] 5 4 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



to a huntsman in directing him how to recover his 

 lost fox, since the line taken by one is commonly 

 followed by another, wind permitting. Instead of 

 this knowledge, if transferred to a new country, 

 the young huntsman must place more reliance upon 

 his own head and his hounds' noses — above all, the 

 latter, and we think better by far of such a begin- 

 ing, teaching him the first and greatest lesson he 

 can be taught — reliance upon his hounds as his 

 surest guide through difficulties. Knowledge of 

 country may afterwards be of service to him, when 

 he has learnt to depend upon his hounds. 



In the present era of foxhunting, too much is 

 expected from the genius and talents of the hunts- 

 man, which are supposed to be equal to all emer- 

 gencies ; and we have heard of and seen what are 

 called "heaven-born huntsmen,'" but we must 

 confess to a great disappointment in their perfor- 

 mances. This appeared to us a- misnomer, inas- 

 much as their distinguishing characteristic savoured 

 more of earth than of the ethereal spirit — know- 

 ledge of foxes' earths and haunts, which is derived 

 generally from experience and observation. These 

 men are too much dependent upon their own 

 enterprising genius to allow their hounds to do 

 their work properly, and when at fault, or hunting 

 too slowly to please them, they are lifted forward 

 to some covert, the favourite resort of foxes, where 

 it very frequentl}^ happens that instead of getting 

 upon the line or recovering their hunted fox, a fresh 

 one is roused up, and the " heaven-born huntsman " 

 takes the credit of having displayed his talent in a 



