THOUGHTS TjrON HUNTING. 289 



in one day ; and though the laft ran to ground, 

 and the hounds had killed two before, therefore 

 ''could not be fuppofed to be in want of blood, 

 the fox was digged out and killed upon the earth. 

 However, it anfwercd one purpole you vvd-'KI 

 little expert — it put a clerg}'man pvefent ia iL.rd 

 that he had a corpfe to hmy, which otherwife had 

 been forgotten. 



I fhould have lefs objedllon to the number of 

 foxes heads that are to be {ccn againil every ken- 

 nel door, did it afcertain v/ith more preciiion the 

 goodnefs of the hounds ; which may more juiily 

 be known from the few foxes they lofe than from 

 the number that they LiU. When you inquire 

 after a pack of fox-hounds, whether they be good 

 or not, and are toid they feldoui xniis ;' fox. your 

 mind is perfectly fatisfied about them, anc' \o\i 

 inquire no farther : it is not always fo, when you 

 are told the number of foxes they have killed. 

 If you alk a Frenchman what age he is of, he 

 will tell you that he is in good health. — In like 

 manner, when I am alked how many brace of 

 foxes my hounds have killed, I feel myfelf in- 

 clined to fay the hounds are good; an anfwer 

 which, in my opinion, goes more immediately to 

 the fpirit of the queflion than any other that I 

 could give ; lince the number of foxes heads is, 

 at befl-, but a prefumptive proof of the goodnefs 

 of the hounds. In a country neighbouring to 



U n?inc 



