142 NOTITIA VENATICA. 



As soon as a hound opens in cover, if you do not know his note, be- 

 fore you speak to him work your Avay right up to him, and see which it 

 is ; if it is riot, even in the case of a young hound, lie will nine times in 

 ten leave it Avhen he sees you approach him : let him alone for a few 

 seconds ; if you knoAV him to he sure, cheer him and talk to him, and 

 blow your horn, and get the body of the hounds to him as quick as you 

 can. Oh ! what thrilling melody, as they come chiming in one after 

 the other ! and then rattle him on with a tremendous ci'ash. Such a 

 find as that, reader, is Avorth riding, or even walking, fifty miles to wit- 

 ness. After you have found your fox, more especially when running a 

 chain of covers, always, if you possibly can, lie down wind of your hoimds ; 

 you Avill then never be out of hearing, and they Avill with greater ditti- 

 culty slip you, or even change or divide, Avithout your being aware of the 

 circumstance. Unless you Avork Avith your men according to a system 

 laid doAvn and agreed upon betAveen you, you Avill ahvays be in confu- 

 sion : a cunning old Avhipper-in, vinless he is Avorking to orders, Avill in- 

 variably take the down Avind line from you ; hoAvever, it is your OAvn 

 fault if you let him. A little experience soon puts a man up to all these 

 httlc manoeuvres in the chase. When hounds arc once aAvay and got 

 together, the Avhippers-in should ride one to the right and the other left 

 (if there are tAvo) ; and, generally speaking, one is quite sufficient to 

 turn hoiuids ; therefore, if the second whip sees the first rather more 

 forAvard, and ready to wait upon the huntsman, he ought to ease his 

 horse a little ; and Avhen the hounds turn toAvards his line, he can ride 

 forward, and alloAV the first Avhip to drop a little back and recover his 

 horse's wind. In Avindy weather and on bad hearing days, a huntsman 

 should draAV invariably up Avind, and should not only be pretty free Avith 

 his voice, but should also give frequent single blasts on his horn as he 

 rides along, to keep the hounds pretty avcU together, or they may draAv 

 away too Avide, find a fox by themselves, and slip aAA^ay doAvn Avind unper- 

 ceived, I haveknoAvnhoixnds on some days, esijccially Avhen there Avas 

 a good deal of Avind, run much harder doAvn Avind than they could Avhen 

 they turned against it, although the reverse is generally the case : Avhy 

 it Avas so I never could make out, nor yet get any experienced sportsman 

 to explain to me the reason in a satisfactory manner. Hounds seldom 

 riot in loAV thick coA'ers, Avherc they can be easily got at by a A\'hii)per-in ; 

 but in high cover, Avhere they can see the hares bouncing by them in a 

 most tempting manner, and Avhere they knoAV, from the nature of the 

 copse-wood and tangled briars, that no Avhippcr-in can ride after them, 

 they Avill occasionally, especially if there is no drag of a fox through the 

 cover, set to Avork in a most ungovernable and determined manner both 

 young and old : if they should refuse to listen to the rating and chiding 

 of the Avhipper-in, jump ott" your horse quickly, run a little Avay in to the 

 high cover on foot, scream a note upon your horn, and chide them, and 

 they Avill invariably come aAvay ashamed, and folloAV you out like a gang 

 of condemned culprits : don't fiog them, but talk a little to them as you 

 go along, and make them ashamed of themselves : it Avill do them more 

 good than being flogged by the huntsman, Avho should never strike a 

 hound, and only rate him upon such occasions, Aftez'wards find a fox 



