CHAPTER IX. 



THE GREYHOUND. 



Not one of our British dogs has had such justice 

 done to him by writers on canine matters as the 

 greyhound. He has always been popular, and, being 

 probably the oldest of his race, no doubt quite 

 deserves all that has been said and written of him. 

 So far back as the second century, A.rian gives us a 

 long and painstaking work on coursing, which, in 

 1 83 1 was admirably translated from the original 

 Greek into English by George Dansey. In 1853 

 that great authority on the greyhound, '' Stone- 

 henge," produced his excellent and reliable work, 

 and I fancy the latter will survive as the best of all 

 for very many years to come. 



Whether, in the first instance, our earliest dogs 

 hunted by sight or scent I am not going to attempt 

 to decide here. Both forms of " venerie" may have 

 been followed at the same period ; the deer and the 

 hare hunted by sight, the wolf, stag, or other beast, 

 by scent. The earliest coursers, dating back to 



Q 2 



