HARE-HUNTING 121 



dwarf fox-hounds). A minute's silence at the 

 fault, the competition of all the little beauties 

 casting round a sight delightful to the eye ; 

 then a full note of the pure truth, the rush 

 up to the speaking hound, the chorus of 

 consent from a score of throats, swelling to 

 the full cry of the whole pack as they go 

 driving away as if possessed by one soul a 

 sound delightful to the ears, and not exactly 

 described to me by a farmer as " joost like 

 a flock o' craws gettin' out ov a tater field." 



Every man has a right to his own opinion, 

 and mine is that the perfection of hare- 

 hunting is with beagles. The average hare 

 is overmatched by the modern harrier. The 

 beagle is not too fast, his nose is finer, he 

 far excels the harrier in vigilance, energy, 

 and persistency, whilst the music of a pack 



