HUNTING IN AMEEICA. 185 



and work their way after the drag, a *^ bag- 

 man " being provided to blood them at the 

 finish. Sometimes the pack comes too close 

 upon the dragger, and then a nasty scene 

 ensues, which is pleasanter not described. 



Fortunately for men, horses, and hounds, 

 liunting is but little indulged in throughout 

 America. I mean, of course, fox-hunting, for 

 I cannot attempt to cry down the many 

 ■splendid and manly hunts of other descriptions 

 in which the Americans carry off the palm. 



In many parts of the country — more 

 especially in the States — the people so affect 

 trotting-horses, that the matter has become a 

 craze. It is a fact, which has more than once 

 been proved, that four legs capable of carrying 

 any sort of frame a mile in less than two-and-a- 

 quarter minutes, will easily fetch a thousand 

 pounds; and if the animal is in condition to 

 repeat the performance several times in one 

 day, his price will range^ correspondingly 

 higher. 



The usual arrangement — very seldom varied 

 — is that the ^* trots " shall be mile heats ; and 

 as the horses are, generally speaking, pretty 



