SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. S79 



intense ; and yet, not-n-itlistanding, our little cry of 

 spaniels and terriers, kept knocking about the hares 

 and rabbits at a wonderful rate, the greater part of 

 the day ; and as for the ground, it was as hard as a 

 board, and not a blade of grass in the high wood, 

 where the scent was the best. This sets at nought 

 all the old established crotchets about a southerly 

 wind and a cloudy sky, with their balmy breezes, as 

 indispensable to a good scenting day. Experience 

 teaches us that the enigma of scent lies as deep in 

 the well as truth is said to be.-" 



" Well, squire, Fm quite of your opinion, and 

 still thinks it's all in the hmr ; contrariwise, how 

 could our hounds twice this arternoon have owned 

 the scent across that 'ere river ? The water the fox 

 touched in crossing were gone a long way down the 

 stream before they reached the bank ; and in course, 

 if the water held the scent, they would have gone 

 down arter it^ instead of swimming straight across 

 it. The fact is, squire, the water didn't hold the 

 scent at all, no more than the land does sometimes, 

 ^twere wafted over it by the Aair, or /^atmosphere, as 

 some learned folks call it, and the hounds felt it 

 was before them. Well, now, here's a case in point ; 

 there's that chap before us walking along the road, 

 and smoking his pipe ; his whiflP don't touch land or 

 water, and yet I could run him for miles, as long as 

 his baccy lasted — leastways Jem could, and run into 

 him, for he's a deal lighter on foot than I. Then, 

 squire, I remember seeing, once in my life, a lot of 

 staghounds, as they're called— and a pretty lot it was 

 —break away from huntsman and whip, and run the 



