THE SEASON OP THE YEAE. 85 



everyone with eyes, who has seen a fox who has not been 

 that minute killed given to hounds. They will hardly 

 look at him. More than once I have seen one fox 

 chopped just as another went away, and the dead fox 

 brought on by a whipper-in, and eventually given to the 

 hounds after they had lost the other ; but they have in 

 each case declined to eat him. Yet, if they kill their fox 

 in a thick and inaccessible place, if huntsman or whip 

 does not look sharp in getting to them, very little fox 

 will he find. This is partly, at all events, education ; for 

 if a huntsman gives a fox to the hounds in a slack and 

 careless manner, they will deal with him in a similar spirit, 

 hardly tearing him to pieces, and they will probably hunt 

 their fox in a style that will save the huntsman the 

 trouble of giving them many foxes to break up. The 

 closing scene should be above all others one of spirit ; 

 if hounds are accustomed to leave off winners, they will 

 ignore the possibility of being beaten, and persevere 

 till success crowns their efforts. When hounds are not 

 in earnest, how can success be reasonably expected ? 

 When they are so, and backed by a huntsman with a 

 head on his shoulders, not a mere cap-block, it is odds 

 against bold Reynard. Hounds who have marked their 

 fox to ground are pretty well satisfied ; they will go home 

 cheerily, as knowing that they have done their "possible." 

 If he always beat them by going to ground, it would be 

 another thing. No one can be more heartily opposed to 

 the murder of foxes than I am, but to keep hounds in 

 good heart they must kill ; and I should say a fox for 

 every three times that a pack goes out is a fair allowance, 

 and a fox per week, supposing each pack to hunt two 

 days in the week, not a bit too liberal a one. A fox a 

 month is the common average with some packs that I 



