LIFE OF THE EAT-CATCHEE. 47 



have threshed only half of the bay. At such 

 times the Bat-catcher must not leave the 

 remaining half, no, not for half-an-hour 

 throughout the whole night, for if he does the 

 Eats will run out. To stop the Eats from 

 leaving, the Eat-catcher has to lie on the top 

 of the bay or go about every thirty minutes and 

 beat the bottom with sticks until daylight, in 

 order to keep the Eats in. Then, after the 

 machine re-starts, and the bottom of the bay 

 is reached, the Eat-catcher will be well paid 

 for his trouble, for he may get, say, 150 good 

 Eats for the coursing, at six shillings per dozen. 

 The reason I call them good coursing Eats is 

 because they have not been handled, and that 

 enables them to run well. 



Now, when you go to these coursings (which 

 are mostly in the colliery districts) you will 

 find about 60 dogs entered. It is the Eat- 

 catcher's business to measure and handicap 

 the dogs, and a very unpleasant job it is. He 

 has also to be the referee at these coursings, 

 and if it is a "near thing" with two dogs 

 running at one rat, and you decide to award 

 the victory to a given one, then the owner of 

 the other dog will probably accuse you of 

 wrong-doing and favouritism. Then is the 

 time the Eat-catcher has to be prepared to 

 pull off his coat and start fighting before, 



