182 HUNTING DIRECTORY. 



Considerations on the Necessity of 



tlie most gallant and determined manner imaginable, 

 Avould, nevertheless, refuse to eat him, nor indeed could 

 they ever be induced to swallow a morsel ! Young fox 

 hounds frequently testify no great desire to eat the fox, 

 though they may run into him with the utmost fury ; nor, 

 in fact, would a fox, one hour after his death, be very 

 eagerly devoured by old hoimds, accustomed to blood — 

 they would perhaps refuse him altogether. Fox hounds 

 are maddened with the pursuit — they are worked up to 

 a pitch of fury ; and unless the fox is devoured before 

 their anger is allowed to cool, they would, in all proba- 

 bility, feel but little disposed for such a repast. 



Hence it might appear that the capture, and not the 

 blood, of the object of pursuit is the main stimulus to 

 that extraordinary exertion which we frequently see dis- 

 played by hounds ; and that perhaps if fox hounds were 

 left intirely to themselves, and had never been encouraged 

 to devour their game, it is doubtful whether many of 

 them ( if not the whole pack) would not be satisfied with 

 killing him. I am aware that this would not be the case 

 with stag hounds or harriers ; but it must be recollected 

 that a fox is not a very enticing delicacy, like a deer or a 

 hare, and can only be rendered a tempting morsel under 

 an extraordinary degree of excitement — under, in fact, 

 the circumstances which generally precede and attend 

 his death. 



In support of this hypothesis, it may be further ob- 

 served, that a pointer or any of those dogs that are used 

 in the pursuit of winged game, however excellent they 

 may previously have been, soon become vmeasy, unruly, 

 and ultimately good for nothing, unless a reasonable 



