362 SPORTING ADVENTURES. 



Fox-hunting-, as carried on in Europe, was a favourite 

 amusement with the Southern planters before the war, and 

 many a genial assemblage followed reynard all day to the 

 music of hounds and horns ; but the loss of their wealth in that 

 great struggle has forced them to devote their attention to 

 business of late, so that fox-hunting, according to the old style, 

 has become almost a memory in some places. 



The establishment of fox-hunting clubs and packs of hounds 

 in New York and a few other places may have some effect on 

 the remainder of the country, and cause kennels to be established 

 in various cities, but this does not seem very probable at 

 present, at least to any extent, as the people are too much 

 absorbed in commercial pursuits to have much time to devote 

 to following reynard. The sport as carried on in Great Britain 

 can hardly become general under present conditions, owing to 

 the wooded character of the country, and the high and crooked 

 wooden fences which are even more dangerous than the stone 

 walls of Galway and Iloscommon. 



Although there are several varieties of foxes in the country, 

 there are really only two distinct species, and these are the 

 common red fox, V. vulgarls, and the gray or Virginia fox, the 

 Urocyon cinereo-argenfafus of Coues. The former is larger 

 than the European species ; it has a shorter and more pointed 

 nose ; the ears are shorter ; the legs are not so robust ; the 

 eyes are nearer together ; the feet and toes are more densely 

 furred; the brush is larger; and the fur is softer, finer, and of 

 a brighter hue. It is equally as swift and cunning, and bears 

 out in the most marked manner the traditional character of its 

 family. 



One of the principal varieties of this species is the long-tailed 

 or prairie fox (V. macrourns), which has a beautiful fur and 

 brush, the latter being very hairy ; and the pads of the feet 

 are concealed by hairs. This animal has a length of from 

 thirty-three to thirty-five inches, while its brush often exceeds 

 twenty-two inches. The next is the cross fox, variety (Icciis- 

 salus, which is readily recognized by its having a dark band 

 along the back, which is crossed by another on the shoulder. 

 This has a heavy, long, and bushy tail, which gives it a very 



