6i8 



Some American Sporting Dogs. 



The fox appears to have been only a "bagman," and the hounds 

 a scrub pack selected for the occasion. I have been writing now 

 only of the hound as he is used in fox-hunting ; in almost every sec- 

 tion of the country where deer are found the fox-hound is used for 

 hunting them. Here speed is most desirable, as the hunter does 

 not expect to follow his dogs, but takes his station by some run-way 

 or pond where the deer is almost sure to pass. Great strength is 

 also a capital quality, as a buck at bay is no mean antagonist, and a 

 first-class deer-hound should not only possess the intelligence but 

 the ability to catch a deer by the hind leg and throw him. 



RABBIT-HUNTING WITH BEAGLES. 



Fox-hounds, generally mongrels, are also used for hunting rab- 

 bits (hares) in this country ; but a much more valuable dog for this 

 purpose, and one which is fast coming in demand, is the little beagle, 

 a miniature fox-hound, being from ten to twelve inches only in 

 height at the shoulder. Merry workers they are, and to see a pack 

 of them working on the scent of a hare (for we have no true rabbits, 

 wild, in this country) is worth going miles to see. I am astonished 

 that some gentlemen do not get together a pack of beagles. They 

 can be followed on foot, and there are numbers of places within an 

 hour or two's ride of New York where hares can be found in ample 

 quantities for sport. Somewhat similar to the beagle, in size at 

 least, although they differ in having crooked fore-legs, is the dachs- 

 hund, a dog of German extraction. (John Phoenix said of some one 

 bred in a like manner, that his father was a Dutchman and his 

 mother a duchess.) Dr. Twaddell, of Philadelphia, has some of 

 pure breed, the finest in this country. 



As a rule, however, nowadays, when one speaks of a sporting 

 dog, he is generally supposed to refer to a dog used in connection 



