HUNTING THE FOX 47 



now settled to one Cub. Some Huntsmen will try 

 to have him headed back into one quarter of the 

 woodland. This policy is of doubtful expediency 

 unless the Cub is nearly beaten and cannot get 

 far away from the Hounds, because whenever he 

 is turned the Hounds tend to overrun the scent, 

 and the time lost in recovering it on the foil gives 

 him the opportunity to think, and a fresh lease of 

 life. It should be tried, however, when the Cub 

 is almost done, rather than run the risk of changing 

 on to a fresh Fox in another quarter. When the 

 Hounds run into their Cub it is probably wise not 

 to take him away from them. Let them tear him 

 in pieces while they are angry, and thus learn the 

 habit of breaking up their Foxes properly while 

 the Huntsman excites them by horn and voice. 

 Those who hunt Hounds in mountainous countries, 

 where they cannot be with them when they kill, 

 will tell you that Hounds will be content to kill 

 their Foxes without eating them. This looks as 

 if the eating of the Fox by the Hounds is not a 

 natural process, but is really a tour deforce, stimu- 

 lated by the presence and manner of the men in 

 red coats, before whom they wish to show off, 

 prompted by a legitimate dash of vanity. Be this 

 as it may, there is no doubt that the worry is the 

 right finish to the chase. Nothing can be more 

 melancholy or indecent than having to leave the 

 carcase of such a beautiful creature as a Fox 



