290 COVERT-SIDE SKETCHES. 



Down the field came the pack in full cry to where the hare 

 had turned, when of course they checked, and were at fault 

 for a long time ; at length an old bitch turned, and picked 

 out the foil, back inch by inch to where the hare had sat up 

 and listened. Her master had sense enough not to interfere 

 with her, and was rewarded by getting his hare up again and 

 killing her. That is what I call true hare-hunting. With 

 many men and packs I could name there would have been no 

 more chance of killing her than of taking a wild deer with 

 lap-dogs. Another remarkable instance I have heard of the 

 sagacity of a harrier ; he was an old hound, and when he came 

 to the spot at which his game had turned on her foil, he would 

 stand still, and let his companions make their cast forward ; 

 as soon as he saw them beaten, he would open with a parti- 

 cular note, as much as to say, " What a pack of fools you are ! " 

 work out the line, and set them right. 



Before leaving the subject of hare-hunting I must touch on 

 the different kinds of country which are suitable for it or the 

 reverse, and reiterate what I wrote in my chapter on fox-hunt- 

 ing, as to many parts being totally unfavourable to this sport. 

 The first great requisite in a hare-hunting country I take to be, 

 that you can see the work of your hounds without much im- 

 pediment or difficulty. Hence a cramped, thickly enclosed 

 country is very unfavourable, unless, indeed, you kept harriers 

 for the sole purpose of making young horses into hunters, for 

 which nothing could be better. In such a country, hares, 

 as a rule, run short, making small rings. It is also awkward 

 for harriers of a proper size, as, unless you have largish hounds, 

 they cannot get over the fences, and very small ones that 

 could smeuse would soon tire in the wet and dirt. I once 

 lieard of a master of harriers who invited a huntsman to fox- 

 hounds to have a day with him in a very big, stiff country, and 

 the huntsman assured me that he actually saw the master and 

 whip catching the hounds and throioing them over some of the 

 fences. In such a country I should be inclined to try foot- 



