224 THE FOX 



wearing out the power of the hounds to keep on the 

 trail ; whereas the fox that goes away as hard and far 

 as he can at once, and thus exhausts his strength, is 

 easily caught up and disposed of.' 



In the light of this observation and the remark 

 of ' Nimrod' quoted elsewhere, 1 which another writer, 

 ' Cecil,' notes with approval, it seems that the aim of 

 the hunted fox is to gain time. The longer he can 

 delay the better are his chances, except, of course, in 

 the case already mentioned, when the fox having a 

 refuge makes for it as straight and as fast as he can. 

 Indeed it is an argument against the plan recom- 

 mended by Mr. Tom Smith, when Master of the 

 Hambledon, that earths should be broken up and 

 foxes forced to lie above ground, that if foxes had no 

 secure refuges they would not nearly so often run 

 straight as they do now. It is clear at all events from 

 what we have noted about the hunted fox, that as it is 

 his best chance to gain time and to delay his pursuers, 

 so it should be the huntsman's business to press him 

 as much as possible. It has often been said that a 

 fox is killed in the first ten minutes of the hunt 

 though the chase may last much longer. Mr. Jorrocks, 

 whose capabilities as a huntsman have been rather 

 overshadowed by his reputation as a wit, noted that 



1 P. 33- 



