THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 437 



before the hounds, and of her former doubles, and he 

 will remark what point she makes to. All these ob- 

 servations will be of use should a long fault make his 

 assistance necessary ; and if the hare have headed back, 

 he will carefully observe whether she met any thing in 

 her course to turn her, or turned of her own accord. 

 When he casts his hounds, let him begin by making a 

 small circle ; if that will not do let him try a larger ; 

 he afterwards may be at liberty to persevere in any 

 cast he may judge most likely. As a hare generally 

 revisits her old haunts, and returns to the place where 

 she was first found, if the scent be quite gone, and the 

 hounds can no longer hunt, that is as likely a cast as 

 any to recover her. Let him remember this in all his 

 casts, that the hounds are not to follow his horse's 

 heels, nor are they to carry their heads high, and 

 noses in the air. At these times they must try for the 

 scent, or they will never find it, and he is either to 

 make his cast slow or quick, as he perceives his 

 hounds try, and as he perceives the scent is either 

 good or bad. 



" Let the huntsman prevent the hounds as much as 

 he can from chopping hares. When hounds are used 

 to it, a hare must be very wild, or very nimble, to es- 

 cape them. In a furzy country, hounds are apt to 

 chop hares, for it is the nature of these animals either 

 to leap up before the hounds come near them, and 

 steal away, as it is called, or else to lie close, till 

 they put their very noses upon them. Hedges, also, 

 are very dangerous ; if the huntsman beat the hedge 

 himself, which is the usual practice, the hounds are 

 always upon the watch, and a hare must have good 

 luck to escape them all. The best way to prevent it, 

 is to have the hedge well beaten at some distance be- 

 10 re the hounds. 



