GONE AWAY. 17 



hounds will often tell you how far they have carried 

 the line. 



If you see a sheep dog or cur dog running back 

 to where the hounds have thrown up, you may be 

 pretty sure he has run your fox. 



If once a fox turns down wind he rarely ever 

 turns up again. 



In hunting a fox, never be in a hurry and never 

 dawdle. Remember a fox is always moving. Make 

 up your mind what you have to do and do it 

 quickly and quietly, and always remember what 

 really is " forward," that is, what his point really is, 

 and from which he has been driven from some 

 cause or other, and which he is sure to make if 

 he possibly can. This I think is especially the 

 case in the spring, when there are travelling foxes, 

 also after a long frost or snow. 



Checks are brought about either by the scent 

 failing, by the fox having been headed and driven 

 off his line by something or other, by being run by 

 a dog, or by the field having ridden the pack off 

 the line. 



Let your hounds alone, and never cast them till 

 you see they cannot recover the line by themselves. 



When you do cast them, cast them well in front 

 of you. This is not so easy as it seems. Hounds 

 and huntsman must have great mutual confidence 

 in each other, and the huntsman must be free 

 from all pressure from behind. The late Lord 

 Willoughby de Broke and Tom Matthews had this 

 power over their hounds to an extent I have never 

 seen in others except old George Beers. On a good 



C 



