HAEEIEES.] 



THE DOG-, A]S"D ITS VAEIETIES; 



[haeriees. 



accountant for the butchers at Clare Market, 

 who paid him in ofFal, the choicest morsels of 

 which he selected for himself and family, and 

 with the rest he fed his hounds, which were 

 kept in the garret. His horses were lodged 

 iu the cellar, and fed on grains from a neigh- 

 bouring brewhouse, and on damaged corn, 

 with which he was supplied by a corn-chandler, 

 whose books he kept iu order once or twice a 

 week. In the season he hunted, and, by giviug 

 a hare, now and then, to the farmers over 

 whose grounds he sported, he secured their 

 good -will and permission; and several gentle- 

 men, struck with the extraordinary economical 

 mode of his hunting arrangements, which were 

 generally known, likewise winked at his going 

 over their manors. This Nimrodian was the 

 younger son of a gentleman of good family, 

 but small fortune, in the north of England, 

 and having, imprudently, married one of his 

 father's servants, was turned out of doors, with 

 no other fortune than a southern hound, big 

 with pup, whose offspring, from that time, 

 became a source of amusement to himself." 



The animal mostly hunted by harriers is 

 the common hare, which is found throughout 

 Europe, and, indeed, in most of the northern 

 parts of the world. Being destitute of weapons 

 of defence, it is endowed by Providence in a 

 high degree with the sentiment of fear. Its 

 timidity is known to every one : it is attentive 

 to every alarm, and is, therefore, furnished 

 with ears very long and tubular, which catch 

 the remotest sounds. The eyes are so pro- 

 minent as to enable the animal to see both 

 before and behind. 



The hare feeds in the evenings, and sleeps 

 ia its form during the day ; and, as it gene- 

 rally lies on the ground, its feet are protected, 

 both above and below, with a thick covering of 

 fur. In a moonliglit evening many of the spe- 

 cies may frequently be seen sporting together, 

 leaping about and pursuing each other; but 

 the least noise alarms them, and they then 

 scamper ofi", each in a different direction. Their 

 pace is a kind of gallop, or quick succession of 

 leaps ; and they are extremely swift, particu- 

 larly in ascending high grounds, to which, 

 when pursued, they generally have recourse : 

 here their large and strong hind legs are of 

 singular use to them. In northern regions, 

 where, on the descent of the winter's snows, 

 428 



they would (were their summer fur to remain) 

 be rendered particularly conspicuous to animals 

 of prey, they change their yellow-grey dress in 

 the autumn, for one perfectly white ; and are 

 thus enabled, in a great measure, to elude 

 their enemies. 



In more temperate regions, they choose, in 

 winter, a form exposed to the south, to obtain 

 all the possible warmth of that season ; and in 

 summer, when they are desirous of shunning 

 the hot rays of the sun, they change this for 

 one with a northernly aspect: but in both 

 cases they have the instinct of generally fixing 

 upon a place where the immediately sur- 

 rounding objects are nearly the colour of their 

 own bodies. 



In one hare that a gentleman watched, as 

 soon as the dogs were heard, though at the 

 distance of nearly a mile, she rose from her 

 form, swam across a rivulet, then lay down 

 among the bushes on the other side, and by 

 this means evaded the scent of the hounds. 

 When a hare has been chased for a considerable 

 length of time, she will sometimes push another 

 from its seat, and lie down there herself. 

 AVhen hard pressed, she will mingle with a 

 flock of sheep, run up an old wall, and conceal 

 herself among the grass on the top of it, or 

 cross a river several times at small distances. 

 She never runs in a line directly forward ; but 

 constantly doubles about, which frequently 

 throws the dogs out of the scent : and she 

 generally goes against the wind. It is ex- 

 tremely remarkable that hares, however fre- 

 quently pursued by the dogs, seldom leave the 

 place where they were brought forth, or that 

 in which they usually sit ; and it is a very 

 common thing to find them, after a long and 

 severe chase, in the same place the day fol- 

 lowing. 



The females have less strength and agility 

 than the males : they are, consequently, more 

 timid ; and never suffer the dogs to approach 

 them so near, before they rise, as the males. 

 They are likewise said to practise more arts, 

 and to double more frequently. 



This animal is gentle, and susceptible even 

 of education. He does not often, however, 

 though he exhibits some degree of attachment 

 to his master, become altogether domestic: 

 for, even when taken very young, brought up 

 in the house, and accustomed to kindness and 



