A Day With the Belvoir Foxhounds 145 



he qualifies in all these particulars, then he must satisfy the ken- 

 nel huntsman as to his character, that is to say, he must be — 



Neither qiiarrelsome nor timid, 

 Neither slovenly nor too fastidious. 

 Neither a glutton nor a poor feeder. 

 Neither sulky nor quick-tempered. 

 Neither too meek nor disobedient. 



These are the qualifications of an up-to-date English fox- 

 hound. Whoever has attempted to breed or school a couple of 

 bird dogs, even from the same litter, and has succeeded in get- 

 ting them to work properly together, can imagine what it 

 means, perhaps, to produce a pack (160 hounds) that are as 

 like as so many peas in a pod, and that hunt together, and are 

 governed as one hound. Such in short is the status of the Bel- 

 voir hounds. 



Good as they are for their own particular neighbourhood 

 and country, these most perfect hounds could not be recom- 

 mended for the class of fox hunting they would meet with in 

 America. In their own country the Belvoir hounds, as a rule, 

 start, run into and kill a fox for every day's hunting in the 

 season. The different climatic conditions existing in America, 

 the difference also in the foxes and coverts, as explained in a 

 previous chapter, account for their failure in America. 



Capell is putting on his kennel coat, for he is impatient to 

 take us to see this year's entry as well as a few old favourite 

 dogs of his own breeding, that are doing so much in maintain- 

 ing and elevating the Belvoir standard. 



Belvoir Dexter, now in liis tenth season, and therefore bred 

 by Gillard and entered in his last season, comes crowding his 

 way through a cluster of his sons and grandsons standing at 

 the kennel door. Not every good hound has the ability to trans- 

 mit his good quahties. This is not the case with Belvoir Dex- 



