142 THE NOBLE SCIENCE, 



down wind. You incur a terrible risk of eatclnng a fox 

 nappin^^, which is an easier thing to do than " to catch 

 a weasel asleep ;" and, moreover, it is ten to one that 

 you force a fox, if not chopped, to break against his 

 inclination.'''' I saw a beautiful find completely spoiled 

 by this circumstance alone, towards the end of last year 

 with a celebrated pack. With the idea of forcing a fox 

 into a particular line of country, the hounds were thrown 

 up wind, into a spinney : a certain find. By dint of 

 noise, the fox was unkennelled without accident ; and 

 finding it impossible to face the pack and field in his 

 rear, was compelled to make a feint forward, in the eye 

 of an equinoctial gale ; but, after half a mile of this 

 fun, he, of course, took the first opportunity of making 

 a retrograde movement, leading a gallant chase for miles 

 down wind. The impulse of a pack, however, when 

 enjoying a burst up wind, close to their fox, is that of 

 " Vestigia nulla retrorsum." On this occasion, they 

 never recovered the first check ; and, although they had 

 a good run, the fox found security in the distant wood- 

 land of the adjoining country, and the day was wanthig 

 that satisfactory account of him, which must have been 

 the result, had a contrary course been pursued in 

 drawing. In this, as in many other things, " Ce n'est 

 que ]q premier iKis qui coute." 



We are all, of course, anxious enough to get away on 



* It has been before remarked, that " if he will go, he will"— it is difficult 

 to change the ])redetermined line of a fox, but easy enough to force him 

 to break at a different point to that which he would spontaneously have 

 chosen. 



