The Foxhound. 75 



companions it loves so well. If the hound lives in a 

 remote part of the country, a piece of the fox's skin 

 is tied round its neck as a sign that a kill has taken 

 place. Sometimes two or three hounds living in the 

 same direction are dismissed together, and at times 

 they have a journey of eight miles to make alone. 

 This incident forms, perhaps, the prett'est of any 

 seen during the day." 



A highly-esteemed writer on hunting, whose 

 familiar 7W/// de plume ''Brooksby" is known 

 throughout the world, writes : 



''The essential talents of a foxhound are to be found 

 in his power of nose, drive, and tongue. It is not to 

 be expected that every member of a pack shall 

 possess these in equal degree, but the strongest 

 combination makes the best pack. And, as such 

 characteristics are mainly the product of careful 

 breeding, the family likeness that belongs to a high 

 class pack of foxhounds will probably pertain not 

 only to their appearance, but to their work in the 

 field. All foxhounds should draw covert well, i.e.,. 

 perseveringly and closely — a faculty that is the 

 result partly of education, partly of natural courage. 

 It by no means follows that a thin-skinned, highly 

 bred hound will not face briar, thorn, or gorse. On 

 the contrary, his pluck, even at the cost of blood and 

 wound, will often take him where his coarser coated 



