214 THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING.. 



at both of vviiich times he frequentiy will run short ^ an4 

 the eagerness of the hounds is too apt to carry them beyond 

 the scent. When a fox is first found^ I wish every one 

 would keep behind the hounds till they are well settled to 

 the scent ; and when the hounds are catching him, i wish 

 ' them to be as silent as they can. 



When he is caught, I like to see hounds eat him ea- 

 gerly. In some countries, I am told, they have a method 

 of ireeiu^ him * : it is of use to make the hounds eager j 

 it lets them all in ; they recover their wind, and eat him 

 more readily. I should advise you, at the same time, not 

 to keep him too long, as 1 do not imagine the hounds have 

 any appetite to eat him, longer than whilst they are angry 

 with him. 



When two packs of fox- hounds run together, and tlicy 

 kill the fox, the pack that found him is entitled to the 

 head. Should both have found, how is it to be deter- 

 mined then ? — 1 he huntsman who gets in first, seems, in 



* The intention of it is, to make the hounds more eager, and to let in 

 the tail hounds. The fox is thrown across the branch of a tree, and the 

 hounds are suffered to bay at him for some minutes before he is thrown 

 amongst them. 



