116 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



and very often can run hard, when I hear after- 

 wards the foxhounds have not been able to run 

 a yard on the same day. A hare — at least one 

 of our high-country hares — takes a lot of killing, 

 so much happens in the run to help the hunted 

 hare : fresh hares or rabbits jumping up ; meeting 

 with the line of a disturbed fox ; the hare run- 

 ning down the hard road, and then crossing and 

 recrossing its own foiled ground or the stale 

 line of others ; in fact a high-country hare 

 takes an immense deal of killing after January 

 comes in. 



" Their habits when hunted are very curious. 

 The run hare generally returns to where she was 

 found some time during the run, but a good old 

 hare, after returning, will go the same round 

 again, or take quite an opposite course, even 

 crossing small rivers and swimming drains ; I 

 have seen several hares swim a drain when hard 

 pressed. Really a hare stands a great chance of 

 beating a pack of beagles in our country, but 

 we managed to kill several hares last season 

 after very fine, long runs, seldom getting on killing 

 terms with them under an hour, and generally 

 taking two hours. Twice last season I have tired 

 an old hunter in good condition till he could 

 only raise a trot. You can give a horse a good 

 tiring in a day's beagling. 



" I have noticed how hares leave a different 

 scent behind them, and how when the hounds 

 could only run moderately after one hare, with 

 the next one they can run like steam. If it is 

 a hard job to tell a run fox, and requires a good 

 man to do so, it takes a very good man to dis- 

 tinguish a run hare for certain, if two or three 

 others are about. That sometimes happens to us, 



