LETTER XV. 159 



man, and hurried half a mile off, to suit his fancy or 

 caprice. Hounds that are often lifted, will not take half 

 the trouble which others will, which are left to them- 

 selves, in recovering a lost scent ; at the first check 

 which occurs, their noses will be up in the air, instead 

 of where they ought to be — on the ground. 



Going to halloos, is also very prejudicial to them. It 

 encourages them to be idle, and to look for assistance, 

 instead of trusting to themselves. It has been said, 

 *' that a pack of hounds which will not bear lifting are 

 not worth keeping." I admit this to be the case, but 

 only to a certain extent ; there are times when all hounds 

 require lifting, but if judiciously done, and not often 

 repeated, they will not be injured by it. This is the 

 exception, not the rule ; but I am quite sure that a pack 

 of hounds continually lifted by a harey starey huntsman 

 are not worth keeping. A huntsman of this description 

 whom I once knew, always up in the stirrups, with his 

 eyes and ears well open upon any emergency, was once 

 nicely caught in going, as he thought, to a halloo. His 

 hounds and self, having come to a dead stand, after the 

 exercise of all their ingenuity to little purpose, my friend 

 Joe and his now mute companions were, as usual, looking 

 out literally for squalls. The day was windy, and Joe 

 descried at a distance, as he thought, a man on a wall, 

 with his hat and coat off. This was enough ; in go the 

 spurs, and off goes Joe with liis darlings, as ready as 

 their master for any such enterprise. Only guess Joe's 

 astonishment and chagrin when, nearing the spot, he 

 discovered an old greyheaded horse, with his white nose 

 poking over the wall. It was a damper, and the laugh 

 of even his most admiring friends could not be repressed. 



