24^ THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING, 



have made their s. Prudence fhould dlre6l him 

 to encourage, and I may fay, humour his hounds 

 in the caft they fcem inchned to make; and either 

 to ftand ftill, or trot round with them, as cir- 

 cumitances may require. 



I have feen huntfmen make their cafl on bad 

 ground when they might as ealily have made it 

 on good : I have i^tw tliem fufFer their hounds 

 to try in the midft of a flock of fheep, when 

 there was a hedge near, where they might have 

 been fure to take the fcent ; and I have feen a cafl 

 made with every hound at their horfc's heels. 

 When a hound tries for the fcent his nofe is to 

 the ground ; when a huntfman makes a caft his 

 eye fhould l^e on his hounds ; and when he fees 

 them fpread wide, and try as they ought, his caft 

 may then be quick. 



When hounds are at fault, and the huntfman hal- 

 loos them off the line of the fcent, the whippers-iu 

 fmacking their whips and rating them after him, 

 if he fhould trot away with them, may they not 

 think that the bulinefs of the day is over ?— • 

 Hounds never, in my opinion, (unlefs in parti- 

 cular cafes, or when you go to a halloo) fhould 

 be taken entirely off their nofes ; but when lifted, 

 fhould be conftantly made to try as they go. Some 

 huntfmen have a dull, ftupid way of fpeaking to 

 their hounds ; at thefe times little fliould be faid, 



and 



