368 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



than his own currant jelly dogs, he hit off every 

 check, and helped them to kill a brace of hares. 

 This fact not only proves the sagacity of a foxhound, 

 but his superiority of nose, even beyond that of 

 harriers ; and \ve have seen pointers with a fox- 

 hound cross conspicuous alike for their enduring 

 qualities and quickness in finding their game. The 

 most striking characteristics of well-bred foxhounds 

 is the pace with which they will carry a middling 

 scent, when harriers would be hunting and bow- 

 wowing over it. 



Will Headman, nothing loth, descended from the 

 breezy downs into a country much better suited to 

 his weight and taste ; and, after a trot of some six 

 or seven miles, reached the renowned covert called 

 Hazel Grove, notorious for a sure find and a straight 

 hard running fox. It was not a very big coppice, 

 nor a little one a bctwixt-and-between but big 

 enough to hold a fox for an hour, if not disposed to 

 leave it. Forcing him from such a place was " all my 

 eye and Betty Martin," the crude derivation of this 

 old adage being from Oh! mild beatus Martini, as 

 we suppose most people know ; but how this became 

 a bye word amongst the heathen we are at a loss to 

 conjecture. Certain, however, it is, that a fox won't 

 leave a good thick covert of sixty or seventy acres, 

 unless it suits his convenience to do so ; in fact, he 

 might wear out the best pack of hounds by ringing 

 the changes upon them round and round the boun- 

 daries of it, without the risk of their tearing his 

 carcase to pieces. It is a great mistake to suppose a 

 knowing old fox can be frightened by the cry of 



