NOTITIA VENATICA. 143 



as soon as you can, and by all manner of means kill him if possil)lc. 

 Never hang about a place where there is nuich riot and no fox ; few 

 hounds can stand it, and they sliould never have a chance given them 

 to run riot if it could be avoided : in fact, you slioidd instil into them 

 the belief that they can never riot Avithout being immediately detected 

 and punished for it on the spot. It is a glorious morning for the young 

 hounds Avlien you can find a fox in the middle of a good deal of riot ; 

 and if he hangs a little before he breaks : blood after such a day's drill- 

 ing will do them more good than a hundred floggings. When a fox 

 continues to hang to a large wood, and, in fact, upon all occasions Avlien 

 running in cover, ride well on up to the leading hounds ; that is, if you 

 cannot follow them through the covers, Avliich I would always do if I 

 could in any way, keejj as near them as you can, taking care to lie 

 down wind of them. Continually cheer and halloo the rest of the hounds 

 forward to the body : nothing is so disgraceful as to see hounds running 

 one fox in detached bodies ; and never mind what some of the new hght 

 say about making hounds wild by halloing to them, and cheering them 

 together upon such occasions : a foxhound that Avill not stand cheering 

 is not worth his keep. What did old .John Warde say ? and no man 

 loved to see hounds work by their noses more than he did. He used to 

 say, when hounds were running a fox in cover, " continually cheer and 

 encourage them : a good cheering halloo shoves 'em well together." 

 How old Tom Rose had used to cheer and rattle a pack together when 

 he hunted the Duke of Grafton's ! So did Mr. Musters when he was 

 getting his pack to settle well to him ; and no man could kill a crooked 

 fox better than he could. I do not recommend an unnecessary scream- 

 ing at hounds upon all occasions when they cross the ridings before you 

 but I am convinced that they will get along better and faster through a 

 heavy lino of woodlands, Avhen well waited on, and cheered forward on 

 the lino of their fox, than when they are totally left to the melancholy 

 system of working all alone, till at last it degencx'ates into the spiritless 

 exhibition of "follow the leader" from morning till night. When 

 taking hounds to a halloo in cover, or even when only casting them, you 

 should invariably hold them on the side of the riding into which the fox 

 has crossed ; for if you come bungling up the ride, with the hounds after 

 you, as one or ttvo men whom I could mention arc in the habit of doing, 

 giving you the idea, of a flock of geese with the greatest goose first, it is 

 ten to one, if the fox has come down Avind, that the hounds strike the 

 scent heel-ways, and cause much confusion and loss of time before they 

 can again be got upon the right line. If hounds, when brought to a 

 halloo in cover, are put on the line, and cannot at first acknowledge it, 

 ride quietly into the cover the way the fox went, and by holding them on 

 and gently encouraging them to try, the old hounds wiU soon hit him 

 when held further on. The most probable cause of their not hitting him 

 at first is that the fox made a short turn right or left to find the rack- 

 way, where he could travel with greater case, and which he missed when 

 he first came over the riding : moreover, the first part of his line may 

 be stained by the breath of the horse, or oven of the man himself, who 

 had halloed you to the point, and thoughtlessly had been standing 



