8S HUNTING. 



the preventing them from losing time by hunting when they 

 might run, which distinguishes a good huntsman from a bad 

 one.' When the hounds check, a good pack will generally 

 spread and try all ways, so do not be in too great a hurry 

 to assist them unless you have certain information of the 

 line the hare has taken ; and even then sometimes a smart 

 pack will swing on to the line and get to the point where the 

 hare was viewed more quickly than you could get them there 

 by lifting them, though this is not, of course, always the case. 

 If, then, you have no information, always allow your hounds to 

 make their own cast before you make yours, and watch pro- 

 ceedings closely, for they will often cast themselves in the 

 right direction, but not far enough to recover the line. In 

 casting, do not be afraid to cast forward in the first instance. 

 If your hare is forward, time is of considerably more importance 

 than if she has doubled, and a pack of beagles will generally be 

 found to have a far greater tendency, if left too much to them- 

 selves, to swing back when the line is forward than to swing 

 forward when the line is back. When once settled to the line 

 beagles will seldom go many yards forward without a scent, 

 but it is by no means so certain that they will always take the 

 line as far forward as the hare has gone. This is particularly 

 to be borne in mind on bad scenting days. 



Before leaving the subject of casting, the advice given on 

 p. 157 is most important, for it gives the huntsman the benefit 

 of a double cast, and it is therefore repeated here. It is as 

 follows : ' When the huntsman is making his cast, some one 

 or even two or three couple of hounds with finer noses than 

 the others stop and try to puzzle out the scent. The whipper-in 

 should not then interfere with them ; he should leave them, 

 and, putting the others on to the huntsman, watch them. If 

 he finds them feathering on the line he should {quietly) 

 encourage them, and call the huntsman's attention to them.' 

 This may be the saving of much precious time at a critical 

 moment. For the rest, if you have a good pack, always 

 believe their tongues rather than any other source of information 



