NOTITIA VENATICA. 117 



liavlug been taken to place the whippers-in in sucli positions tliat it is 

 impossible for any foxes to go away, excepting tlio old ones, whi(jli, on 

 no acconnt, sbould be put l)ack. If part of the hounds should kill a fox 

 by themselves, he should be quietly taken from them and placed out of 

 reach in the fork of a tree, and kept till the end of the day, when he 

 can be broken up with another, if they have the luck to kill one ; these 

 hounds will soon join the cry of one of the other bodies. Hounds after 

 they have regularly broken up a fox seem satisfied, and never go to work 

 with a fresh one immediately with the alacrity they would do if they had 

 not had blood ; besides, their baying at the dead fox would draw 

 many of the other hounds away from their work. When the cubs begin 

 to sink, the different bodies of hounds should be quietly stopped to one 

 fox, the signal for which is the huntsman's halloo, who now begins to 

 exert himself, having been a mere spectator for upwards of an hour, 

 quietly sitting in the middle riding on his horse, watching the young 

 ones as well as the old, and taking particular notice who are leading, 

 and if any of the young ones show an inclination to work at the head, 

 or if they are noisy, or indicate skirting, or any other vice in any way. 

 If the fox persists in running his foil, the following practice is sometimes 

 resorted to by some huntsmen, who watch the opportunity, and catch 

 liold* of six or seven couples of " loide hounds^' which may have just 

 left the line of another fox, and throw them in at head, or, as they term, 

 it, " give him the meeting." This so alarms him, having fancied that 

 all his enemies were in his rear, that he immediately tries fresh ground, 

 which is a great relief to the hounds, as affording a better scent. When 

 he is pretty well " wound-up," he shoidd be kept back in a quarter ot 

 the high cover, where the hounds can fly at him all abreast, and with 

 proper and workmanlike management he can there be vanquished, with- 

 out being allowed to slip over by a parcel of bunglers, when in all proba- 

 biUty he will be changed for a fresh fox during the next ring. The 

 practice of meeting a fox in the above way is much deprecated by 

 some sportsmen, as teaching hounds to skirt for one thing, but its being 

 done constantly by some of the first performers of the day is, I shoidd 

 suppose, a suflScicnt guarantee for the legality of the mano3uvre ; besides, 

 it is only admissible in cub-hunting, where many artful dodges are con- 

 stantly put in practice which are never dreamed of after the first of 

 November. When hounds are running hard in cover and suddenly 

 come to a check, they on no account whatever ought to be interfered 

 with, or even spoken to; the fox has either laid down or turned short back. 

 If the whippers-in know their business his escape is next to an impossi- 

 bility ; sit still and make them hit it off" themselves — some of the old ones 

 are sure to make it good before many moments are passed, and then one 

 word from old Hyale or Laundress is Avorth a dozen hoicks or view-halloos. 

 If it can be managed, the day's work should always finish Avith blood : 

 therefore, if the hounds have had upwards of an hour or two's Avork of 

 the right sort, and killed their fox, and the sun is getting hot, and there 

 is little probability of there being a holding scent sufficient to keep 'em 



* " Catching hold" is stopping and calling quickly along. 



