THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 87 



I was told the other day by a fportfrnan, that 

 he confiders the management of hounds as a re- 

 gular fyllem of education, from the time when 

 they are firft taken into the kennel : I perfe611y 

 agree wlih this gentleman; and am well con- 

 vinced, that if you expect fagacity in your hound 

 when he is old, you muft be mindful what in- 

 ftru6tion he receives from you in his youth ; for 

 as he is of all animals the moft docile, he is alfo 

 mofr liable to bad habits. A diverfity of 

 chara6ler, conftitution, and difpoiition, arc to be 

 obferved amongil them ; which, to be made the 

 mofl of, muft be carefully attended to, and dif- 

 ferently treated. I do not pretend to have fuc- 

 ceeded in it myfelf ; yet you will perceive, per- 

 haps, that I have paid fome attention to it. 



I begin to hunt with my youngbounds in Augufl. 

 The employment of my huntfman the preceding 

 months is to keep his old hounds healthy and 

 quiet, by giving them proper exercifei and to get 

 his young hounds forward.* They are called 

 over often in the kennel ; it ufes them to their 

 names, to the huntfman, and to the whipper-in. 



* Nothing will anfwer this purpofe fo well as taking them 

 put often. Let your huntfman lounge about with them— nothing 

 will make them fo handy. Let him get off his horfe frequently, 

 and encourage them to come to him,— nothing will familiarize 

 them fo much.— Too great reftraint will oftentimes incline 

 hounds to be riotous. 



G 4 They 



