CHAPTER VI 

 The Huntsman 



SOME men are natural huntsmen and others only 

 acquire the art by hard work, but no man need 

 despair of handling hounds fairly well if he has 

 the necessary qualifications and a thorough love of 

 the sport. Perhaps I cannot do better than quote 

 Beckford's opinion of the qualities a huntsman 

 should possess. ' He should be young, strong, 

 bold, and enterprising ; fond of the diversion and 

 indefatigable in the pursuit of it : he should be 

 sensible and good-tempered; he ought also to 

 be sober : he should be exact, civil, and cleanly ; 

 he should be a good horseman and a good 

 groom : his voice should be strong and clear ; 

 and he should have an eye so quick as to per- 

 ceive which of his hounds carries the scent 

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