FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



until it was attacked by an internal complaint 

 necessitating its being put down, and during the 

 entire nine seasons of mountain hunting it never 

 once suffered from sore feet. This hound's 

 feet were of the typical hare type, neat, compact, 

 and with pads as hard as iron. He was a wonder- 

 fully fast hound for his size, and ran just as well 

 in an enclosed country as he did on the roughest 

 hill ground. Considering the long record of the 

 utility of the hare-footed hounds in Lakeland as 

 well as other moorland countries, it seems sur- 

 prising that certain Masters should have found 

 them wanting in respect of their feet in ordinary 

 enclosed countries. All we can think is, that 

 those Masters must have got hold of hounds with 

 feet of very inferior hare type, for if the real 

 hare foot will stand nine or ten seasons on the 

 Lakeland fells, it will stand an equal if not longer 

 term of service in any other hunting country 

 in Great Britain. 



Looking at a pack of fell hounds, a hunting 

 man from the Midlands would probably consider 

 them a very unlevel lot. They certainly do 

 vary in size to some extent, and are not so sorty 

 looking as those in more swagger establishments, 

 but they possess nose, cry, pace, and stamina, 

 and are determined fox catchers as their long 

 record in the fell country amply proves. In a 

 riding country, a level lot of hounds of more or 

 less equal pace are desirable. Hounds can 

 always beat horses on a good scenting day, but 

 on the fells it does not matter how fast hounds 

 travel, in fact the faster the better, for it is im- 

 possible to ride to them, the field being content 

 to watch the run from some convenient vantage 

 point. 



As previously mentioned, the fell type of 



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