THOITGHTS UPON HUNTING. £^ £ 



Ilim ? — A Newmarket boy, with a good understanding and 

 a good voice, might be preferable, perhaps, to an in- 

 different and slack huntsman : he would press on his 

 hounds whilst the scent was good, and the foxes that he kill- 

 ed he would kill handsomely. — A perfed knowledge of the 

 intricacies of hunting is chiefly of use to slow huntsmen, 

 and bad hounds ; since they more often stand in need 

 of it. Adivity is the first requisite in a huntsman to a 

 pack of fox-hounds: a want of it, no judgment can make 

 amends for , while the most difficult of all his under- 

 takings is the distinguishing between different scents, and 

 knowing with any certainty the scent of his hunted fox. 

 Much speculation is here required — the length of time that 

 hounds remain at fault ; difference of ground ; change of 

 weather j — all these contribute to increase the difficulty, and 

 require a nicety of judgment, and a precision, much above 

 ,the comprehension of most huntsmen. 



When hounds are at fault, and cannot make it out of 

 themselves, let the first cast be quick : the scent is then 

 good; nor are the hounds likely to go over it: — as the 

 scent gets worse, the cast should be slower, and be more 

 cautiously made. This is an essential part of hunting, 



