76 THE HUNTING FIELD 



hunter^ which is, perhaps, a more determining 

 appellation than that of " sportsman," which, with 

 " sporting man," may be assumed alike by the fox- 

 hunter and the thimble-rigger. Being an observing 

 man himself, " Thistlewhipper " noted observation in 

 others. Take the following as an instance : — 



"To show how much more observant of little 

 things some men are than others," writes he, " I was 

 standing with about twenty men in a riding, while the 

 hounds were drawing and had drawn a great part of 

 the wood. 'No fox here to-day,' said one. 'Yes, 

 there is a fox moving in that young plantation,' said 

 another, ' and you will see him cross,' and two minutes 

 after he did. There was a universal exclamation, 

 ' How did you know a fox was there ? ' ' While you 

 were talking,' said he, * I heard a cock pheasant 

 "ceck up" three or four times, evidently alarmed.'" 



How beautifully that fact corroborates Beckford's 

 observation, that when you see two men in conversa- 

 tion at the cover side, you may safely infer that one 

 at least knows nothing of what he is out for. 



All practical men agree in the necessity of a 

 Huntsman being efficiently supported by his Whippers- 

 in. Mr. Vyner, in his " Notitia Venatica," says : — 



" Nothing will be found to be of greater importance 

 in the well-conducting of operations than steadiness 

 and persevering exertions on the part of the Whippers- 

 in ; servants of that description are quite as difficult 

 to meet with as a first-rate Huntsman ; a Master, who 

 'puts up' a booby of a groom, merely because he 

 can ride young horses and scream like a fish-woman, 

 must never expect to see his hounds anything else 

 than wild and vicious in their drawing, and heedless 

 and unhandy in their attention to the Huntsman 

 when casting." 



Mr. Smith, in his " Diary of a Huntsman," says : — 



" To be a Whipper-in requires both a good eye 

 and a good ear ; but the greatest qualification for 



