3o6 HARE-HUNTING AND HARRIERS 



It is, I think, almost certain, that this gentleman 

 owed his lack of that crowning triumph and supreme 

 test of a run — the kill — to the great and sufficient 

 reason that he and his pack were probably not well 

 practised in hare-hunting. If the same pack were 

 hunted next season, it is almost certain that, after the 

 experience they had thus painfully acquired, they 

 would begin to kill hares. Even the Messrs. Heseltine 

 did nothing in their first essays ; yet in the following 

 season they began to get blood and so moved forward 

 by degrees from success to success. Bassets are pro- 

 verbially poor catchers of a hare at the end of a run, 

 and it is in the last phases of the chase, just when she 

 is getting most beaten, that the hare practises all 

 those wonderful tricks and stratagems which are 

 found so puzzling even by practised huntsmen. As 

 to Irish and English hares, it may be stated with con- 

 fidence that English hares are at least as stout as those 

 of the Sister Island. Most men who have hunted with 

 both would be inclined to yield the English hare the 

 superiority in this respect. 



It is difficult to understand the writer's assertion 

 that his beagles are no faster than bassets. Unless 

 the beagles are very small indeed, it is, I think, the 

 experience of most sportsmen who have tested the 

 question that the average beagle is considerably 

 faster than the short-legged, long, and heavy-bodied 

 basset. 



Before concluding this chapter, it may be not out 

 of place to mention the value of the points of a basset 

 hound, as now recognised for judging : 



Points 

 Head, skull, eyes, muzzle, and flews . . • iS 



Ears IS 



Neck, dewlap, chest, and shoulders . . .10 



