116 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



trying to make foxes break covert ; and he was 

 heard to remark to a stranger joining the hunt, 

 "We have something new, sir, in these parts re- 

 garding foxhunting, introduced by Mr. Smith, who 

 in place of hounds uses fire, to smoke them out ! " 

 However novel the experiment, and unsportsman- 

 like, by dint of bonfires by night and hounds by 

 day, foxes at last began to fiy, and Southgrove 

 became a weekly fixture, one day per week through- 

 out the whole season, and with this continued 

 routing it was rarely drawn blank. 



" Always at home,'" is a great thing to masters 

 of hounds and genuine sportsmen — finding the 

 animal of the first consideration, when found, of 

 minor importance — and we should as soon expect 

 to hear a man complaining of having too much 

 money as a master of too many foxes. The latter 

 may be not quite so easily dispersed as sovereigns, 

 but they possess this advantage over coin — that 

 however scattered, you may make pretty sure of 

 finding them again. Fast men abhor big woods, 

 yet are they generally indebted to woodland 

 foxes for their runs of the season. Big woods are 

 the preserves from which our game is circulated 

 throughout the country, and when properly hunted 

 supply the pet places with the best and straightest 

 running foxes. 



