94 THE ETON COLLEGE HUNT. 



It is unusual to find liares " seated '' under a hedgerow, 

 except in stormy weather, when no other protection is available. 

 As a rule, they prefer to make their '^ forms " in the centre of a 

 field, probably for greater security. In mild, drizzly weather 

 they generally move up to the higher grounds, or seek the shelter 

 of a gorse bush. 



As everyone is aware, a hare is capable of giving a pack of 



hounds infinitely more trouble to kill than a fox. It is the 



exception for a hare to run straight away from hounds for any 



great distance, though occasionally it will take a line as straight 



as that of a fox. The account of a run with some harriers in 



one of our Eastern Counties, in which, after affording a rattling 



gallop, the hare took out to sea in the Wash, was recorded in 



the Field, The pack referred to was kept by a relation of mine. 



For those who are able to appreciate the hunting and working 



of hounds, hare-hunting affords greater opportunities for 



witnessing the intricate difficulties of hunting by scent than any 



similar description of sport. The man who is able to hunt 



harriers well and successfully should be able to account for a fox, 



although the tactics of the two animals pursued are different; 



for, whereas a forward cast will generally succeed in hitting off 



the line of a fox when hounds are at fault, nine times out of ten 



it is on one of the backward casts that the true line of a hare will 



be found. It may well be said that the direction a lost hare 



has taken will most surely be the one which appears to be the 



least likely. It is the constant " doubling " which renders hare- 



b.unting so difficult. The best pack of harriers I ever saw at 



work was one belonging to a Mr. Jeffreys. In colour they were 



black and tan, owing to a strong infusion of the blood-hound 



cross. These hounds, which were notorious, were exceedingly 



well handled by their owner, who contrived to account for an 



incredible number of hares in the course of the season. They 



were somewhat light-limbed, very speedy, and possessed the most 



wondrous noses. No matter what the weather or the country 



might be, they could pick up a scent where other hounds could 



not own a yard, and even in the driest road or fallow in March. 



Hare-shooting is but poor sport, and to my view, even under 



the best circumstances, vastly inferior to good rabbit shooting. 



To miss a hare within easy distance in the open is inexcusable, 



and to shoot at one at a doubtful range still more so. 



I am very much inclined to the opinion that, unless coursed 

 or hunted, a hare is by no means deserving of the high repute 

 in which it is held for t^ble purposes, and there is, moreover, 

 comparatively little of its flesh worth eating. The following 



