126 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



CHAPTER XVI. 



* ' A cry more tuneable 

 Was never halloo'd to, nor clieered with horn." 



Fashion of the day not in favour of music — Pace only thought of — 

 Distinction between a mute and light tongue — Peculiar instinct 

 in drawing— Deputy — The late Mr. Codrington on gorse coverts 

 — Opening on the drag — Too much bow-wowing reprehensible — 

 How to convert harriers into foxhounds — A veritable fact — Tree- 

 ing a martin — A narrow escape — The run home — Qualities in 

 foxhounds — Cardinal points — Long and hard days occasionally 

 of service. 



In these latter days Gervase Markham's suggestions 

 as to the cry of hounds, or the harmonious blend- 

 ings of sweet and loud voices to the pack, are very 

 little, if at all considered, and the system of fox- 

 hunting now in fashion is antagonistic to them. 

 DuTYi hec vitia vitant in contraria current. Fear- 

 ful of running into one extremity, masters of 

 hounds and huntsmen rush into the other, and so 

 long as pace is everything and hunting nothing, 

 foxhounds will be nearly as mute as fish. Hark, 

 halloa ! toot — toot — toot ! — gone away ! — found ! 

 forward ! — and with cracking of whips and wild 

 screeches, hounds are driven off their noses, and 

 ready to fly anywhere with a scent or without it ; 

 in fact, they are taught to run at a scent, instead of 



