.MR. MEYNELl's opinions AND PRACTICE. 393 



. " Mr. Meynell," continues Mr. Hawkes, '' prided 

 himself on the steadiness of his hounds, and their 

 hunting through sheep and hares, which they did 

 in a very superior manner. He seldom or never 

 attempted to lift his hounds through sheep ; and 

 from habit, and the great flocks the hounds were 

 accustomed to, they carried the scent on most cor- 

 rectly and expeditiously, much sooner than any 

 lifting could accomplish." We are far from advo- 

 cates for lifting hounds when it can be avoided ; . 

 but knowing the so often insurmountable difficulties 

 occasioned by flocks of sheep and herds of cattle in 

 the country Mr. Meynell hunted, in addition to a 

 crowd of horsemen pressing upon the heels of the 

 pack, we consider that, if, under such circumstances, 

 hounds do not almost instantly recover the scent, 

 the assistance of the huntsman is called for. The 

 '' steadiness and docility" of Mr. MeynelPs pack, 

 we have reason to believe, were remarkable, and are 

 vouched for by other authority than Mr. Hawkes's. 

 ^' A most extraordinary instance of discipline in 

 hounds," says Colonel Cook (p. 202,) " occurs to 

 me, which I ought to have mentioned when speak- 

 ing of that unrivalled sportsman, the late Mr. Mey- 

 nell. He met in the Market Harborough (Leices- 

 tershire) country, at a small patch of gorse on the 

 side of a hill, in a very large pasture field ; the 

 hounds feathered as they went in, and found in- 

 stantly. The covert being only about two acres, 

 and open, Mr. Meynell immediately saw that the 

 fox was in danger of being chopped ; he therefore 

 called out to Jack Raven, the liuntsman, ' Jack, 



