212 THE HUNTING-FIELD. 



or his huntsman on emergency ; his men are, as 

 you may guess, something like himself; his 

 hounds are something the same, a little, and not 

 a little, inclined to riot ; there is more hallooing, 

 whooping, and rating with these hounds in a 

 week, than is heard with those you have seen in 

 a season; the master half hunts them himself, a 

 system quite calculated to confuse and spoil any 

 pack. If a master knows his hounds well enough, 

 and they know him, and he likes to occasionally 

 hunt them himself in a choice country, if master 

 and man hunt them in the same way, no great 

 harm may arise ; or if, in the temporary absence 

 of the huntsman, the master takes his place till he 

 comes up, well and good; hut one huntsman a 

 day is quite enough, and, with all submission I 

 say it, with these hounds sometimes too much, 

 for I feel quite sure they would often do better if 

 left more alone. They kill a vast number of 

 foxes during the season, or at all events mob them 

 to death ; for a greater number of noses on the 

 kennel doors than other packs show, seems the 

 great pride of the hunt. Of course there are a 

 number of gentlemen hunt with them ; they have 

 also a rather unusual number of wealthy farmers 

 and their sons, some of the latter sporting pink ; 

 they are substantial men, a rough and ready lot 

 of course, and the master and they stand upon 

 very little ceremony ; the former raps out, not 



