MY FIRST HOUNDS. 37 



contretems or adverse fact, he should have twenty 

 couples of hounds and a second horse. It was always 

 iny endeavour to make the stag -hunt resemble a fox- 

 hunt as much as possible. I never stopped the pack 

 unless they had come into an early view of the deer, 

 nor refrained from making the hounds as resolute 

 at their work as possible ; to effect that, I always gave 

 them a deer that was killed in the chase, the same 

 as if they had killed a fox. The Avhole time that I 

 kept hounds almost all of them had by-names or 

 nicknames, when I chose to play with them in their 

 keimels or out at exercise. We often used to have 

 a game at romps, till they all learned my humour, 

 and were as sensible and as attached as parlour dogs. 

 I had in my stag-hunting kennel two hounds, that 

 came from Mr. Yillebois to me as puppies, named 

 Bachelor and Blunder. Both were good hounds, but 

 Blun(^er was superexcellent. From our games at 

 play I had taught Blunder to know Bachelor by name ; 

 my brother Moreton had aided in this ; and if, in 

 going to the place of meeting, along the road, or in 

 returning after the chase was over, we said, in a 

 peculiar tone of voice, and pronouncing the words as 

 I now spell them, " He Bunner, where's Batchelder?" 

 Blunder would go in and out the pack to find his 

 brother, push his ear with his nose, and growl at 

 him. 



When by any accident a deer was lost — and water 

 always had to do with such a defeat — I have seen 

 Blunder swim into a strong stream, and quest with 

 his nose every stick, weed, or mass of froth that 

 came downwards ; and when there has been none of 

 these, he would try every bough that hung over and 

 touched the water, just as my bloodhound will do now 



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