90 IIOESES AND HOUNDS. 



encouragement to have the young hounds well kept, and I 

 found it paid wonderfully; for the best dog 41., second 3l., 

 third 2l., fourth ll., and the same for hitches. 



It is a good plan to give names with the whelps when first 

 sent out to their quarters ; they will be more handy when re- 

 turned to the kennel, and come readily when called. When the 

 young hounds come in, everything is strange to them, and many 

 are very shy and sulky. It is now that you will see the use of 

 having a good-tempered and cheerful man as feeder ; such a 

 one will soon gain the affection and confidence of the young 

 hounds ; animals soon find out those who are fond of them. 

 Let the feeder be with them as much as possible ; if he takes 

 some broken biscuits in his pockets, or bits of meat, and plays 

 and romps with them for only an hour on each day, on the 

 third day they will follow him anywhere. This may appear all 

 very childish, and great nonsense to many ; wiser men, how- 

 ever, tlian your humble servant " Scrutator" have been caught 

 romping and playing with children, and if you wish your hounds 

 to be attached to you, you must treat them in the same way. I 

 once saw a huntsman at high romps with the young hounds in 

 the summer. He was out in a paddock behind the kennels, 

 tossing up bits of biscuit high in the air for them to catch, 

 throwing some to a distance, and playing all sorts of tricks with 

 them ; it ended by his going to the end of the paddock and 

 having a race home with them to the kenneh A friend of mine 

 who was with me, witnessing this game, exclaimed, " What a 

 fool that fellow must be." " Well," I said, " you may think him 

 so ; but, with all his folly, he can do more with his hounds, both 

 in the kennel and in the field, than any man of the present 

 day." "Why," he replied, "he will set them fighting, with all 

 this nonsense." "Tell him so, then, and hear what he will say." 

 " Well," he said, " Mr. Huntsman, you seem out of breath with 

 your exertions. I should think that romping most likely to end 

 in a general row." "No fear of that, sir; we have our school 

 time as well as play time, and I can check them in a moment if 

 I see any disposition to quarrel." 



These hounds would clo anything for liim : if he called one 

 by name he would bound to him with the greatest alacrity, and 

 try to jump on his shoulders, dancing round and fawning upon 

 him like a spanieL He never had a whip in his hand in the 

 kennel, nor would he ever allow a whipper-in to help draw 

 hounds, as I have seen in many kennels. He could separate 

 the dogs and the bitciies, when all standing together, at a word, 

 by ordering the dogs to one side and the bitches to the other 

 Bide of the yard, I have seen this attempted by other hunts- 



