234 THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 



It is ealy to perceivCj by the account you give 

 of your hounds, that they do not draw well ; 

 your huntfrnan, therefore, mull be particularly 

 attentive to them after a wet night. The befl 

 drawing hounds are fhy of fearching a cover 

 when it is wet ; your's, if care be not taken, will 

 not so into it at all : vour huntfraan fhould ride 

 into the likelicfl part of the cover, and as it iis 

 probable there will be no drag, the clofcr he 

 draws the better : he mufl not draw too much an 

 end, but fhould crofs the cover backwards and 

 forwards, taking care at the fame time to give 

 ills hounds as much the wind as poffible.* 



It is not often that you will fee a pack perfe6lly 

 itcady, where there is much riot, and yet draw 

 well : fome hounds will not exert themfelves, till 

 others challenge, and are cncouraged.-j~ 



I fear the many harriers that you have in your 

 neighbourhood will be hurtful to your Iport . by 

 conflantly diflurbing the covers, they will make 



* Hounds that are hunted conftantly at an early hour, 

 feldiom I think draw well ; they depend too much upon a drag, 

 and it is not in the ftrongeft part of the cover that they are ac- 

 Cttftomed to try for it. 



■f This relates to making hounds fteady only, which always 

 caufes confalion, and interrupts drawing. When once a pack- 

 are become fteady, they will be more likely to draw well, than if 

 liw^ were not, 



2, the 



