THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



that defect may also be remedied by an opposite property in a 

 dog. Defects in legs and feet can only be remedied by such 

 means; and fortunate it' is for the owner of an otherwise 

 perfect and excellent bitch that such remedies are at hand. 

 Length and shortness of frame, when in excess, as well as 

 coarse points, are to be obviated and altered in the same way, 

 making allowance for the fact, that the laws of nature are not 

 invariable. Constitution can likewise be remedied by having 

 recourse to that which is good (and none so easily detected as 

 the dog's), and colour changed, if wished for. It is, in fact, 

 the judicious cross, as Beckford saj^s, that makes the pack com- 

 plete ; and it was the remark of that eminent sportsman of his 

 day, that he saw no reason why the breeding of hounds may 

 not improve till improvement can go no further. The question 

 may be asked, is not his prediction verified ? 



' But the act of crossing hounds, as, indeed, all other 

 animals, although never thoroughly divested of chance, is one 

 of more difficulty than most people would imagine, and one 

 which, by its results, would often baffle, if not puzzle, the 

 profoundest of our modern physiologists. I cannot go at length 

 into this intricate subject, but I have reason to know that great 

 mistakes have been made by masters of foxhounds in breeding 

 too much in-and-in from near affinities, instead of having re- 

 course to an alien cross. This was peculiarly apparent in two 

 packs of long standing which I could name, which were bred 

 too much in-and-in — one from a favourite bitch and her 

 produce, and the other from a dog hound and his produce. It 

 is asserted, and with truth, that a pack of foxhounds, to be 

 perfect, should have the appearance and character of being of 

 one family : but this expression is not to be taken in its literal 

 construction. It is in the conformity of their character and 

 appearance that they should bear a close resemblance to each 

 other, and not in their close consanguinity. In my own 

 kennel, indeed, I have been too partial to my own blood ; and 

 I reluctantly admit that, although I believe I may say my 

 hounds are unrivalled in fine form, I may trace a certain 

 degree of slackness to that cause. On the other hand, the rare 

 but valuable combination of dash and nose which has made 

 the pack of a certain Duke a match for the cold and somewhat 

 ungenial hills of Oxfordshire, are to be attributed to his hunts- 

 man — one of the best breeders of hounds of his day — going 



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