The Chase of the Hare 207 



any and every form, the fox proved, however, to show such 

 good sport, that, for the tmie at least, it quite turned the heads 

 of all the followers of the chase. Hare hunting was severely 

 affected by this invasion, which swept the country after the 

 fashion of all new brooms. 



Hare hunting, however, had been in existence too long to 

 give way entirely to the new order of things. It has not only 

 survived, but comes up with a stronger army of supporters 

 at the present time than it had even in its most palmy days. 

 There is more dash and drive and hard riding to foxhounds. 

 But the sportsman whose hunting instincts outweigh his taste 

 for fast riding, enjoys best of all to see a hard working, melo- 

 dious pack of harriers ciphering on a problem that is as frac- 

 tions to addition, compared with the task that Reynard puts 

 up as a puzzle to foxhounds. 



Hare hunting in England may be said to be conducted by 

 two different schools. 



First, the "old school" practitioners who seek to preserve 

 the more ancient customs and traditions of hare hunting, and 

 stick to the so-called "pure-bred English harriers," a rather 

 slow and laborious hound with a splendid nose, a free tongue, 

 and a most melodious voice. ( I believe this hound was origin- 

 ally a cross-bred animal between the Southern hound and the 

 beagle, the Southern hound liimself being an extraction of the 

 bloodhound.) Harriers hunt up to their game in a methodical 

 and workmanlike manner. If they account for one, or at the 

 most, two hares for a day's sport, it is all that is required. 



The old school followers of the chase of puss say that to 

 kill a hare in less than about an hour is taking undue advan- 

 tage, and a pack of hounds that does this should be reduced 

 in size. The old English harrier, therefore, is greatly in favour 

 \Wth this school, which claims that the true gospel of hare hunt- 

 ing is to enable the game to work all her shifts and arts at dodg- 

 ing and circling and doubling. These hounds are from twelve 



