THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



termed throaty. There are, however, numerous exceptions to 

 this rule, as some of the best hounds England ever saw have 

 been throaty; and althouoh I am aware that one individual 

 instance will prove neither the rule nor its exception, I can 

 mention Mr. Meynell's famous stallion hound, Guzman, who^ 

 although throaty, was as good a foxhound as ever man 

 hallooed to, and the sire of many good ones. I agree with 

 Beckford that the stern of a foxhound should be thick and 

 moderately brushy ; and, if well carried, it is a great orna- 

 ment to him ; but there is one part of it which his owner 

 likes to see nearly deprived of its covering, and that is its tip, 

 which, when in that state, is an infallible proof of his being 

 a good and not a slack drawer of covers, nor shy of facing the 

 strongest of them in chase. 



' But to return to breedinof the foxhound. In the breeding: 

 of some animals, beauty of shape is often dependent on the 

 caprice of fashion, or the peculiar taste of the breeder ; but in 

 the breeding of hounds no such latitude can be given ; for here 

 beauty, or true symmetry of shape, is alone in reference to 

 utility, and adaptation of parts to the puiyoses to which they are 

 to he applied. Yet the breeder of foxhounds has one point 

 further to go ; he must, as I have already said, guard against 

 propensities which run in the blood of those animals, perhaps 

 stronger than their good qualities do, and will, sooner or later, 

 break out in their work, if they really exist. In the election, 

 then, of a dog for a bitch, or a bitch for a dog, these matters 

 must be most attentively considered ; and no man should breed 

 from hounds of either sex that come under any or either of the 

 following denominations, viz., not of a tolerably docile sort, 

 but very difficult to be made to enter to their game ; or guilty 

 of any of the faults I have already enumerated ; and, above 

 all things, if found evidently deficient in nose. Good constitu- 

 tion should likewise be looked to carefully ; but I would not 

 reject a stallion hound, or a brood bitch, merely for being 

 slack drawers, or for not being always at the head in chase, 

 provided they were themselves well bred, of good form, and 

 true to the line in cover and out. 



' As to the proper combination of form, that must be self- 

 evident to the breeder of hounds. If a bitch is a little high 

 on her legs, or light, she should be put to a short-legged, strong 

 dog, and, of course, vice versa; if rather light in her tongue, 



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