92 THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 



loffes of that kind. At the fame tirrwf T mUft tell 

 you, that I Ihould decline entering more than are 

 necelTary to keep up the pack, fiiice a greater 

 number would only create ufelefs trouble and 

 vexation. 



You with to know what number of old hounds 

 you fliould hunt with the young ones : — that 

 muft depend on the flrength of your pack, and 

 the number which you choofe to fpare ; if good 

 and fleady, ten or twelve couple will be fuf- 

 ticicnt. 



My young hounds, and luch old ones as are 

 intended to hunt along with them,* are kept in a 

 kennel by themfelves, till the young hounds are 

 hunted with the pack. I need not, I am fure, 

 enumerate the many reafons that make this regu- 

 lation neceflary. 



I never truil my young hounds in the foreft till 

 they have been well blooded to fox, and feldoni 

 put more than a couple into the pack at a time.-f- 



* Some alfo take out their unfteady hounds, when they en- 

 ter the young ones ; T doubt the propriety of it. 



f T fometimes fend all my young hounds together into the 

 foreft, with four or five couple of old hounds only ; fuch as I 

 know they cannot fpoil. As often as any of them break off" to 

 deer, they are taken up, and {log<^ed. When they lofe onefox^ 

 they try for another ; and are kept out, till they are all made 

 tolerably fleady. 



The 



