THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 213 



ground, five minutes after being found, if he could." 

 Why, if he would not, wiiere is the use of an earth- 

 stopper ? It would have been far more remarkable, 

 had he attempted to go to ground at the end oi fifttj 

 minutes, as a fox, when thus heated, will frequently 

 refuse an open earth ; but, when first found, his point is 

 almost invariably to the head of earths, which, of course, 

 are stopped. It maij, very probably, be imagined, if not 

 noticed, that the scent was good ; for it is no impro- 

 bable conclusion, relating to a run of sixteen miles ; but 

 tliatafux must, of course, be aware of this circumstance, 

 is to say, that, " Who drives fat oxen, must himself be 

 fat." 



It may be fact within the experience of Mr. Smith, 

 ^^ that on many days, v/hen hounds cannot find, and on 

 which days the scent has been proved to be capital, 

 that foxes are under ground ;" though I am at a loss 

 to guess how he reconciles this opinion with that given 

 in his chapter on Earth-stopping, wherein he says, that 

 " most foxes almost always laij under ground, in had 

 iveather particidarly ;' and I must say, that, according 

 to all I have ever heard or seen, blank days have 

 been only to be apprehended in the worst weather; 

 after blustering nights, succeeded by bad mornings, 

 when there has been little chance of a fox having en- 

 countered the roughness of the night, and as little pros- 

 pect of sport, if found. The idea of his being above 

 ground, in bad scenting weather, and out of the way, in 

 good, is truly laughable to us, because, in our country, 



