OF TUFTING. 67 



A great measure of success has attended this 

 change of poHcy. We have heard much of the 

 wonderful luck in quick finds and quick getting 

 away of the deer which we have seen of late. It 

 has not all been luck, the quick finds have been due 

 to skilful harbouring, and the quick getting away to 

 the pressure put on the stag at once by some of 

 the fastest and best hounds in the pack. 



The qualities for which a tufter is chosen now 

 are, to some extent, the same as before. Obedience 

 is essential ; a hound, however good, who cannot be 

 stopped by a rate is useless as a tufter. He must, 

 of course, have a good nose, with pace and dash, 

 and he must be keen at his work, but above all he 

 must fling his tongue the whole way. This is very 

 difficult, for on hot days in August and September 

 under thick covert, especially where there is an 

 undergrowth of bracken, the heat is so great that 

 almost any hound will run mute. 



On one occasion under a broiling August sun 

 tufters ran a stag into a big patch of fern on the 

 side of Hartford Cleeve. He was seen not to go on, 

 but hounds could make nothing of it, and one by one 

 came back with their tongues lolling out. The whip 

 dismounted, and went down to help them and induce 

 them to try again. He disappeared into the thick 

 bracken, which was in places over his head, but he 

 soon came back, quite unable to face the stifling 

 heat underneath. 



Thick, tall bracken with its strong, hard stems 



F 2 



