THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 1C9 



synonymous : he therefore takes every advantage that he can 

 of the fox. You will think, perhaps, that he may some- 

 times spoil his own sport by this : it is true, he some-r 

 times docs, but then he j/iakes his hounds ; the whole art 

 of fox-huating being to keep the hounds well in blood. 

 Sport is but a secondary consideration with a true fox- 

 hunter. The firit is ihe killing of the fox: hence arises 

 the eagerness of pursuit — chief pleasure of the chase. I 

 confess, I esteem blood so necessary to a pack, of fox- 

 hounds, that, with regard to myself, I always return home 

 better pleased with but an indifferent chase, with death 

 at the end of it, than with the best chase possible, if it 

 end with the loss of the fox. Good chases, generally 

 speaking, are long chases ; and, if not atteuded wiih sue- 

 cess, never fail to do more harm to hounds than good. Our 

 pleasures, I believe, for the most part, are greater during the 

 expedation than the enjoyment. In this case, reality itself 

 warrants the idea, and your present success is almost a sure 

 fore-runner of future sport, 



I REMEMBER to have heard an odd anecdote of the 



late Duke of R , who was very popular in his 



neighbourhood : — A butcher at Lyndhurst, a lover of 



c c 2 



