224 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



in making ' up wind casts ' as an old huntsman 

 calls them, is irretrievably lost. He must always 

 sink the wind, as indeed the man who rides to 

 them ought also to do. 



Another very important thing for the ' looker 

 on ' to study is the country itself and the run of 

 foxes. Knowledge of country and the run of foxes 

 can never be learnt by some people. I knew 

 a man who had hunted in a country all his life 

 and never knew it. '' Where are we ? " he asked 

 once when hounds had killed their fox after rather 

 a long run. *' There is your house " was the 

 answer he received from a gentleman who pointed 

 to a house some three fields off. '' So it is," said 

 our friend ; '' I don't know that I ever approached 

 it from this side before." 



Others again never fail to recognise a place 

 the second time they see it and can carry a country 

 and the run of foxes in their mind's eye without 

 any trouble. A good deal of the run of foxes can 

 be learnt from the later days of cub hunting, and 

 if a man has a good memory^, has done a fair 

 share of cub hunting and keeps down wind he 

 should be able to see a good deal of sport without 

 doing much serious hard riding. 



But if a man rides to a point he must take care 

 not to ride on too far or he will head foxes. 



There is another class of men who follow 

 hounds, some of them amongst the keenest of 

 sportsmen, though they follow hounds on wheels. 

 In spite of the heavy handicap that they have to 

 put up with, insomuch that they can but seldom 



