NIMROD'S NORTHERN TOUR. 133 



Again —if a fox gets a little start of hounds, out of cover, the circum- 

 stance itself is more in favour of a run than when he is drawn up to in 

 his kennel, and breaks with the pack at his brush. With the present 

 greyhound-like speed of hounds, and with even a tolerable scent, he is 

 soon driven from his point ; runs short or gets into a drain ; or else is 

 run into in the first ten minutes to the great disappointment of the field, 

 particularly where foxes are scarce. But with all my admiration of 

 Beckford, he was evidently a mobber of foxes, and such by his own 

 showing-. '* A fair sportsman," says he, " and a foolish sportsman, are 

 synonymous. Sport is but a secondary consideration with a true fox- 

 hunter ; the first is, the killing of the fox. I confess, I esteem blood 

 so necessary to a pack of fox- hounds, that, with regard to myself, I 

 always return home better pleased with an indifferent chase, with death 

 at the end of it, than with the best chase possible, if it ends with the 

 loss of the fox." My sentiments on the subject of blood have been so 

 often before the public, that it is unnecessary to repeat them here, but 

 they are not in accordance with Mr. Beckford's. 



Although the finding a fox handsomely is no light accomplishment in 

 a huntsman, it is in the various difficulties which occur in the chase that 

 his ability is chiefly displayed. In Williamson's country these difficulties 

 abound. It is much stained by sheep, and infested by sheep dogs; it 

 contains every variation of soil — some very good, some very bad, each 

 perhaps in the space of a mile; and the frequent strips of plantations 

 cause foxes to run short. From the numerous covers, he is also liable 

 to change. With these difficulties, however, Williamson contends with 

 a master hand. His approach to his hounds, when at fault, pleased me 

 much. He trots up to them with an anxious but scrutinizing eye, and 

 after a rapid glance at what they are doing, pulls up his horse, dead, and 



