238 ON THE MAXKEK AND 



covers, or two or three years coppices, are then 

 the only quiet places a fox can kennel in : they 

 also are disturbed when pheasant-shooting be- 

 gins, and older covers are more likely. The 

 season when foxes are most wild and strong is 

 about Christmas: a huntsman, then, must lose 

 no time in drawing; he must draw up the wind, 

 unless the cover be very large ; in which case it 

 may be better perhaps to cross it, giving the 

 hounds a side-wind, lest he should be obliged to 

 turn down the wind at last: in either case, let 

 him draw as quietly as he can. 



Young coppices, at this time, are quite bare : 

 the most likely places are four or five years cop- 

 pices, and such as are furzy at bottom. 



It is easy to perceive, by the account you 

 give of your hounds, that they do not draw 

 well ; your huntsman, therefore, must be parti- 

 cularly attentive to them after a wet night. 

 The best drawing hounds are shy of searching 

 a cover when it is wet ; yours, if care is not 

 taken, will not go into it at all : your huntsman 

 should ride into the likeliest part of the cover, 

 and, as it is probable there will be no drag, the 

 closer he draws the better : he must not draw 

 too much an end, but should cross the cover 

 backwards and forwards, taking care at the 



