HORSES A>'D HOITSDS. lOD 



look, as much as to say, " that will do, we shall soon have him 

 out," and I was so much pleased with his cunning that I 

 resolved he should not be disapyjointed. I accordingly hallooed 

 to a man I saw at work, and sent him home for the whipper-in 

 and a spade. We soon dug the fox out, and carried him home 

 in a sack, Nothing could exceed the delight of the old hound 

 when he saw the fox safely bagged — ^he danced and jumped 

 about, and led the way in high glee, as much as to say, " here 

 he comes I this is my doing." Having dep>osited the fox in a 

 safe place, the old hound appeared quite satisfied ; but when it 

 became dark we turned him loose again. 



There is nothing extraordinary in the hound going again to 

 visit the jilace where he had seen the fox run to ground, but 

 the mystery is how he prevailed upon the terriers, which had 

 not been out that day, to go with him. Instinct, in dogs, is 

 very nearly allied to reason, and tliis dog must have considered 

 that he could not get the fox out without the assistance of the 

 timers • and, but for my appearance on the scene, I have no 

 doubt tney would have succeeded in their object, as the pipe 

 was not deep, and the soil sandy. 



Upon another occasion we had been running a fox for some 

 time, with an indifferent scent, and at last, getting up to him in 

 a small spinney, he made directly for a park wall, over which 

 he went, and all the hounds ; but to old Pilgrim this was a 

 stopper. Without hesitation, however, he made round to a 

 cradle stile, a long distance off, and got up in time to have a 

 taste of the fox, which we ran into in the middle of the park. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



Laws of fox-huntiiig — The whole question a lex non scripia, but a matter of 

 custom — How countries are formed and held — Coverts — Ei^ht of master 

 to dispose of them — Eight- to draw a neighbouring covert — 31anner ia 

 which coverts mav become lapsed — Twenty, if not seven veai^' undis- 

 puted possession, a legal title to a country — !Mj. Assheton Smith and the 

 Craven country — Sir John Cope, in Collingboume wcxkIs — The right of 

 earth-stoppiug — On running into a neig-hbour's country — Necessity of 

 goodfeehn^iu neighbouring himts, propriety of forming a club, analogotia 

 to the Jockey Club, for the decision of disputes as to title of cotmtry — 

 Lord Hawke's attempt — Advantages of the existiaglaws of los-hunting — 

 Tricks of keepers in destroying foses by vermin traps. 



It may not now be out of place to make a few observations on 

 the laws of fox-hunting. Where, then, is the law or the rules 

 which govern fox-hunting to be found ] Xo where. It is a ?^ 



