THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING.. 267 



covers late in the seamen : they should not be much dis- 

 turbed after Christmas: foxes will then resort to them;, 

 will breed there ; and you can preserve them with little 

 trouble. This relates to the good management of a pack, 

 of hounds, which is a business distind: from huntmg them** 



Though a huntsman ought to be as sil.^iit as possible 

 at going into a cover, he cannot be too noisy at coming 

 out of it again J and, if at any time he should turn back 

 suddenly, let him give as much notice of it as he cati 

 to his hounds, or he will leave many behind him ; 

 and, should he turn down the wind, he may sec no more 

 of them. 



I SHOULD be sorrv that the silence of mv huntsman 

 should proceed from cither of the following causes : — 

 A huntsman that 1 once knew (who, by the bye, 1 believCj 

 is at this time a drummer in a marching regiment) 

 Went out one morning so very drunk, that he got off 



* Breeding, feeding, steadying, drafting, and placing, are the essential 

 parts of fox-hunting ; when these are properly attended to, the hounds 

 will require but little assistance from the huntsman, whose chief business 

 then will be to keep with them, say little, and do nothing. 



N n ^ 



