14(5 HOUSES AXD HOUNDS. 



run his course out. Jem could scarcely believe it, he said, when 

 he heard my shrill whoo-hoop from the other side of the covert, 

 but the hounds' baying soon satisfied him that his foe had 

 licked the dust, and he came crashing down through the wood 

 in ecstasies of delight. ^ Few were up to witness the finale of 

 this gallant fox, the majority of our field being scattered in all 

 directions. Having then nearly thirty miles to return home, I 

 thanked my friend Bob for his services, and we commenced our 

 homevrard journey. This fox could not have run over much 

 less ground than twenty miles, and, by the time we reached the 

 kennels, horses and hounds had quite enough for one day. 



When a fixture is once made, no deviation from it should be 

 afterwards admitted. In these days, real sportsmen often go 

 very long distances to meet a good pack of hounds, and make 

 their arrangements accordingly. It is, therefore, very unfair to 

 disappoint them. Whatever the hour of meeting may be, it 

 should be observed with punctuality, and although occasionally 

 you may give a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes to those 

 expected from long distances, it should be borne in mind that 

 your punctual friends are cooling their heels, and their horses 

 shivering perhaps in the cold all this time. I have seen hounds 

 waiting for more than an hour beyond time, in expectation of 

 some great man coming down by rail, who never arrived after 

 all; and you may suppose a great deal of dissatisfaction was ex- 

 pressed, both by looks and words. The expectations and con- 

 venience of the majority of your field should not be sacrificed 

 to accommodate ever so great a man, and I never would wait 

 more than half-an-hour for any individual, her most Gracious 

 Majesty alone being excepted. 



Upon one occasion I gave mortal offence to a great duke, or 

 rather, I should say, to his flatterers, by not waiting beyond a 

 certain time, when he was expected to honour my fixture with 

 his presence. I certainly gave him a very reasonable allowance 

 of time, and at last, his servant expressing a doubt of his coming 

 at all, I commenced drawing, but in the direction he was ex- 

 pected. There were one or two despicable sycophants out, how- 

 ever, who represented my conduct as an intentional disrespect 

 to him, and the seeds of animosity were thus sown by these 

 artful knaves to suit their own purposes, which afterwards pro- 

 duced a pretty good harvest of discord throughout the country. 



In going to the place of meeting, tlie first whipper-in should 

 be some distance before the hounds ; the second a long way be- 

 hind them. Some huntsmen like to have the hounds cooped up, 

 as it v/ere, all around them. It looks better to see hounds in a 

 compact body, but it is, in my opinion, very objectionable to 



