28 HUNTING THE FOX 



make it difficult or impossible to draw a woodland 

 up wind in the orthodox manner. On these occa- 

 sions a short halt may be called about a mile from 

 the covert, and one of the Staff instructed to canter 

 on down wind for a view ; this is especially to be 

 thought of after Christmas, when the Foxes have 

 already been hunted and the coverts are thin. 

 But on no account should the Huntsman be 

 allowed to ride up to any covert, send his man on 

 for a view, try to put the Fox out by blowing his 

 horn, and then gallop the Hounds round to lay 

 them on to his brush. This practice sounds tempt- 

 ing, and may indeed result in something brilliant, 

 but it is thoroughly unsound. Even if done once 

 the Hounds will not forget it for weeks, and the 

 next time they are asked to draw, will be looking 

 up into their Huntsman's face expecting him to 

 clap them on to their Fox and save them the trouble 

 of drawing. The more successful this manoeuvre, 

 the more fatal its effect upon the moral of the pack. 

 The pace from covert to covert should be regu- 

 lated mainly by the temperature and the wind. 

 Hounds can travel comfortably on the road at 

 least half as fast again on a cool day up wind 

 as on a warm day down wind. The natural 

 pace for a Hound on the road is about six miles 

 an hour. They should never be asked to go to 

 the meet faster than this, except perhaps during 

 the first few weeks of Cub-hunting, when a some- 



