BRITISH SPORT PAST AND PRESENT 



hare in the gorse : she broke under his nose, raced away up 

 hill, and thanks to the advantage this naturally gave, saved 

 her scut. 



' Hares will make leaps almost incredible from the open 

 field into the hedge, and will do the same at a gate. They fly 

 to gates to escape the exertion of getting over a fence wherein 

 they know no certain meuse ; as soon as harriers become at 

 all unsteady they will forsake the line and make for the first 

 gate or rail forward — a very bad habit. 



' The hare's peculiarity of turping up or down a fence 

 after passing through it instead of going straight away makes 

 running a fox, which does just the reverse, ruinous to harriers. 

 If good harriers are not pressed by horsemen they will at once 

 try up and down the fence : let but one horseman go over 

 before the pack is again settled on the line, and he spoils 

 everything. A steady field makes a steady pack. 



' Here is a curious fact that may interest you : — There is 

 in om* country a certain estate with a very large demesne, and 

 we are only allowed to hunt over an unenclosed portion of the 

 property. The demesne, which is luckily quite on our boundary, 

 is full of hares, but they are very seldom seen out of it. On 

 three occasions I have known hares make straight for this 

 demesne, all three having been found within a few yards of 

 the same spot which is at a considerable distance from the place 

 referred to and, moreover, on the further side of the river 

 Teign. We killed all three, one, by the way, in the river itself, 

 after runs as hard and straight as possible. But why should 

 all these three bucks have been found on that one spot ? It 

 may be conjectured that the gentlemen were tired of the 

 ladies of their own district and came hither in search of variety : 

 but against this must be set the fact that hares are by no 

 means plentiful in the district about the place where the three 

 were found. 



' Hare-hunting, according to the Almanac, ends on 1st 

 March, but for my own part I like to go on till Lady Day, 

 25th March, because, as in fox-hunting, the best sport of the 

 season is obtained during February and March. And here I 



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