92 ANCIENT HUNTS OF WOLF AND WILD BOAR. 



Blood Hound bitch, or the nearest and fullest sized and best nosed of the latter 

 which can be procured. The male and female whelps of the litter, at two years of 

 age, to be crossed by the largest and purest English Mastiffs. This second litter 

 at the same age to be crossed by the genuine jEn.gush Bull-Dog. The third litter, 

 should they in due time prove themselves worthy of the honour, to remain an es- 

 tablished and approved Variety of the Wolf Hound : but should any deficiency 

 appear, it must be remedied by an additional cross from either of the above breeds, 

 whether to procure an encrease of size and strength, courage, nose or speed. To 

 establish this breed would require about eight or ten years, and being thoroughly 

 and judiciously established, its individuals ought to be worth from twenty to fifty 

 guineas a head. No man of experience need be told that the best keep and 

 management are required, in breeding live stock of any kind to perfection, and that 

 with respect to the young hounds of which we speak, constant field exercise and 

 tj-aining would be necessary, both for the improvement of their health, and for the 

 unfolding of those hunting properties which they would be expected to impart to 

 their posterity. The fox, badger and otter, would perhaps be the most proper game 

 to which they could be trained in this country. We have seen that certain breeds 

 of English Dogs succeed, and even improve, in Bengal, as also do our English 

 Horses ; it is then probable that the new Variety proposed, in which is included ;ill 

 of strength, fierceness, courage, endurance and speed, which belong to the dog 

 genus, might succeed likewise in that climate ; and a pack of twenty or thirty couple 

 of such prove a match for the Royal Tyger. At the least, a Tyger Hunt with such 

 a Pack, would give additional confidence to the armed Hunters, encrease the sport 

 nnd diminish the danger. We know that our European hounds will face the Wolf 

 and Wild Boar ; should it prove that the Variety contemplated would face the 

 Tyger, it would be sufficient, since a pack of them would have force enough to 

 engage him until he could be disposed of. 



In the ancient Hunts of the Wolf and Wild Boar in this Country, the Hunters 

 and their attendants, armed with cross-bows, swords, boar-spears and pikes, were 

 always mounted upon horses trained for the purpose, as no untrained horse, could 

 I c forced to approach a wolf or boar, and the rider of such, from its unsteadiness, 

 would be liable to wound it in attempting to strike with his weapon. Bloodhounds, 

 Mastiffs and Greyhounds, or mixtures of these, were used in those perilous hunts, 

 in relays and packs of considerable numbers. The dogs had generally, substantial 

 collars for their protection, to which sometimes bells were attached, and the whole 

 was conducted in the midst of the greatest noise that could possibly be made by the 

 Hunters and Dogs. To those who are only accustomed to the slow progression of 

 tlie domesticated hog, the speed attributed to the wild boar, by persons who have 

 lately seen him hunted in France, and other parts of the Continent, is truly sur- 

 prising ; it is said to require good hounds to hold way with him : but the speed, 

 stride, and great lasting powers of the wolf are generally understood. A Wolf hunt 



