country, noted for its apples and the matchless complexions of its pretty women, they 

 hunt deer and hare. In New Zealand there is a good deal of hunting, and harriers are 

 principally in use. There is a fine open country, and that in the North Island will 

 remind the hunting man of some of the shires of England. 



The hounds of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia have been discussed, and now 

 we will find ourselves back in America. And this country may well be proud of its 

 old-fashioned, long-eared, heavy-jawed and deep-throated foxhounds. That American 

 foxhounds are suitable for hunting American foxes, and where foxes are shot before 

 hounds, there can be no manner of doubt; but they do not kill many foxes, neither 

 may this killing quality be placed to the credit of the English foxhounds in this 

 country. Once a fox is able to sit down and listen to his pursuers, then a foxhound 

 or a pack of foxhounds, have as much chance of overtaking the quarry as a short- 

 ringed hawk has of catching a swallow on the wing. A century ago, it is recorded, 

 it was not unusual in South Carolina to drive out of one large swamp, deer, wolves, 

 bears, foxes, wildcats and wild turkeys. The sportsmen were ready to shoot all of 

 these. 



In descriptive poetry of the earliest date, hunting is frequently alluded to ; even in 

 the most important action of the whole Iliad, the death of Hector, the pursuit of him 

 by Achilles is thus introduced : 



"As through the forest, o'er the vale and lawn, 

 The well-breathed beagle drives the flying fawn, 

 In vain he tries the coverts of the brakes, 

 Or deep beneath the trembling thicket shakes, 

 Sure of the vapor in the tainted dews, 

 The certain hound his various maze pursues." 



Pope. 



The Gun and Coursing Dogs of 

 the World 



IF there be one study in connection with dogs more interesting than another, it must 

 be that which has reference to the gun dogs and the coursing dogs of the 

 world. Since time immemorial, dogs have been used by man for certain purposes 

 and those which he has bred, maintained and improved for his services, have kept time 

 with the ever-changing methods whereby the human is able to obtain and have for 

 himself the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. The first men who went after 

 game hunted it for food; and they very soon found out the most suitable dogs for their 

 purposes and they bred and produced dogs for different kinds of work. It is fair to 

 write that no domestic animals are better represented throughout the world than are 

 thoroughbred dogs of one kind or another. The pure-breeds are to be found in coun- 

 tries that are foreign to their varieties, and what is more, they are highly and justly 

 prized by their owners and even the very community in which the imported dog has' its 

 new being. For let it be known, there are less distinctions than owning a superior 

 dog, and as these dogs are capable of reproducing themselves, and both the males and 

 females are prolific breeders, there is almost at once, or within one year, established 

 in the kennel of the new land the high-blooded and moreover most useful dogs of other 

 nations. And that is the reason that wherever we may go we shall probably find the 

 particularly good gun dogs of Great Britain. These consist of the pointer, the English, 

 Irish and Gordon setters, the retrievers and the Labrador or Lesser Newfoundland 

 dogs, and the various spaniels, which have all been practically made perfect in the 

 British Isles and distributed to the four corners of the earth. Dogs have been pro- 

 duced that will hunt as well in one country as another ; but one can generally find that 

 dogs gun dogs and coursing dogs are mostly chosen with an eye to the environment 

 in which they will have to 'hunt 



Both the pointer and the spaniel originally came from Spain, so it is said. But the 

 original Spanish pointer was too heavy and slow in his pace for the English gunner, 

 so he was crossed with the lighter foxhound, and it is even said with the greyhound, 

 so that he should be more active and able to cover his ground better. Furthermore, the 

 heavy-headed Spanish pointer had the kind of head and lips that proclaim a hunting 

 dog that is inclined to keep his nose to the ground, rather than carry it highly and thus 

 better obtain the body scent of birds and other game in the distance. The setter was 

 originally the large spaniel, and was taught to "set" or sit down when he had come 

 upon birds, so that the game could be encompassed by the fall-net, or the hawk or 



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