HARE-HUNTING. 771 



ous pursuit ; there are many accidents to which the success 

 of the field is obnoxious, and which, if the huntsman means 

 to come off with credit, he should always recollect, and be 

 prepared for it. It is not enough for him to choose his 

 hounds properly, to raise their courage with wholesome food, 

 and make them subject to control by discipline and exercise ; 

 he must also have presence of mind to observe the various 

 stratagems of the animal he is in actual pursuit of; that 

 every hare has lier particular play, and that this is occasioned 

 or changed according to the variation of the wind and wea- 

 ther, the weight of the air, the nature of the ground, and the 

 degrees of velocity with which she is pursued ; nor should he 

 be unmindful of the numerous causes she may meet with to 

 turn her out of her course, to quicken the speed, or to fur- 

 nish her with opportunities for new devices. When most 

 enraptured with the melody of the cry, and the expectation 

 of success, he should also notice the alteration of the soil, 

 the position of the wind, the speed with which she is driven, 

 how far she is before, to what place she tends, whether likely 

 to keep on forward, or to turn short behind ; whether she 

 has not been met by passengers, coursed by curs, inter- 

 cepted by sheep ; whether an approaching storm, a rising 

 wind, a sudden gleam of the sun, the going off of a frost, the 

 repetition of foiled ground, the decay of her own strength, 

 has not abated or altered the scent. 



There are other things worthy of remembrance, such as the 

 particular quality of each hound ; whether the present leaders 

 are not apt to overrun the scent ; which hounds are to be 

 depended upon in a highway, on the ploughed ground, or a 

 bare turf, or in an uncertain scent from the crossing of 

 fresh game, the taint of sheep, or being long upon the foil. 

 The strength of the hare will also make a difference ; nor 

 should the hounds be followed so closely, or be so loudly 



