OF CASTIXG. 251 



LETTER XX. 



In my seventeenth letter, I gave you the 

 opinion of my friend ****, " that a pack of 

 fox-hounds, if left entirely to themselves, would 

 never lose a fox.'''' I am always sorry when I 

 differ from that gentleman in any thing : yet 

 I am so far from thinking they never would 

 lose a fox, that I doubt much if they would 

 ever kill one. There are times when hounds 

 should be helped, and at all times they must 

 be kept forward : hounds will naturally tie 

 on a cold scent when stopped by sheep, or 

 other impediments ; and when they are no 

 longer able to get forward, will oftentimes 

 hunt the old scent back again, if they find 

 that they can hunt no other. It is the ju- 

 dicious encouraging of hounds to hunt when 

 they cannot run, and the preventing them 

 from losing time by hunting too much, when 

 they might run, that distinguishes a good 

 sportsman from a bad one.* Hounds that 



* In hunting a pack of hounds, a proper medium should 

 be observed ; for though too much help will make them 



