ON HUNTING. 1 6T 



equally annoying to the huntsman and the blunderer; 

 and, in the next place, if you halloo too soon, ten to one 

 the fox heads back into cover. When well away through 

 the hedge of a good-sized field, halloo, at the same time 

 raising your cap, •' Tally-o aw-ay-o-o !" giving each syllable 

 very slowly, and with your mouth well open ; for this is 

 the way to be heard a long distance. Do this once or 

 twice, and then be quiet for a short spell, and be ready 

 to tell the huntsman, when he comes up, in a few sen- 

 tences, exactly which way the fox is gone. If you are a 

 young beginner, you are likely to be nervous, flurried, 

 and talkative. If the fox makes a short bolt, and returns, 

 it is "Tally-o back!'' with the ''back'' loud and clear. 

 If the fox crosses the side of a wood when the hounds 

 are at check, the cry should be " Tally-o over !" But if 

 you are in company with old members of the hunt, and 

 they see as well as you, the safe plan is to leave the 

 shouting to them. With the hounds well away, it is a 

 great point to get a good start ; so it is not amiss to cast 

 your eyes over the boundary-fence, and make up your 

 mind where you will take it, instead of thrusting with a 

 crowd in a gap or gateway — always presuming that you 

 can depend on your horse. 



A big jump at starting, when the hounds go clean 

 away, will often secure a good place, and may be as 

 judicious to refuse all unnecessary leaps between cover 

 and cover.] 



Dismiss the moment you start two ideas which are 

 the bane of sport, jealousy of what others are doing, and 

 conceit of what you are doing yourself; keep your eyes 

 on the pack, on your horse's ears, and the next fence, in- 

 stead of burning to beat Thompson, or hoping that 

 Brown saw how cleverly you got over that rasper. 



Acquire an eye to hounds, that is, learn to detect the 



