MODERN HARE-HUNTING 113 



of the marsh near where we had first found, and 

 here, by great good luck, we came upon the hare 

 we had so lately hunted. Getting hounds off the 

 fresh hare, by a stroke of fortune, they were clapped 

 on to the right line, and in a few minutes our 

 original quarry, stiff and leg-weary, was run into and 

 killed. 



Fresh hares are an evil that many countries in 

 these days would be glad to be blessed with. In the 

 district in which I see a good deal of hunting, we have 

 at times rather too much of this plethora, especially 

 in our marsh country. I have seen in the course of 

 a single run no fewer than fourteen hares put up. This 

 sounds like fiction, but it is plain fact. Constant 

 changing of hares is very trying indeed to the pack ; 

 and it is occasionally a matter of some difficulty to 

 get blood, although hounds may be running hard all 

 day. Still, even this difficulty can be surmounted, 

 with care, judgment, and a little good fortune, and 

 although now and again a disappointing day is scored, 

 these are very few and far between. Where hares 

 are too thick on the ground, the aid of coursers or 

 shooting-men may be called in. In moderation, 

 coursing is no great drawback to hare-hunting. I 

 have seen the two sports flourish side by side in the 

 same country, and many people aver that, where 

 hares are coursed occasionally, they give better runs 

 than is otherwise the case. 



Scent is a subject which has exercised the minds 

 of hunting-men for untold generations. All writers 

 upon the chase have devoted more or less time and 

 trouble to the elucidation of its mysteries ; yet 

 none have succeeded. Scent still remains, and will 

 probably always remain, one of the most vexatious 

 of all problems, a thing baffling, unaccountable, 



H 



