THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 371 



claws great.' The latter says ' There are necessary points 

 in the shape of a hound which ought always to be attended 

 to ; for if he have not perfect symmetry, he will neither 

 run fast nor bear much work ; he has much to undergo, 

 and should have strength proportioned to it. Let his legs 

 be as straight as arrows ; his feet round, and not too 

 large ; his shoulders back ; his breast rather wide than 

 narrow ; his chest deep ; his back broad ; his head small ; 

 his neck thin ; his tail thick and brushy, and if he carry 

 it well, so much the better.' Now the hound that would 

 answer to either of these descriptions would disgrace no 

 man's kennel, and one resembling the latter would be an 

 ornament to it ; but, with regard to the former, it must 

 be borne in mind that it is from the pen of a sportsman 

 who wrote a century and a half ago, when there is reason 

 to believe, no animal in the form of the foxhound of the 

 present day was to be found in this or in any other country. 

 I am, however, disposed to think that there is much of the 

 real character of the foxhound in the description given by 

 the older writer, such as the long, rather than round, head ; 

 the wide nostrils (Pliny says they should be flat, solid, and 

 blunt), and the dry, fox-like foot. The 'boned back' 

 appears to spoil all, unless it means that gentle rise in the 

 loins, which many good judges approve of for hilly, and 

 especially ploughed countries, which ' carry,' as the term 

 is, after a slight frost, thereby adding much to the natural 

 weight of the hound. Beckford gives us the modern fox- 

 hound, and, in my opinion, perfect, with the exception of 

 the mention of one or two material points. ' His chest 

 should be deep,' he says, ' and his back broad ; ' but he has 

 omitted a point much thought of by modern sportsmen, 

 namely, the back ribs, which should also be deep, as in a 

 strong-bodied horse, of which we say, when so formed, that 

 he has a good ' spur place,' a point highly esteemed in him. 

 Nor is either of these writers sufficiently descriptive of the 

 hinder legs of the hound ; for, although the large haunch 

 and well-trussed thigh of the former denote power and 

 muscle, there is a length of thigh discernible in hounds of 

 first-rate form, which, like the well let-down hock of the 

 horse, gives them superiority of speed, and is also a great 

 security against laming themselves in leaping fences, which 

 they are more apt to do when they become blown, or 

 tired, and, consequently, weak. The fore-legs, 'straight 

 as arrows,' is an admirable illustration of perfection in 



