HORSES AND HOUNDS. 139 



observation of the qualities they possessed, instead of trusting 

 to the representation of others. I derived great benefit from 

 this course of proceeding, in many instances ; but I once had a 

 lot of young hounds sent me from the Cheshire kennels, some 

 years ago, so thoroughly noisy, that, although they, were fine, 

 good-looking hounds, and in appearance what fox-hounds ought 

 to be, yet I was obliged to draft the whole of them for this 

 cause. The first day I took them out cub hunting, some began 

 throwing their tongues as soon as they entered the covert, where 

 there was no game of any kind ; these I put away at once, and 

 the rest followed. 



I had, however, great luck on other occasions. From Lord 

 Fitzwilliam's kennels, Seabright sent me one season four un- 

 entered hounds, three of which turned out excellent, and I bred 

 from them all, the produce being not only clever, but as good 

 hounds in their work as any man ever possessed. Two of these 

 hounds from Lord Fitzwilliam's became very great favourites, 

 and never left my kennel. In many large establishments the 

 breeding system is carried on to a very injurious extent, and 

 there is little cause to wonder at young hounds proving faulty, 

 when the characters of their parents have never been fully 

 ascertained. 



Beckford justly remarks, " That too large a body of hounds 

 is a very useless incumbrance" — it is not only a very useless 

 and expensive incumbrance, but the hounds cannot be suffi- 

 ciently worked to prove any excellences they may possess. It 

 is said that great talents are called forth by great occasions. 

 Many hounds are seldom tried sufficiently to prove their real 

 characters, before they are bred from, if good-looking, and in 

 the present day good looks are often taken in lieu of, or as an 

 acknowledgment of, good deeds. 



I think I have before remarked that hounds should never be 

 used before they have passed through two seasons at least, and 

 their characters have become thoroughly established. ^ I have 

 heard of nearly a hundred couples of whelps being bred in some 

 large establishments in one season. Where such is the case, 

 there must be a good deal of casualty work. The strength of a 

 pack of fox-hounds consists in the number of three and four 

 seasoned hunters, and to keep up this, you must enter a suffi- 

 cient number of young hounds each year. The distemper varies 

 very much according to the season ; it is, therefore, the wisest 

 plan, when you have a good lot of young hounds safe over the 

 distemper, to keep as many as you can. By putting them with 

 a certain number of old hounds you can form two distinct 

 packs, promoting the young, as they become steady, to your best 



