160 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN. 



grass, or falls into a concealed grip, so the other 

 speaks or calls to him to come on and help him to 

 trace the line of scent which the great red thing had 

 left, that frightened them. 



Thus does the hunting of a Berkeley foxhound 

 commence, and to that, as well as to the great care 

 taken in breeding them, do I attribute their pro- 

 ficiency in hunting. I do not say it from any 

 prejudice to the sort, but I have found them, gene- 

 rally speaking, to enter much more quickly than pup- 

 pies from other kennels, and become steadier sooner. 

 In entering hounds who have been reared on walks 

 where there is little or nothing to hunt, you have 

 first to teach them to hunt hares before you can 

 break them of it, when, as a puppy whose hunting is 

 already perfected, although at the wrong scent, soon 

 sees the difference between a hare and fox, and, 

 checked from the one and encouraged on the other, 

 perfection and steadiness are very soon attained. It 

 is the making of a foxhound to be reared among 

 hares, and the ruin of a greyhound whelp to be near 

 them. As the time approaches when the Berkeley- 

 bred young hounds are to be brought into their 

 kennel, you hear them hunting in packs, joining each 

 other from the different farms, and killing an infinity 

 of hares. They have also been known to run down 

 foxes. It is a curious scene to see the young hounds 

 come home as it were from school. Here is one, a 

 fine bold dog, led in a string and trotting along with 

 every imaginable confidence, well acquainted with 

 the farmer's man who leads him. There another, a 

 sleek, petted, and beautiful bitch, for the loss of whom 

 the farmer's daughters are in tears ; she hates to leave 

 the fostering care of the farm and refuses to walk, 



