124 DOGS AND ALL ABOUT THEM 



barrels, straight and strong ; hind-legs with good thighs and 

 well let down hocks ; feet, round like cats' feet, and a well-set- 

 on, tapering stern. Such a make and shape should see many 

 seasons through, and allow you to be certain of pace and 

 endurance in your pack. It is useless to lay down any hard 

 and fast rule as to colour. It is so much a matter of individual 

 taste. Some Masters have a great fancy for the dark colour- 

 ing of the old Southern Hound, but nothing could look much 

 smarter than a good combination of Belvoir tan with black and 

 white. Puppies, as a rule, a week or two after they are whelped, 

 show a greater proportion of dark marking than any other, 

 but this as they grow older soon alters, and their white 

 marking becomes much more conspicuous. As in the case of the 

 Foxhound, the Harrier is very seldom kept as a companion 

 apart from the pack. But puppies are usually sent out to walk, 

 and may easily be procured to be kept and reared until they 

 are old enough to be entered to their work. Doubtless the 

 rearing of a Harrier puppy is a great responsibility, but it is 

 also a delight to many who feel that they are helping in the 

 advancement of a great national sport. 



There is nothing to surpass the beauty of the Beagle either 

 to see him on the flags of his kennel or in unravelling 

 a difficulty on the line of a dodging hare. In neat- 

 ness he is really the little model of a Foxhound. He is, 

 of course, finer, but with the length of neck so perfect in the 

 bigger hound, the little shoulders of the same pattern, and 

 the typical quarters and second thighs. Then how quick 

 he is in his casts ! and when he is fairly on a line, of course 

 he sticks to it, as the saying is, " like a beagle." 



Beagles have been carefully preserved for a great many 

 years, and in some cases they have been in families for almost 

 centuries. In the hereditary hunting establishments they 

 have been frequently found, as the medium of amusement 

 and instruction in hunting for the juvenile members of the 

 house ; and there can be nothing more likely to instil the 



