136 



THE WHIPPER IN. 



better. He should have infinite perseverance ; 

 for a hare should never be given up whilst it is 

 possible to hunt her ; she is sure to stop, and 

 therefore may always be recovered. Were it 

 usual to attend to the breed of our huntsmen, 

 aa well as to that of our hounds, I know no 

 family that would furnish a better cross than 

 that of the silent gentleman the Spectator men- 

 tions : a ferhale of his line, crossed with a know- 

 ing huntsman, would probably produce a perfect 

 hare-hunter. 



The whipper-in also has little to do with the 

 one I before described : yet he may be like the 

 second whipper-in to a pack of fox-hounds ; the 

 stable-boy who is to follow the huntsman ; but 

 I would have him still more confined, for he 

 should not dare even to stop a hound, or smack 

 a whip, without the huntsman's order. Much 

 noise and rattle is directly contrary to the first 

 principles of hare-hunting, which is to be per- 

 fectly quiet, and to let your hounds alone. I 

 have seen few hounds so good as town packs, 

 that have no professed huntsman to follow them. 

 If they have no one to help them, they have at 

 the same time no one to spoil them ; which, I 

 believe, for this kind of hunting, is still more 

 material. I should, however, mention a fault 



