PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 405 



with the many, many months wasted in the tedious 

 methods usually employed and that you must, perforce, 

 content yourself with humbler qualifications. Be it so. 

 I can only condole with you, for in your case this may 

 be partly true ; mind, I only say partly true. But how 

 a man of property, who keeps a regular gamekeeper, 

 can be satisfied with the disorderly, disobedient troop 

 to which he often shoots, I cannot understand. Where 

 the gamekeeper is permitted to accompany his master 

 in the field, and hunt the dogs himself, there can be no 

 valid excuse for the deficiency in their education. The 

 deficiency must arise either from the incapacity, or from 

 the idleness of the keeper. 



5. Unlike most other arts, dog-breaking does not 

 require much experience ; but such a knowledge of 

 dogs, as will enable you to discriminate between their 

 different tempers and dispositions, I had almost said 

 characters and they vary greatly is very advanta- 

 geous. Some require constant encouragement; some 

 you must never beat ; whilst, to gain the required 

 ascendancy over others, the whip must be occasionally 

 employed. ISTor is it necessary that the instructor 

 should be a very good shot ; which probably is a more 

 fortunate circumstance for me than for you. It should 

 even be received as a principle that birds ought to be 

 now and then missed to young dogs, lest some day, if 

 your nerves happen to be out of order, or a cock- 

 ney companion be harmlessly blazing away, your 

 dog take it into his head and heels to run home in dis 



