SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 239 



that of the wild animal unkennelled in his native 

 woods, that good old foxhounds will not hunt or 

 own it, although those accustomed to the thing dash 

 fiuriously at it. The fact is, that the scent of the 

 bagman is much stronger, without the addition of 

 aniseed or other oils, which are supposed to give 

 a more pungent flavour to fox-meat. Beckford, T 

 think, tells a story of an old orthodox master, whose 

 hounds having been hallooed on to a bag-fox, turned 

 down in a covert he was drawing. He suspected, 

 from the manner of his stanch hounds, some trick 

 had been played ; but when the fox was at last 

 run into by the young and wild ones of the pack, 

 not one would attempt to break him up. 



" Well, sir,'' exclaimed the master, addressing 

 the suspected trickster, "you have deceived my 

 huntsman and the whole field, but you cannot 

 deceive my hounds. They know he is a bagman, 

 and won't eat him." 



This is no uncommon trick in the present day, 

 to which keepers have recourse to keep up appear- 

 ances with the master of the hounds. A fox is 

 caught a few days before the advertised fixture 

 for drawing their coverts, and turned down in the 

 morning about an hour previous to the arrival of 

 the pack, so that he gets tolerably clean by brush- 

 ing through the underwood ; yet an experienced 

 master and stanch hounds are never deceived by 

 his artful dodge. 



