HUNTING TOURS. 161 



lecting in preference their sylvan haunts and 

 the arable lands, which are less favourable to 

 the olfactory powers of their pursuers. The 

 woodlands are numerous and extensive ; one 

 of which, called Halfwood, comprises several 

 thousand acres. The charms of variety, how- 

 ever, are profusely dispensed ; for there is 

 hill and vale, ploughd land and grass, and the 

 foxes are proverbially stout, which, by the 

 eloquent persuasion of a determined pack of 

 hounds, are very generally compelled to take 

 to the open, when, with a fair scent, a run is 

 a certain result. It is a severe country for 

 hounds, one in which their good qualities are 

 most extensively tested. They must com- 

 mence their day's work with a persevering 

 aptitude to draw for and find their foxes; 

 they must also be gifted with the important 

 taste for music — mute hounds would be 

 worthless ; moreover, they require courage 

 and stamina, with the inseparable compa- 

 nion, condition, or they would never be 

 able to run down the hardy denizens of the 

 strong woodlands. To these qualifications 

 hunting powers are of great consequence ; 

 because, from the nature of the country, it 

 frequently happens that a huntsman cannot at 



