8 4 



Fox-Hunting in New England. 



And now for the hunt. From his 

 helpless babyhood in leafless April, 

 Reynard has come, by the middle of 

 the autumn, to months of discretion 

 and to a large and increasing capacity 

 for taking care of himself. The weap- 

 ons are double-barrel shot-guns, of 

 such weight and caliber as may suit 

 the individual fancy. A very light 

 gun will not do the execution at the 

 long range sometimes required, while 

 on the other hand, a very heavy one will become burdensome in the 

 long tramps that may be necessary ; for a man of ordinary strength, 

 an 8-lb. gun will be found quite heavy enough. It should be of a 

 caliber which will properly chamber its full charge of, at least, B B 

 shot, — for I hold that the force of lighter shot will be broken by the 

 thick fur of the fox ; indeed, I would suggest still heavier pellets, say 

 B B B, or even A. 



Our hounds, not so carefully bred as they should be, cannot be 

 classed in any particular breed. They are more like the old South- 

 ern fox-hound than like the modern English, and for our purpose 

 are incomparably superior to the latter. They are not fleet, like him 

 (fleetness here being objectionable, as will be shown), but of great 

 endurance, and unsurpassable scenting powers, — for they will follow 

 a fox through all his devious windings and endless devices, from 

 dawn till dark, through the night and for another day. Our best 

 dogs are well described by Shakspere in " Midsummer Night's 

 Dream " : 



" My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, 

 So flew'd, so sanded ; and their heads are hung 

 With ears that sweep away the morning dew; 

 Crook-kneed, and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls, 

 Slow in pursuit, but matched in mouth like bells, 

 Each under each." 



Their colors are blue-mottled, with patches of black and tan or yel- 

 low, with tan eye-patches ; white, flecked with yellow, termed by 

 old-time hunters " punkin-an'-milk "; white and black and black and 

 tan, with variations and admixtures of all these colors. It is an old 



