742 THE DOCK 



came at length to be exclusively applied to a race of hounds 

 differing chiefly from the ancient fox-hounds in size. They 

 were patient in the chase, and had admirable powers of scent, 

 but were slow in their motions as compared with modern 

 dogs of the same class. They were frequently followed by 

 the country people on foot, who carried long poles in their 

 hands by which they were enabled to make surprising leaps 

 over brooks, ditches, and hedges. This species of sport was 

 long a great source of enjoyment to the country people of 

 England. The hare, it is to be observed, when pursued by 

 the fleeter dogs, uses all its powers to reach a covert, avail- 

 ing itself of hedges, ravines, and any inequalities of the 

 ground, to elude the sight of its pursuers, so that it may gain 

 upon them. "When chased by hounds, however, the hare en- 

 deavours to baffle the scent by doubling and a thousand ar- 

 tifices, generally running in a circuit, so that she does not go 

 far from the place where she has started ; hence, with the 

 older harriers, the hare afforded a chase with which any one, 

 however ill mounted, might keep up, and which even persons 

 on foot could enjoy. With refinement in the mode of hunt- 

 ing, however, a swifter kind of dog was employed, and the 

 chase changed its characters. It is now pursued in the same 

 manner as the fox-chase ; and the hare being started is soon 

 run down, having little time to pursue those wiles which 

 used to put to proof the powers of scent of the dogs, and 

 really constituted the spirit of the chase. Many packs of 

 harriers are kept in the country ; but this kind of sport is 

 not in the same favour as formerly, and is usually discouraged 

 by the masters of fox-hounds, as interfering with what is re- 

 garded as the regular chase. 



The smallest of the races of hounds is the Bigle, or Beagle, 

 apparently the Ayaotfsyg of the Greek and Agassseus of the 

 Roman Cynegetica. This diminutive hound may be reason- 

 ably supposed to be derived in part from some of the smaller 

 Canidae of the warmer countries. It was known in the Bri- 

 tish Islands from the earliest period at which we have any 



