208 FRANK SCHLEY'S PARTRIDGE AND PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



at, as I had no trouble in making him retrieve a dead or 

 wounded bird after pointing it. 



Of such absolute importance do I consider staunchness, 

 that if I had a dog which possessed in an eminent degree 

 every other qualification but was unreliable in this respect 

 I would not give him Kennel room. I have frequently 

 heard men (who, to do them justice, were good shots,) say 

 that they did not care to have a dog stand any longer than 

 just to show that he had found; but I still say that when 

 I do not care to have a dog stand I will take up with a 

 Spaniel, for so long as I follow a Setter I want him to show 

 this most beautiful and convincing proof of his ancient and 

 royal blood. 



PACE. 



Pace is but another name for the speed which a dog ex- 

 hibits in beating his ground. It is in the highest degree 

 essential, because it saves the master both time and labor 

 in filling his bag. With a slow dog, the gun must either 

 follow all over a field or wait at the end of the beat till the 

 potterer has come up. Any one who has seen a fine, high- 

 couraged dog hunting at a slashing gallop, losing no time 

 over blank ground, but speeding on to the corner where 

 the bevy lies hid, and there finding his birds in half the 

 time his slower brother would consume, will fully appreci- 

 ate the difference in the two systems. In shooting- Pin- 

 nated Grouse upon the prairies we find a sport which, 

 more than any other upon this continent, resembles Eng- 

 lish Grouse-shooting; and here, from the wide range of 

 country to be beaten, we need pace to get over the ground. 

 The same may be said of Snipe, and Quail-shooting; and the 

 only case where a high rate of speed is undesirable is in 

 cover work. In hunting Woodcock and Ruffed Grouse the 

 dog must, as a rule, keep within shot of the gun. for be- 

 yond this he will be liable to be lost when standing, to say 

 nothing of utterly losing all shots at birds which rise wild, 

 and will not lie to point. U i > to a certain limit then, pace 



