158 THE CEEAM OF LEICESTERSHIRE. [Si:.v.sux 



therefore better out of the way. By cases of necessity I mean, 

 for instance, an overstock of foxes, giving rise to complaints of 

 damage and demands for tlieir destruction. Scarcely any 

 other circumstances can be instanced for justifiable exception ; 

 and yet there is scarcely a pack in the Midlands that does not 

 frequently lend itself publicly and shamelessly to the deed. 



And what do the field think of it ? llicy hate and abonnnate 

 it, each and every one of them. They neither sympathise 

 with the feeling that prompts tlie act ; nor hold with the expe- 

 dienc}^ of its commission. To them it represents no pleasure, 

 and certainl}' coincides with none of tlieir notions of sport. 

 They would find nuich greater fun in seeing rats killed in a 

 barn, and derive from the sight a much higher sense of satis- 

 faction. Condennied, probably, to stand about in the cold, 

 unwilling witnesses of what they heartih' detest, they spend 

 the time in giving free Aent to expression of their annoyance and 

 contemi)t. It would do many a huntsman good to hear what 

 is said at such moments. He would find, too, that, however 

 much respect he may have earned at other times, much of this 

 contempt will extend to himself, and serve to lessen good 

 opinion that he cannot afibrd to despise. Finally, fox-digging, 

 in the sense we refer to, is a crying enormity, a disgrace to a 

 noble sport, and should be put down as rigorous!}' as vivisec- 

 tion. Bring forward excuse, palliation, anythmg you like, 

 there Avill still remain a sense of keen abhorrence of the act. 

 So unmistakable is the disgust— ay, loathing — excited in the 

 minds of many good sportsmen, on finding themselves made 

 an abetting party to a bad case of fi)x butchery, that on such 

 occasions (whether riglitl}'- aj^'ojms or no) the I'ollowing tale 

 ever recurs vividly to my mind. An old trapper once told me 

 (and I believed it, though you may not) that in the wild, unor- 

 ganised fighting in the Far West, some forty years ago, he 

 was one of a party of revenge who cut a camp to pieces by a 

 sudden attack. Food must follow fighting ; and gladly they 

 seized upon a savoury meal that was awaiting their slaughtered 

 enemies. A hunter's appetite is proverbial ; but long ere its 



