14 Recollections of the Vine H^int. 



compared with the consumption of country caused by 

 the practice of drawing very late In the day, which, In 

 some hunts, Is now carried to an excess. After a fox has 

 been killed between two and three o'clock with a con- 

 siderable run, hounds are kept drawing for another till 

 it is nearly dark : long lines of covers are stained, and 

 rendered useless for some weeks ; and at last, perhaps, 

 a good fox is moved when there is not light enough 

 to do anything with him. I do not mean to say that 

 this Is wrong (provided always that the country is suf- 

 ficiently large and well stocked to bear It without 

 producing blanks), any more than I say that It is 

 wrong to meet at eleven o'clock, in conformity to 

 modern habits ; I am only pointing out the Inevitable 

 effects of these changes. The custom of having a 

 second horse out, scarcely ever practised In my youth, 

 may save those animals from being Injured by such 

 long days ; while I believe that foxhounds in good 

 condition will endure almost any amount of work to 

 which they are accustomed without suffering. They 

 will only require longer rest before they hunt again, 

 and a more numerous pack must be kept. But the 

 consumption of country caused by this late drawing 

 is undeniable ; it will be as if the pack hunted an ad- 

 ditional day in the week ; and, taking both these 

 changes into account, I believe that a pack of fox- 

 hounds now require twice as much country, and at 

 least three times as many foxes, as our ancestors 

 found necessary for the same number of hunting 

 days. 



To these speculations upon former times I can add 

 one fact which may be interesting to the naturalist. 

 I believe that the martin-cat became extinct in the 



