74 Modern Dogs. 



deer is most glorious sport, and the genuine lover 

 of hunting, one who likes to see hounds work, 

 and the cleverness of the horse, cannot do better 

 than run down to Dulverton in the season, and see 

 how the Devon and Somerset hounds can go. Long 

 stern chases are common with them, and the forty 

 minutes bursts in the Midlands after the fox, give 

 place to three hours here behind a more noble 

 quarry. 



The pack consists of about thirty-four couples of 

 hounds, a certain number of which are tufters. 

 These are mostly old hounds, whose duty it is to 

 find the deer, work out his line, and get him separated 

 from the remainder of the herd ; the full pack is 

 then laid on, and so the hunt goes. The number of 

 these tufters taken out depends mostly on the size 

 and nature of the covert to be drawn, four couple 

 of them being the usual complement. They are 

 selected from the pack on duty for the day, because 

 of their staunchness and eagerness in drawing, but. 

 especially for their voices or aptitude for giving 

 tongue. A mute tufter is of course worse than 

 useless, and, as a fact, " stag hounds " have a great 

 tendency to run mute. 



In autumn, say from the I2th of August to 

 through October, the stag is hunted, and at the end 

 of the latter month, hind hunting commences and 



