THE INDAGATOR GROUP. 739 



couching down until the hounds have passed ; and when over- 

 taken, conscious of its want of power, it offers no resistance. 



It was chiefly for the preservation of these deer, but, above 

 all, of the stag, that the spirit of the ancient forest-laws of 

 England was maintained, while almost a herd of deer was 

 to be found in the woods. But, with the interrupted reign 

 of the Stuart family, the civil wars, and the freer use of fire- 

 arms by the people, the numbers of the native deer con- 

 tinually diminished, until, with the exception of those found 

 in the wilds of Scotland, they were almost confined to the 

 parks and preserves of the opulent. 



The hounds employed in England for the chase of the wild 

 deer were generally termed Raches. They likewise received 

 the name of Talbots, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps 

 merely the proper name of some person, or of some place 

 where a good breed was reared. They were a race of large 

 dogs, nearly of the size of mastiffs, and with something of the 

 same aspect. They had the muzzle broad, the upper lip hang- 

 ing over the lower, the ears long and pendulous, the chest wide, 

 with a kind of dewlap, and the limbs muscular and crooked. 

 Their voice was deep 'and sonorous, and they were endowed 

 with an exquisite sense of smell. They were far inferior in 

 speed to the modern hunting dogs, but excelled them in their 

 adherence to the track of the game, and their pertinacity in 

 pursuing it. At first a few only of the more experienced 

 hounds were let into the covert, in order to find the game, 

 when they manifested unrivalled sagacity and power of scent. 

 Disregarding all inferior quarry, they could discriminate, by 

 .the smell alone, what was called the warrantable game from 

 the fawns which were not to be hunted, and the hinds when 

 out of season for the chase. The instant a dog caught the 

 scent, he opened, and was joined in chorus by his fellows. 

 But a few lines, often quoted, of our great dramatic poet, 

 describe to the life the ancient Stag-hounds of England. 



" My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, 

 So flew'd, so sanded, and their heads are hung 



