8 FOX-HUNTING. 



his foil, stop the tail hounds, and get them forward; 

 and has it frequently in his power to assist the hounds. 

 The most essential part of fox-hunting, the making and 

 keeping the pack steady, depends entirely on the first 

 whipper-in, as the huntsman should seldom rate, and 

 never flog a hound. 



In turning his hounds, the whipper-in should per- 

 form his office as quietly as possible : if he rate and 

 crack^ his whip, they cannot be expected to draw : 

 naturally they will throw up their heads, and leave so 

 much ground untried. If they draw towards the 

 huntsman, he should let them alone, merely riding be- 

 hind them in his direction. Always let him hit the 

 hound offending first, and rate him by name after : he 

 need not spare the thong if the fault be one deserving 

 punishment, but hit him always behind the shoulder, or 

 as far from his head as possible. Rioting, a generous 

 fault, is to be cured by vigorous and decisive measures ; 

 for skirting, there is rarely any remedy except the halter. 

 When difficulties occur, the less the speculative opinions 

 of the field are listened to the better. Let a huntsman 

 then watch narrowly his trustworthy hounds, and at the 

 same time weigh the probable points that his fox would 

 make : thence only can he hope for assistance, or coun- 

 sel to be relied on. 



When there are various scents, and the hounds di- 

 vide, so as to make it uncertain which is the hunted 

 fox, let the whipper-in stop those hounds farthest down 

 the wind, as they can hear the others, and will reach 



