HUNTS AND THEIR HISTORY 123 



about this, one fact stands out clearly, that when 

 these packs have had a first-rate man to hunt them 

 the average of sport has been good, and when ordi- 

 nary knowledge and skill carried the horn there has 

 been plenty of fun, but when the huntsman has not 

 had the requisite qualities there has been comparative 

 failure. I say comparative, because in grass countries 

 — and more rarely in the provinces — are days when 

 hounds cannot but run, so strong is the scent, at 

 all events until they lose the scent because they are 

 blown. 



As time has gone on and the conditions of hunting 

 have changed, the huntsman has become still more 

 important to the sport. The difficulties in the way 

 of hunting and killing a fox are always increasing, 

 and a huntsman cannot continue to show good sport 

 without killing a fair proportion of the foxes he hunts. 

 It has been said that the huntsman matters little, 

 for, with a scent, any one can kill foxes, and without 

 no one can. This, however, is not true. Though a 

 moderate man can hunt a fox with a scent, he often 

 cannot kill him. There is no moment in the chase 

 when the coolness, judgment and woodcraft of a 

 huntsman are more tested than when he has a sinking 

 fox and therefore a failing scent before his hounds. 

 Hounds know when a fox is dying and they work 

 hard to catch him, but if then an untimely halloa 

 get their heads up, they will not again pick up the 

 thread of the chase which has been thoughtlessly 

 snapped. 



Take the following instance. There had been a 

 long run, and the fox had lain down in a field of 

 turnips. As the huntsman and hounds came into 

 the field, the fox jumped up in view. Now, only 

 about half the field was under turnips, the rest was 



