The Beagle. 93 



fellows to him and away they dart, crawling 

 through fences or topping stone walls, on the scent 

 of poor puss. And if she is not clever her life 

 is a short one. Beagles run very keenly, but are 

 not so savage on the line as a foxhound, and we 

 think Beckford's experience of them is not quite a 

 usual one. 



The author of " Thoughts on Hunting," having 

 heard much of the excellence of a certain pack 

 of beagles, sent his coachman to fetch them, in 

 order that the diminutive hounds might be given 

 a fair trial. The coachman was evidently not the 

 proper person to have the charge of hounds, and, 

 in bringing them along the road, they became 

 terribly riotous, going for pigs, sheep, horses, cattle, 

 birds, deer, and almost everything that moved in 

 front of them. However, in due course the pack 

 arrived at its destination with the loss of only one 

 hound ; and, on being asked what he thought of 

 them, the coachman replied that they were the 

 " best hounds he ever saw, for they would hunt 

 everything." At the close of last century Colonel 

 Hardy had a pack of beagles that were taken to the 

 meet and to the kennels again, when possible, in a 

 couple of hampers strapped across the back of 

 a pony. It is said that these hounds, kennelled in a 

 barn prior to hunting next day, were stolen there- 



