NOTITIA VENATICA. 53 



in one week, besides a numerous small fry ; and a few years after, when 

 in Holderness, my men killed in various ways in the kennels, stables, 

 and yards adjoining, including the rick-yard banks, seven hundred and 

 thirty-six rats between October and the following April. In some places 

 they give so much a dozen for the tails of rats, as an encouragement for 

 their destruction. In the stables of R. Watt, Esq., of Bishop Burton, 

 near Beverley, some years ago, a lad, who had acquired the character of 

 a most expert rat- killer, was discovered to have a method of making two 

 tails out of one, by skinning them, and inserting a stick in so ingenious 

 a manner as to have escaped detection for a considerable time ! Two 

 or three cats are good things to encourage about a kennel. I recollect I 

 was much amused when looldng at Lord Middleton's hounds when they 

 were kept at Stratford-on-Avon, in seeing two very large cats lying on 

 the benches with them ; I was informed by Harry .Jackson, the old 

 huntsman, that they were all on the very best terms, the cats going in 

 and out at their pleasure. What made it appear more extraordinary 

 Avas, that there were three or four couples of terriers, the most invete- 

 rate enemies of the feline race, kept with them, which likewise appeared 

 on an equally friendly footing. The following is an excellent recipe for 

 poisoning rats, but the greatest caution should be observed in the use of 

 it. This poison should never be used, except during the time the hounds 

 may be absent from the place altogether, which is sometimes the case 

 Avltli those packs which hunt their country from two kennels, or which 

 spend their winter at one place, and their summer months at another. 

 Take of— 



Powdered fenugreek seed . . . . 1 oz. 



Musk ...... ^ ga. 



Oil of rhodium, caraway, and anis, each . . 4 drops. 



White sugar . . . . . 2 oz. 



Mix this well together in a quart of oatmeal, and put small quantities on 

 bits of board in the situations where the rats generally frequent. Re- 

 peat it for four nights, or tiU you see that they eat freely of it : then 

 take half an ounce of white arsenic in powder, mix it intimately with 

 the composition, and lay some of it, at night, in the places where you 

 first laid the feed. In the morning take up what may be left, and put it 

 safely away. 



Some years since, when staying at Hungerford for the purpose of 

 hunting, I saw in Mr. Warde's kennel a doe which was kept in an out- 

 house close to the kennel- door; she was remarkably tame, and came in 

 generally to feed Avith the hounds at the trough, and it was really won- 

 derful to see with what avidity she would eat, not only the meal, but 

 also the boiled flesh.* She afterwards walked out with the pack in 

 the paddock, and caused much amusement by her playful antics : this 

 was, no doubt, one reason why Mr. Warde's hounds were so notoriously 

 steady from deer in the Marlborough Forest. 



* Deer are well known to have a great desire to eat almost anything offered to 

 them. The author has frequently fed the deer in Magdalene Park, Oxford, after 

 breakfast, with buttered rolls, ham, and all sorts of meat, gloves, handkerchiefs, 

 paper, and even cinders, thrown to them from the windows. 



