52 HUNTING THE FOX 



as already stated, have all his Hounds round his 

 horse well in hand. The next, and the most 

 important thing of all, is that, before he gets near 

 the line, he should ascertain beyond all manner 

 of doubt what is the direction of the Fox's head. 

 When the Fox has been holloaed over a road or 

 a ride in a covert this should not be difficult. If 

 the whipper-in has had to go and fetch the Hunts- 

 man he can always give him full information on the 

 way to the place. If the Huntsman is coming to 

 the holloa, the whipper-in, or whoever has seen 

 the Fox, should stand on the line with his horse's 

 head the same way as the Fox has gone. Some 

 distance — say twenty to thirty yards — before the 

 Huntsman gets to the place where the Fox has 

 crossed, he should stop and turn his horse's head 

 in the direction that the Fox has gone, and put all 

 the Hounds into the covert. He should then ride 

 quite slowly down the ride or road, so as to give 

 his Hounds time to spread and get their noses 

 down. It is better for the Huntsman to keep in 

 the ride than to go into the covert with his Hounds, 

 because, by keeping in the ride, he has every Hound 

 between him and his Fox, and is in a position to 

 stop any Hound from getting on to the wrong side 

 of the ride and speaking to the scent heel-way. If 

 this system is carefully followed, the Hounds will 

 soon get to learn when the time has come for them 

 to feel for the scent, and they will get busy at once. 



