SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 379 



intense ; and yet, notwithstanding, our little cry of 

 spaniels and terriers, kept knocking about the hares 

 and rabbits at a wonderful rate, the greater part of 

 the day ; and as for the ground, it was as hard as a 

 board, and not a blade of grass in the high wood, 

 where the scent was the best. This sets at nought 

 all the old established crotchets about a southerly 

 wind and a cloudy sky, with their balmy breezes, as 

 indispensable to a good scenting day. Experience 

 teaches us that the enigma of scent lies as deep in 

 the well as truth is said to be/' 



te Well, squire, I'm quite of your opinion, and 

 still thinks it's all in the hair ; contrariwise, how 

 could our hounds twice this arternoon have owned 

 the scent across that 'ere river ? The water the fox 

 touched in crossing were gone a long way down the 

 stream before they reached the bank ; and in course, 

 if the water held the scent, they would have gone 

 down arter it^ instead of swimming straight across 

 it. The fact is, squire, the water didn't hold the 

 scent at all, no more than the land does sometimes, 

 'twere wafted over it by the Aair, or ^atmosphere, as 

 some learned folks call it, and the hounds felt it 

 was before them. Well, now, here's a case in point ; 

 there's that chap before us walking along the road, 

 and smoking his pipe ; his whiff don't touch land or 

 water, and yet I could run him for miles, as long as 

 his baccy lasted leastways Jem could, and run into 

 him, for he's a deal lighter on foot than I. Then, 

 squire, I remember seeing, once in my life, a lot of 

 staghounds, as they're called and a pretty lot it was 

 break away from huntsman and whip, and run the 



