2^2, THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING. 



hounds at last brought back again to the very place from 

 whence they were so abruptly taken ; and where, if the 

 huntsman could have had a minute's patience, they would 

 have hit off the scent themselves. It is always great im- 

 pertinence in a huntsman, to pretend to make his cast 

 before the hounds have made theirs. Prudence should 

 direfl him to encourage, and I may say, humour, his 

 hounds, in the cast they seem inclined to make, and ei- 

 ther to stand still, or trot round with them, as circum- 

 stances may require. 



I HAVE seen huntsmen make their cast on bad ground, 

 when they might as easily have made it on good ; 1 have 

 seen them suffer their hounds to try in the midst of a flock 

 of sheep, when there was a hedge near, where they might 

 have been sure to take the scent ; and I have seen a cast 

 made with every hound at their horse's heels. When a 

 hound tries for the scent, his nose is to the ground ; when 

 a huntsman makes a cast, his eye should be on his hounds ; 

 and when he sees them spread wide, and try as they ought, 

 his cast may then be quick. 



When hounds are at fault, and the huntsman halloos 



