CHAPTER X 



BEAGLES 



If the white man who first saw a jack-rabbit 

 felt the need of a greyhound, the first one to see 

 a cottontail surely resolved to send back to Eng- 

 land for beagles, and when he attempted to hunt 

 the wily and pugnacious 'coon, his intention 

 became a yearning. American cottontails were 

 made for beagles or beagles for cottontails, and 

 the destiny of each for sporting purposes was 

 complete only when they came together. 



Historically, the development of beagles in 

 this country is like that of bird dogs. From 

 colonial times these small hounds were brought 

 over by Americans or by visiting Englishmen 

 and introduced along the Atlantic coast. Few 

 persons bred them with care. Generally they 

 became mixed with foxhounds and produced a 

 stock of small hounds resembling the English 

 harrier, which was spread all over the settled 

 parts of the country, most extensively in the 

 South. They were often used on foxes, espe- 

 cially when the object was to shoot the depreda- 

 tors instead of to capture them after the orthodox 



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