MODERN HARE-HUNTING m 



foot-packs, it may happen that hounds have run 

 clean away from their field ; in such a case the hare, 

 when run into, is speedily devoured, and the huntsman 

 finds but a rag or two of skin when he reaches the 

 scene. In the ordinary way, the huntsman, or a 

 whip, or one of the field will be there, and the dead 

 hare is rescued from the jaws of the pack. The hunts- 

 man, after sounding his horn and giving vent to in- 

 spiring " Who-whoops," heard far over the fields, 

 now proceeds, either personally or by his deputy, the 

 whipper-in, to the obsequies. Taking out his knife, he 

 makes an incision in the hare's stomach, withdraws 

 the entrails, and gives them to the pack. It is the 

 custom to encourage young or timid hounds by smear- 

 ing them with some of the blood. This is calculated 

 to promote keenness ; it is an ancient form, and there 

 is certainly no harm in it. 



As for the dead hare, if she has been hunted hard 

 for an hour or two, her corpse is by this time so stiff 

 that you may hold her out by her hind legs, straight 

 and rigid, almost, as a piece of board. It is the custom 

 of hare-hunting, in most countries, and a very excellent 

 custom too, that the dead hare should be handed 

 over to the farmer upon whose land she was first found. 

 Every farmer likes a hare for his dinner, jugged or 

 roast, and the practice — cementing, as it does, friendli- 

 ness between the field and the man who is good enough 

 and keen enough to provide the sport — is always to 

 be encouraged. Some huntsmen like to take the 

 ears of the hare to nail up at the kennels as trophies 

 and evidences of their prowess. The scut is usually re- 

 quired for some one of the field, especially if a lady or a 

 school-boy happens to be present. And occasionally, 

 after an exceptionally good run, a pad is begged for 

 some budding Nimrod, or even by some veteran, who 



