i io THE FOX 



in the text and in a note. Dandie Dinmont's last 

 hunt shows that the old school of fox-hunters could 

 be as enthusiastic as those of the present day. 



The change in the style of hunting, and the 

 rapidity with which a vermin-hunt grew to be re- 

 garded as a fashionable sport, made an immense 

 difference to the fox. 



It is not so much that foxhound packs are faster as 

 that they are hunted more quickly. In an old book 

 published in 1805, 'The Sportsman's Cabinet,' there 

 is a very spirited plate after a picture by Reinagle of two 

 foxhounds racing on a hot scent. With the exception 

 of the fact that they are possibly a little more throaty 

 than would be approved of to-day, these hounds 

 would pass muster anywhere in the twentieth century. 



Judging by these and other notable pictures, 

 the hound was much the same a hundred years ago 

 as he is now. The fact is that the pace of a pack 

 of hounds depends much upon the man who hunts 

 them. A foxhound left too much to himself will 

 potter, hover and rejoice over the scent almost as 

 much as an otterhound. He will even wait for his 

 huntsman. The difference in demeanour between 

 hounds that have a slack man, or even one who is too 

 bigoted to the 'Let 'em alone' maxim, and those 

 that are hunted by a keen, sharp man, is wonderful. 



