THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



act of following and overtakinoj a hound over open ground, to 

 flog him. A good whipper-in, however, will always hit a 

 hound first, and rate him afterw^ards, and be able to hit him 

 hard when occasion requires it. I deprecate the very idea of 

 wanton cruelty towards any animal, but a riotous foxhounc 

 must not be trifled with, if he is to be cured, without the 

 halter, of his evil ways : let the lash, then, fall heavily when 

 necessary, but at no other times. Above all, a whipper-in 

 must have an eye to skirters ; skirting is the least pardonable 

 fault hounds can possess, because they are then deviating from 

 their nature, and have not tlie force of impulse to plead, which 

 those which run riot after hares or deer have. Great caution, 

 however, is necessary in the use of the whip to a young hound 

 when on a scent. He may he 'right, in which case he may 

 never forget the check he receives, and be slack in his work 

 for the rest of his life. As study precedes practice, and fits us 

 for it, let me call your attention to the following essential 

 points, and remember that we should not be content with 

 mediocrity when perfection can be obtained : 



' You are about to take upon yourself a laborious and 

 difficult task, that of huntsman to your own pack, in a country 

 frequented by many of the first sportsmen of the day. I 

 wish you may acquit yourself well ; but recollect what Smollett 

 says of historians — '•' that the world has been able to produce 

 but six good ones ! " and it may be said of a huntsman that, 

 in all his operations, he has not only to exercise his mental 

 faculties at every step he goes, when unravelling the intricacies 

 of the chase, but actually to tread a path nearly unknown to 

 human reason. Your only chance to shine is, by availing 

 yourself of your experience of what you have found to be 

 good in others ; to attend to the suggestions of superior judg- 

 ment on points on which you are doubtful ; and to abandon 

 all popular but erroneous notions of the old school. By 

 doing this, I doubt not but the disciple will soon get beyond 

 his master. 



' I now call your attention to a few essential points. Your 

 kennel is a sound one ; you need be under no apprehension 

 respecting kennel lameness, about which so much has been 

 said and written, and all to little purpose. The whole secret 

 is this — if the subsoil of the ground on which your kennel is 

 built is damp, your hounds will be liable to rheumatism, and 



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