194" THO'JGHTS UPON HUKTING. 



jQiirt: we immediately concluded that we flioul(3 

 hear feme ne\vs of the ftag, and fet out joyfully 

 io meet him. Our iirft queftion was, if he had 

 iken the Hag ? *' No, Sir, I have not feen him, 

 *' hif viy ivife dreamt as hoiv Jhe faw him t'other 

 «' night:" 



Once a man hallooed us back a mile, only to 

 tell us that zve roerc right before, and we loft the 

 fox by it. 



A gentleman; feeing his hounds at fault, rode 

 lip to a man at plough, and with great eagernefs 

 afked him, if he had feen the fox ? " The fox, 

 " Sir!" — '^ Yes, d— n you, the fox ! Did you 

 *• never fee a fox V — " Pray, Sir, if I may be 

 °'* lb bould, what fort of a looking creature may 

 ** he be ? has he Jlwrt ears and a Jong taiW — 

 *' }Vj-." — •'• Why then, I can afiure you, Sir, I 

 '* have feen no fuch thing J' 



"Wc arc agreed, that hounds ought not to be- 

 caft as long as they are able to hunt ; and though 

 the idea, thai a hunted fox never flops, is a very 

 necefTary one to a fox-hunter, that he may be 

 a6live, and may lofe no time; yet tired foxes 

 will fiop, if you can hold them on; and I have 

 known them ftop, even in wheel-ruts, on the 

 open down, and leap up in the midfl of the 

 hounds. A tired fox ought not to be g^ive» up, 



for 



