2IO THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 



great a hurry when they get there. It is hardly credible 

 how much our eagerness is apt, at such a time, to mislead 

 our judgment; for instance, when we get to tlie halloo, the 

 ^rst questions are natural enough — Did you see the fox ? 

 Which way did he go ? — The man points with his finger, 

 ' perhaps, and then away you all ride as fast as you can, and 

 ^ in such a hurry, that not one will stay to hear the answer to 

 V the cjuestion which all were so ready to ask : the general 

 ^ consequence of which is, you mistake the place, and are 

 oblic^ed to return to the man for better information. De- 

 ^ pend upon it, the less you hurry on this occasion, the more 

 1 time you save ; and wherever the fox was seen for a certainty, 

 whether near or .distant, that will not only be the surest, but 

 also the best, place to take the scent; and, besides the cer- 

 tainty of going right, you probably will get on faster than 

 ■ you would by any other means. 



That halloos are not always to be depended on, will 

 be sufficiently evinced by the following instances ; 



My hounds being at a long fault, a fellow halloo'd to 

 them from the top of a rick at some distance off. The 

 huntsman, as you inay believe, stuck spurs to his horse, 



