2oS THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING^ 



LETTER XVI. 



I ENDED my last Letter, I think, in a violent pas- 

 sion. The hounds, I believe, were at fault also. I shall 

 now continue the further explanation of my thli'teenth 

 Letter from that time. 



The first moment that hounds are at fault, is a critical 

 one for the sport : people then should be very attentive.- 

 Those who look forward, perhaps, may see the fox ; or the' 

 running of sheep, or the pursuit of crows, may give them 

 some tidings of him. — Those who listen, may sometimes 

 take a hint which way he is gone, from the chattering of a 

 magpie, or perhaps be at a certainty from a distant halloo i 

 nothing, that c^n give any intelligence at such a time, is to 

 be negleded. — Gentlemen are too apt to ridg all together : 

 were they to spread more, they might sometimes be of ser- 

 vice, particularly those who, from a knowledge of the sport. 



