130 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN 



her form, her scent is agreeable, and they trace it. One puppy 

 gets lost in the long 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 proficiency in hunting. I do not say it 

 from any prejudice to the sort, but I have found them, gener- 

 ally speaking, to enter much more quickly than puppies 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 off 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, so she arrives at the kennel on the shoulders of a 

 labourer, her four legs held in front of him, her stomach 

 on the back of his neck, while her graceful head nods to 

 the variation of his footstep. Seventy couple of puppies have 

 come in, and it is amusing to stand among them and read 

 in their actions and faces the variety of their dispositions. 



