The Stag hound. 113 



place to three hours here behind a more noble 

 quarry. 



The pack consists of about thirty-four couples 

 of hounds, a certain number of which are tufters. 

 These are mostly old hounds, whose duty it is to 

 find the deer, work out his line, and get him separated 

 from the remainder of the herd ; the full pack is 

 then laid on, and so the hunt goes. The number 

 of these tufters taken out depends upon the 

 size and nature of the covert to be drawn, four 

 couple of them being the usual complement. They 

 are selected from the pack on duty for the day, 

 because of their staunchness and eagerness in draw- 

 ing, but especially for their voices and aptitude for 

 giving tongue. A mute tufter is of course worse 

 than useless, and, as a fact, "staghounds" have a 

 great tendency to run mute. 



In autumn, say from the 12th of August to 

 through October, the stag is hunted, and at the end 

 of the latter month hind hunting commences and 

 continues to April, and as many as a hundred stags 

 and hinds have been killed in one season. 



The present pack dates actually from 1827 

 (though antiquarians may identify it with that at 

 Simonsbath two hundred and thirty years earlier), 

 and with slight exception, the Devon and Somerset 

 have ever since shown the perfection of sport. 



I 



