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that no matter how handled is expected to function when 

 required. In thinldng of and " plajdng to the gallery," 

 it is perhaps only natural that huntsmen should endeavour 

 by their own skill to acquire fame for themselves and 

 forget what is due to the pack. To encourage the right 

 principle, we ought, therefore, in bestowing praise to 

 extol the performances of the pack and not the man 

 who handled it. I fear we are often guilty of ignoring 

 hounds' efforts and giving all credit to the man, so that 

 we are more or less to blame for those huntsmen who are 

 inclined to place themselves first. 



In a fashionable country with a large number of people 

 all eager to be near the front, it is not an easy matter to 

 see exactly what hounds are doing, and it is safe to say 

 that a large proportion of the crowd never try to watch 

 them. It is therefore rather presumptuous of these 

 people to comment favourably or otherwise on the tactics 

 a huntsman considers necessary to employ, and which he 

 thinks the situation demands. 



Whether a huntsman is heaven born or one with only 

 a very limited knowledge of hunting, he is the sole 

 person able to form a correct estimate of what happens 

 in the course of a run, and we must leave the matter in 

 his hands. He knows his hounds — we don't — and at a 

 check he should know exactly where scent failed. 



Hunting hounds is a one-man job, so that he who is 

 entrusted with the horn should be left entirely alone and 

 allowed to work out all problems that come before him 

 according to his rights. None of the field would be at 

 all likely to offer a huntsman advice, but even murmurs 

 carry a long way to a quick ear, and a sensitive man can 

 feel the criticism in an unspoken word. Authorities on 

 the subject deny animals any reasoning power, but many 

 of those with much practical experience think otherwise. 



