The Foxhound. 89 



a very good nose, he cannot recover it. Another 

 point is that no attention in the training of hounds 

 in England has ever been given to the question of 

 ' change,' which is of so great importance to us. 

 And so it is that, excepting for wild boar hunting, the 

 foxhound, which is so apt to change his animal, is 

 not much used in France. 



'* When by good luck a foxhound is discovered 

 that guards ' change,' he is, as a rule, perfection, 

 and with a finer nose than any of his sort. 



''I should just Hke to show you now an old 

 Saintongeois of mine which I use for the wild boar. 

 He will hunt yesterday's drag of an animal, often 

 twelve or fourteen hours old, and will unharbour his 

 pig at a distance of six to nine miles. The rest of 

 the pack (foxhounds, and, nevertheless, very good 

 ones, selected for me by Mr. Merthyr Guest out of 

 his own kennels), following the old hound in complete 

 ignorance, and going from right to left on the line 

 without being able to own it until the arrival of the 

 hound at the midden of the boar» The poor old 

 fellow is covered with wounds, and the only wonder 

 is that he has not been killed ten times over. 



" I expect to see a great improvement in the 

 English foxhound as regards voice, fineness of nose, 

 and the quality of ' change,' because people in 

 England have been buying many of our Saintongeois 



