IN THE FAR WEST. 139 



hounds and horses in Great Britain to their mettle to keep it 

 in sight. The horses used in its pursuit should be compact, 

 fleet and enduring, and should also be prompt in movement ; 

 in a word, handy, for a coyote will often jump out of its bur- 

 row in the twinkling of an eye, and the steed that is not able 

 to get under full headway in a moment is liable to remain 

 in the background, unless it is unusually fleet. Indian 

 mustangs make capital mounts, as they have fair endurance, 

 and can make a good spurt fora short distance, and can plunge 

 into a gallop from a halt; yet some of the thorough-bred blood 

 in them would enhance their value, as it would give them the 

 speed they now lack, except for a few minutes. Regular 

 hunters would, to a certain extent, be useless in the West, as 

 the country frequented by the coyote is so uneven, in many 

 cases, that a run is often a scramble up hill and down dale, and, 

 to clamber well, a horse seems to want some mustang blood in 

 it, or the blood of those Kerry ponies which are said to be 

 able to slide down a precipice with a rider. 



With a good horse and a fast pack of hounds, few sports are 

 more spirited than a coyote hunt, as the run is, in nearly all 

 cases, a break-neck one, for the animal leaves what might be 

 called a screaming scent, and its flight is as straight as a bee- 

 line, except under unusual circumstances. The male has one of 

 the most vilely obscene odours imaginable, and if the wind is 

 blowing from his direction when he is in flight, a person with 

 keen olfactories can detect it, if close on. Although the coyote 

 is generally captured by being trapped or poisoned, yet a few 

 gentlemen of sporting proclivities have a dash after it occa- 

 sionally on horseback, their ride being cheered by the stirring 

 music of flute-voiced fox-hounds. Others keep mongrel grey- 

 hounds, which can overtake it in a spurt of two or three miles, 

 if it has not received too much of a start ; and they afford 

 capital amusement, as the run is nearly always a straight one, 

 for the animal doubles only when headed off or closely pressed. 

 Those who poison it for its skin, frequently scatter a little assa- 

 foetida over the bait, as it likes the smell of this, and will eat 

 any meat on which it is placed with a ravenousuess that only 

 wolves or jackals can display. 



