THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 427 



hounds were afterwards at fault ; — you made your 

 cast with judgment, and lost no time. You now must 

 let them hunt ; with such a cold scent as this you can 

 do no good. They must do it all themselves. Lift 

 them now, and not a hound will stop again. Ha ! a 

 high road at such a time as this, when the tenderest- 

 nosed hound can hardly own the scent ! — Another 

 fault ? That man at work, then, has headed back the 

 fox. Huntsman ! cast not your hounds now, you see 

 they have overrun the scent ; have a little patience, 

 and let them, for once, try back. 



" We now must give them time : see where they 

 bend towards yonder furze brake; I wish he may 

 have stopped there. Mind that old hound, how he 

 dashes o'er the furze ; I think he winds him. Now 

 for a fresh entapis : — -Hark ! they halloo ! — Aye, there 

 he goes. 



" It is near over with him ; had the hounds caught 

 view he must have died. He will hardly reach the 

 cover ; — see how they gain upon him at every stroke ! 

 It is an admirable race ; yet the cover saves him. 



" Now be quiet, and he cannot escape us ; we have 

 the wind of the hounds and cannot be better 

 placed ; — how short he runs ! — he is now in the 

 very strongest part of the cover. What a crash ! 

 every hound is in, and every hound is running for 

 him. That was a quick turn ! — Again, another ! he's 

 put to his last shifts. Now Mischief is at his heels, 

 and death is not far off. Ha ! they all stop at once ; 

 all silent, and yet no earth is open. Listen ! — now 

 they are at him again. Did you hear that hound 

 catch view ? they had overrun the scent, and the fox 

 lain down behind them. Now Reynard look to your- 

 self. How quick they all give their tongues 1 Little 

 Dreadnought, how he works him ! How close Ven- 



