106 MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS. 



Having made acquaintance with the large woodlands in 

 perspective, upon a former occasion, when I was treated 

 to a concert by owls, I had no great fancy just then to a 

 second treat from their harmonious voices, and was 

 obliged to use a little stratagem to dispose of Mr. Bob- 

 tail before he had quite run his course out. Jem could 

 scarcely believe it, he said, when he heard my shrill 

 who-hoop from the other side of the covert, but the 

 hounds' baying soon satisfied him that his foe had licked 

 the dust, and he came crashing down through the wood 

 in ecstacies of delight. Few were up to witness the 

 finale of this gallant fox, the majority of our field being 

 scattered in all directions. Having then nearly thirty 

 miles to return home, I thanked my friend Bob for his 

 services, and we commenced our homeward journey. 

 This fox could not have run over much less ground than 

 twenty miles, and, by the time we reached the kennels, 

 horses and hounds had quite enough for one day. 



When a fixture is once made, no deviation from it 

 should be afterwards admitted. In these days, real 

 sportsmen often go very long distances to meet a good 

 pack of hounds, and make their arrangements accordingly. 

 It is, therefore, very unfair to disappoint them. What- 

 ever the hour of meeting may be, it should be observed 

 with punctuality, and although occasionally you may give 

 a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes to those expected 

 from long distances, it should be borne in mind that 

 your punctual friends are cooling their heels, and their 

 horses shivering perhaps in the cold all this time, I have 

 seen hounds waiting for more than an hour beyond time, 

 in expectation of some great man coming down by rail 

 who never arrived after all; and you may suppose a great 

 deal of dissatisfaction was expressed, both by looks and 



