The Staghound. 73 



man seeks to regain his failing health by a gallop 

 over a highly cultivated country. The royal pack, 

 of forty couple, as at present constituted, may be 

 said to date back to 1812, when the Prince Regent 

 purchased the Goodwood foxhounds, as they were 

 faster than the old-fashioned Southern hounds or 

 talbots, the original constitution of the pack. 



The older and slower hounds could with difficulty 

 get away from the hard-riding cockney, who even 

 at that time would be in amongst them with his 

 hack, rather than in his proper position in their rear. 

 The present hounds are well matched and most 

 uniform, the dogs standing about 24 inches, and 

 the " ladies " 22^- inches at the shoulder. 



This may be taken as about the standard height of 

 the staghound, though the Devon and Somerset, 

 which hunt the wild deer on Exmoor and on the 

 Quantock Hills, are much larger. The rough country 

 of coombes and thick gorse necessitates as big a 

 hound as can be obtained, so 25 to 26 inches is 

 the standard, Mr. C. H. Bassett, the present Master, 

 seeks to acquire, and he uses entirely dog hounds, 

 drafts from various foxhound kennels. Not more 

 than one bitch has been in this pack for a dozen 

 years or so, and no puppies are bred by the 

 hunt. 



There is no doubt that the chase of the wild red 



