THE MOUNTAIN -FOX. 321 



when I heard a woodman's axe. More by signs than by 

 words, I made him comprehend that he must follow the. 

 dog as long as he was able ; sat down to rest for a moment, 

 and then loaded my gun. No sound was now to be 

 heard ; the whole wood seemed as if it had never been dis- 

 turbed, I shouldered my gun, and was proceeding, as I 

 thought, in the direction of the chase, when I met my 

 brother, who had from the first taken a different route, in 

 order to intercept the fox at another point. We proceeded 

 together in search of hound and woodman, but for a long 

 time unsuccessfully. At last we thought of returning to 

 the place where I first found him at work. Our delight 

 may be imagined, when we saw the hound tied up, the 

 woodman smoking his pipe, and the fox lifeless on the 

 ground, a perfect monster. The man's account was, that 

 after following a considerable way, and being nearly dis- 

 tanced, there was a sudden check ; when he came up, he 

 found the fox dead, the hound standing over him, without 

 having touched a hair he had run till his heart was 

 broken. We sent this magnificent fox \o be stuffed at 

 the College Museum, Glasgow. Those who had charge of 

 it told us they had never seen one nearly so large, and 

 many who came on purpose to see it were equally asto- 

 nished at its size. It is now in my possession; and the 

 woodcut shows most correctly the difference between it 

 and a very fine specimen of the poultry-fox, shot in my 

 brother's preserves. The brush of the larger fox is not 

 longer than that of the smaller, and less white on the 

 tip, but it is uncommonly thick and bushy. He slands 



