THOUGHTS UPON HUNTING^ 28j 



liDunds came to a check, turn diredly back, on seeing 

 l)ounds at head which they had no opinion of. They 

 supposed the fox was gone another way j in which case, 

 Mr. Bayes's remark in the Rehearsal always occurs to me, 

 " that^ if he should not^ what then hecovies of their suppose,^'* 

 Better, surely, would it be, to make a short cast forward 

 first ; they then might be certain the hounds were wrong, 

 andj of course, could make their own cast with greater con- 

 fidence : — the advantage, next to that of knowing whither 

 the fox ts gone, is that of knowing with certainty whither 

 he is not. 



Most huntsmen like to have all their hounds turned 

 after them when they make a cast : I wonder not at them 

 for it, but I am always sorry when I see it done ; for, till I 

 find a huntsman that is infallible, I shall continue to think 

 the more my hounds spread the better : as long as they 

 are within sight or hearing, it is sufficient. Many a time 

 have I seen an obstinate hound hit off the scent, when an 

 obstinate huntsman, by casting the wrong way, has done 

 all in his power to prevent it. Two foxes I remember to 

 have seen killed in one day by skirting hounds, while the 

 huntsman was making his cast the contrary way. 



Pp 2 



