THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



services, however good may be his nature. I will describe 

 him, first, in the words of a very old writer on those subjects, 

 and afterwards in those of Mr. Beck ford, when it Mall appear 

 that there is a strong resemblance in the portraits drawn by 

 each. " His head," says the former, " ought to be of middle 

 proportion, rather long than round ; his nostrils wide ; his 

 ears large: his back broad; the fillets great; the haunches 

 large ; the thighs well trussed ; the ham straight ; the tail 

 big near the reins, and slender towards the end ; the leg big ; 

 the sole of the foot dry, and formed like a fox's, with the 

 claws great." The latter says — " There are necessary points 

 in the shape of a hound which ought always to be attended 

 to ; for if he have not perfect symmetry, he will neither run 

 fast nor bear much work ; he has much to undergo, and 

 should have strength proportioned to it. Let his legs be as 

 straight as arrows ; his feet round, and not too large ; his 

 shoulders back ; his breast rather wide than narrow ; his chest 

 deep ; his back broad ; his head small ; his neck thin ; his 

 tail thick and brushy, and if he carry it well, so much the 

 better." Now the hound that would answer to either of these 

 descriptions would disgrace no man's kennel, and one re- 

 sembling the latter would be an ornament to it; but, with 

 regard to the former, it must be borne in mind that it is from 

 the pen of a sportsman who wrote a century and a half ago, 

 when, there is reason to believe, no animal in the form of the 

 present day was to be found in this or in any other country. 

 I am, however, disposed to think that there is much of the 

 real character of the foxhound in the description given by the 

 older waiter, such as the long, rather than round, head ; the 

 wide nostrils (Pliny says they should be fat, solid, and blunt), 

 and the dry, fox-like foot. The " boned back " appears to spoil 

 all, unless it means that gentle rise in the loins, wdiich man}^ 

 good judges approve of for hilly, and especially ploughed 

 countries, which " carry," as the term is, after a slight frost, 

 thereby adding much to the natural w^eight of the hound. 

 Beckford gives us the modern foxhound, and, in my opinion, 

 perfect, with the exception of the mention of one or two 

 material points. " His chest should be deep," he says, " and 

 his back broad " ; but he has omitted a point much thought of 

 by modern sportsmen, namely, tJie back ribs, which should also 

 be deep, as in a strong-bodied horse, of which we say, when 



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