190 iFACT AGAINST FICTION. 



cover. Then, in a space of small dimensions, a 

 congregated lot of horsemen may head a good fox, 

 and by heading him send him back into the mouths 

 of the hounds, thus at once precluding all chance of 

 a run. 



In drawing Shelton Gorse, I have viewed a fox 

 among my hounds before a hound had spoken to 

 him, although their feathering sterns told me of his 

 presence ; and in such a case I held my tongue, for 

 this reason. The fox was as cool and collected as 

 a man in the face of imminent danger might be ; 

 his ears were up, his pace creeping and slow, and 

 his eyes regarding the shake of every bit of furze ; 

 he was, in fact, doing his best to keep himself safe 

 and be ready for a start. To have halloed him, 

 or touched my horn, would have taken up his 

 attention ; and he had need of all his caution, with 

 forty mouths close around him, ready to fasten on 

 his limbs. I have seen a fox thus creeping about a 

 gorse cover in the midst of the hounds^ with so 

 little scent, that a low whimper from an occasional 

 hound was all that testified to his presence ; tlien, 

 ivhen he got the chance to break, instead of there 

 being no scent, the scent lay breast high. 



It is very difticult to confine all the remarks 



