THE BELVOIR HUNT. 15 



been celebrated from a very early period. 

 Grotius, Applanus,and Nemesianus, ancient 

 authors who treated on the chase, mention 

 the excellence of British dogs for hunting ; 

 yet there is much obscurity as to the kind 

 of dogs referred to. They are described 

 as being crooked, lean, coarse-haired and 

 heavy-eyed, which in some respects may 

 be applied to the bloodhound of modern 

 times, though that class is vastly improved ; 

 and if It be accepted that the foxhound is a 

 descendant from that race, the objectionable 

 characteristics of the original are most 

 happily exterminated. 



The learned Dr Johnson tells us that the 

 dogs used by the ancients did not pursue 

 their game by scent : in this he might have 

 been mistaken, for there is every reason 

 to suppose that they possessed some kind of 

 dogs which did, and that they used others 

 similar in their instincts to greyhounds. 

 The forests, thickets, and rou^h woodlands 



