34 NUMBER OF HOUNDS 



A famous sportsman asked a gentleman what 

 he thought of his hounds. " Your pack is com- 

 posed, sir,"" said he, " of dogs which any other 

 man would hang ; — they are all skirters.'''' This 

 was taken as a compliment. However, do not 

 think I recommend it to you as such ; for 

 though I am a great advocate for style, in the 

 killing of a fox, yet I never forgive a professed 

 skirter : where game is in plenty, they are always 

 changing, and are the loss of more foxes than 

 they kill. 



You ask me, how many hounds you ought to 

 keep ? It is a question not easy to answer : from 

 twenty to thirty couple are as many, 1 think, as 

 you should ever take into the field. The pro- 

 priety of any number must depend on the 

 strength of your pack, and the country you are 

 to hunt : the quantity of hounds it may be 

 necessary to keep, to furnish that number for a 

 whole season, must also depend on the country 

 where you hunt ; as some countries lame hounds 

 more than others. The taking out too many 

 hounds, Mr. Somervile very properly calls a?i 

 useless incumbrance. It is not so material what 

 the number is, as it is that all your hounds 

 should be steady, and as nearly as possible of 

 equal speed. 



