284 HORSES AND HOUNDS. 



head of the list stands the worthy master of the B.V.H.. who, 

 taking him all in all, may be considered as the ]\Ieynell of his 

 day in the harrier line. Mr. Yeatman certainly stands confessed 

 as the leading and most brilliant star in his profession, and by 

 all accounts, his pack must be quite perfection. They are, I am 

 told, all thorough-bred fox-hounds, standing from twenty to 

 twenty-one inches in height, with good legs and feet ; and, if 

 we are to judge by the runs we sometimes see recorded in BelVs 

 Life, they are as clever in their performances as they are in 

 their appearance. I still must think, however, that thorough- 

 bred fox-hounds are more than a match for the timid hare ; and 

 I should prefer the cross I have named above, not because they 

 have better noses, but because they have less speed and are less 

 flighty. 



Fox-hounds always require to be kept above their work ; but 

 that is not the case with harriers — the more work they have the 

 better they will be. If fed on good old oatmeal, and well 

 treated, they will hunt three days a week. There is seldom a 

 complaint in any country of having too many foxes ; they are 

 easily dispersed ; but too many hares are almost fatal to sport 

 with harriers. They will not disperse and shift their quarters 

 like foxes ; and you will be running and changing all day long, 

 until the hounds are disgusted. I have seen greyhounds so 

 over-coursed and bewildered with many hares that they came 

 to a stand, and would not attempt to race after another hare ; 

 and this, I think, would be the case with a pack of harriers, 

 where game was too plentiful. To run two or three good hares 

 down in a day is sufficient entertainment for man, horse, 

 and liound, particularly as we are not to make a serious 

 business of it. 



In these days, good hare-hunting countries are become scarce ; 

 the hattue men repudiate them on one side, and the numerous 

 packs of fox-hounds snub them on the other ; so that our poor 

 friends, the thistle-whippers, have a very poor chance for their 

 amusement. There is certainly a prejudice against harriers, 

 and I think a very unfounded and unjust one. Where they are 

 well conducted, with a real gentleman sportsman as their owner, 

 they cannot materially, if at all, interfere with either fox- 

 hunting or game-preserving; but it must be admitted that a 

 pack of curs, with anything but a gentleman at their head, is a 

 perfect nuisance in any country hunted by fox-hounds. When 

 I kept fox-hounds there were two packs of harriers in my 

 country; but their owners were gentlemen, and became par- 

 ticular friends of my own, and they never in any way interfered 

 with our sport. But there was also, at the extreme point of 



