196 HUNTING DIRECTORY. 



Of Fox Hounds being left to themselves. 



them tie on the scent, to run dog, and destroys that most 

 essential quality in the fox hoimd, an eagerness to get 

 forward. If the head hounds happen to get away from 

 the huntsman, he should sink the wind with the rest of 

 the pack, in order to reach the leading hounds as soon 

 as possible : when, however, a single hound is gone on 

 with the scent, it is best to send forward a whipper-in to 

 stop him ; were the pack to be taken off the scent to get 

 to him, and he should no longer have any scent when 

 they reach him, it is very hkely the fox would be lost by it. 

 Skirting is a bad quality either in men or dogs. Those 

 sportsmen who skirt to save their horses or themselves, 

 are very liable to head the fox. " I cannot (says Beck- 

 ford) subscribe to the doctrine that a pack of fox hounds, 

 if left to themselves, would never lose a fox ;" yet it is 

 probable that if fox hounds were left to themselves, they 

 would miss few foxes. There are, in every pack, line 

 himting hounds that will not come on but with the scent — 

 they perseveringly proceed on the line of the fox ; the 

 brilliant running hounds are perfectly aware of this cir- 

 cumstance, as when their impetuosity has hurried them 

 beyond the scent, they lean as naturally as possible to 

 the line hunting hounds, and thus recover it. If, how- 

 ever, foxes would seldom be missed by hounds, if left to 

 themselves, the run would generally be tedious, and the 

 foxes would be killed in a style inconsistent with the 

 spu'it of the diversion. When the scent is good, fox 

 hounds require but little assistance from the huntsman, 

 nor are the most eager horsemen able to accomplish 

 much mischief; but when the atmosphere is unfavour- 

 able, hounds, by imprudent sportsmen, are often hurried 



