282 THE FOXHOUND. 



to it when found ; so determined in character, that it has many a time been known to 

 persevere in its chase until it has fallen dead on the track ; and so swift of foot that few 

 horses can keep pace with it in the hunting-field, if the scent be good, and ground easy. 

 It is averred by competent authority, that no man can undertake to remain in the same 

 field with the hounds while they are running. 



The speed which can be attained by Foxhounds may be estimated from the well- 

 known match which took place upon the Beacon course at Newmarket. The length 

 of the course is 4 miles i furlong and 132 yards, and this distance was run by the 

 winning Dog, " Bue-cap," in eight minutes and a few seconds. The famous racehorse, 

 " Flying Childers," in running over the same ground, was little more than half a minute 

 ahead of the hound. Now, if we compare the dimensions of the horse and the hound, 

 we shall form a tolerably accurate conception of the extraordinary swiftness to which the 

 latter animal can attain. In that match, no less than sixty horses started together 

 with the competitors, but of the sixty only twelve were with the Dogs at the end of this 

 short run. 



It must be remembered that, in addition to the severe and unceasing labor of the 

 chase, in which the Dogs are always busily at work, either in searching for a lost scent, 

 or following it up when found, the hounds are forced to undergo no small exertion in 

 walking from their kennel to the " meet," which is frequently at some distance from their 

 home ; and then in walking back again when the chase is over. 



That the animal should be enabled to perform these severe tasks, which often occur 

 several times weekly, it is necessary that it should not be too large, lest it should 

 fatigue itself with its own bulk, and go through considerable needless exertion in forcing 

 its way through thickets where a lesser Dog would pass without difficulty ; and it is 

 equally necessary that it should not be too small, lest it should be unequal to the various 

 impediments which cross its path, and by reason of its shorter limbs be unable to keep 

 up properly with the rest of the pack. 



According to the latest authorities, the best average height for Foxhounds is from 

 twenty-one to twenty-five inches, the female being generally smaller than the male. 

 However, the size of the Dog does not matter so much ; but it is expected to match the 

 rest of the pack in height as well as in general appearance. 



It has been well remarked, by a writer to whom allusion has already been made, that 

 a hound ought not to be looked upon as an individual, but as a component part of a pack, 

 and, therefore, that a Dog which will be almost invaluable in one pack will be quite inad- 

 missible into another. It is a great fault in a Dog to be slower than its companions, 

 but it is a fault of hardly less magnitude to be too fast for them, and to run away at such 

 a pace that it seems to be getting all the hunting to itself. To use an expressive, but 

 conventional term, " suitiness " is one of the principal points in a pack of hounds, which 

 ought to appear as if they all belonged to one family. 



In its natural state, the head of the Foxhound has a different aspect from that which is 

 presented by the trained Dog. This change of appearance is caused by the custom of 

 cropping, or rather of trimming, the ears, so as to dock them of their full proportions, 

 and to leave no more of the external organ than is necessary to protect the orifice. It 

 is said that this process is necessary, in order to guard the animal's ears from being torn 

 by the brambles and other thorny impediments which constantly come in its path, and 

 through which the Dog is continually forced to thrust itself. But the custom does not 

 seem to confer a corresponding benefit on the poor creature whose ears are subjected 

 to the operator's steel, and it may be that the custom of cropping Dogs' ears will go out 

 of fashion, as is happily the case with the equally cruel practice of cropping the ears 

 of horses, and docking their tails. 



This Dog is a sufficiently sagacious animal, and if it were subjected to the in- 

 fluence of man as frequently as the Terrier and other companions of the human 

 race, would not lose by comparison with them. Even in the state of semi-civilization 

 into which these Dogs are brought, their obedience to the voice and gestures of 

 the huntsman is quite marvellous ; and even when in their kennel they will come 

 individually to be fed, no Dog venturing to leave its place until its name has been 

 called. 



