ALLEGED CRUELTY OF FIELD SPORTS. 383 



accomplished, as it is at the present day. A cen- 

 tury or two ago, the fox lingered all night in a 

 trap, and then was subjected to a lingering, if not 

 an agonizing death. He is now killed by hounds, 

 ojenerally in a short time, if he cannot escape from 

 what may be deemed his lawful pursuers. The 

 buck in the forest of the king, or in the park of the 

 nobleman, is now no longer hunted down by the 

 slow but sure blood-hound, a race nearly extinct, 

 but the unerring eye of the rifle-shot seals his doom 

 on the spot. We agree with the poet, that 



" Poor is the triumph o'er the timid hare ;" 



but she was given for our use, and must be taken, 

 as Esau took the venison, by hunting her; and here 

 likewise is an improvement. A hundred years 

 back she was trailed up to her form, the operation 

 perhaps of an hour, with the terror-striking notes 

 of the hounds all that time in her ear ; and then 

 pursued for at least two hours more by animals with 

 not half her speed, but with a power of following 

 her by the foot, which it was nearly impossible to 

 evade. At the present day she is whipped out of 

 her form, twenty minutes generally deciding her 

 fate ; and, in consequence of her being now pursued 

 in the forenoon, instead of, as before, just on her 

 return from her walk, she escapes oftener than she 

 is killed. Animals destined to fall bv the o:un are 

 now nearly certain of meeting with instant death. 

 In addition to the increased skill of our marksmen, 

 the improved formation of the gun enables it to 

 carry destruction with a much surer hand, owing 



