HARRIERS AND BEAGLES 285 



more in a patient fashion which is seldom seen in 

 these days, but he dwelt terribly on a cold scent, and 

 would at times quarter his ground in setter-like fashion, 

 speaking occasionally, but getting forward so slowly 

 that no real progress was made. There was, in fact, a 

 total absence of drive about many of the old harriers, 

 and we can remember one pack which hunt in the 

 West of England, and where an old-fashioned type of 

 hound is still used, in which this want of drive was very 

 pronounced. We shall not mention the name of the 

 pack, but may say that we saw them hunting less than 

 a dozen years ago, and this is what happened. 



A hare was put up in a big pasture, hounds caught a 

 view and started at their best pace, but the hare was 

 soon half a mile ahead, going gradually towards the 

 summit of a hill, which was studded for several acres 

 with gorse bushes and bracken. Hounds soon slowed 

 down, and from a gallop one dropped to a gentle 

 canter and then to a trot. Still scent appeared to be 

 fair, and in about a quarter of an hour the hill was 

 reached, the pack still working the line with consider- 

 able bustle. The field walked or led their horses to the 

 top of the hill, then dismounted and lit their pipes, 

 and when we asked one of them to explain what the 

 apparent slackness meant he replied that it generally 

 took hounds half an hour to drive a hare from that 

 particular gorse, as no one ever interfered with them, 

 and no hare ever went straight through. The non- 

 interference one could appreciate, but with such persis- 

 tent line hunters a thick growth of cover must always 

 mean a long delay, and this would hardly occur with a 

 pack which had even a small amount of drive. 



It struck us, then, that old-fashioned harriers should 

 do best in a very open country, where hares can be 



