THE BELVOIR HUNT. 13 



IS the honour due of being the primogenitor 

 of the foxhound. Then again there are 

 patrons of the bull-dog tribe, who unfurl 

 their banners on behalf of their proteges 

 with pertinaceous eloquence, emulating the 

 holding characteristics of the species they 

 admire. I think all masters of hounds and 

 huntsmen of the present day will agree with 

 me that such assumptions are poetical phan- 

 tasies. Nevertheless, there must have been 

 some animal of the canine race to commence 

 the order with, and it is quite as reasonable 

 to apply the characteristic of the blood- 

 hound ; indeed, very much more so than to 

 anything bearing resemblance to the sheep- 

 dog or bull-dog of modern days. Marvel- 

 lous as it appears that the gigantic mastiff 

 should be of the same species as the 

 diminutive terrier, yet so it is ; and this 

 proclaims most unequivocally to what an 

 extraordinary degree the canine race is 

 regulated when under the influences of 



