dogs in tli.e field, — and yet a brace of dogs are 

 enough for two men. When the number exceeds two guns, 

 for Snipe shooting, by far the better way is to divide into two 

 parties, beating, if you please, in sight each of the other, and so 

 driving the birds backward and forward, — but not sufficiently 

 near to allow the dogs to mix, or become jealous. 



The difficulty of getting dogs accustomed to different styles 

 of sporting, to work well together, will be evident at once, if 

 we consider that one sportsman trains his dog to drop to shot, 

 where he is when the sliot is fired ; another, to come in before 



