S6 HARE-HUNTING AND HARRIERS 



Dry coverts, particularly those frequented by 

 rabbits, are naturally sought by the hare upon every 

 possible occasion, especially if she is hard pressed. 

 Fallen leaves help very considerably to assist her 

 flight and baffle the noses even of keen-scented hounds. 

 Hares always run better and show more sport in 

 open country than in a district much enclosed, where 

 woods and coverts are abundant. Their rings are 

 larger and bolder in the former, and hounds can there 

 get at them more rapidly and push them with greater 

 certainty. Beckford, who hunted hare before he 

 kept foxhounds, notices this fact. " In enclosures," 

 he says, " and when there is much cover, the circle 

 is for the most part so small that it is a constant puzzle 

 to the hounds. They have a Gordian knot in that 

 case ever to unloose ; and though it may afford matter 

 of speculation to the philosopher, it is always contrary 

 to the wishes of the sportsman : such was the country 

 that I hunted for many years." 



When a hare takes to the road, as she often does, 

 there is no time at which hunting becomes more 

 difficult. Very few hounds are good road-hunters, 

 and even in these the trait is seldom developed until 

 after some two or three seasons of hunting. A good 

 road-hunter is a perfect treasure, and it is very in- 

 teresting to note how the rest of the pack fly to the 

 voice of such a one when he hits off the line. The 

 best road-hunter I ever remember was " Captain," 

 an old hound with a wonderful nose, belonging to 

 the Hailsham pack. Hares will sometimes run road 

 for an incredibly long distance, and I well remember 

 this staunch old fellow leading the pack unerringly 

 for a full mile or more. On quitting the road a hare 

 will, as likely as not, make a huge bound, which often 

 succeeds in putting the hounds at fault. This ought 



