THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 157 



eighteen or twenty couples are enough for any but very 

 large woodlands ; they should spread well, so as to draw 

 closely every quarter, but it is useless to think of hurry- 

 ing over, or, as it is termed, letting them run through 

 more than a certain portion at once. Nothing is more 

 disheartening to fox preservers, and gamekeepers, than 

 drawing over their foxes ; there are some days when a 

 fox will find himself, but there are as many others on 

 which he will wait to be almost whipped out of his ken- 

 nel. It is the huntsman's duty to draw every covert, to 

 the full satisfaction of the proprietor; and it is better, 

 also, to take instructions quietly communicated by the 

 parties authorized to offer them, as to the way in which 

 it should be drawn. Thus, no plausible pretext will be left 

 to account for a blank. When the huntsman is drawing 

 one half, or division, of the covert, it is the duty of the 

 whippers-in to stop all stragglers from the main body, 

 and keep them, if possible, within the prescribed boun- 

 dary ; more especially where foxes are numerous, as it is 

 most important to get the whole pack settled, at first, to 

 one scent : but this exercise of authority requires judg- 

 ment, and any interference, on the part of a novice, or 

 any one unacquainted with the hounds, might be, as 

 in most cases, highly impoHtic. A couple or two, or a 

 single hound, may have come across and struck upon the 

 scent of a fox which has shifted, unseen, across a ride. 

 The scent in the stuff is too stale for them fi'eely to own. 



