38 OBSERVATIONS ON FOX-HUNTING 



best way will be to leave the place with as little 

 delay as possible, to prevent any misrepresentation 

 that might lead to a misunderstanding ; for no 

 people (I will not even except the riders of the 

 present day,) are so jealous of each other as 

 masters of foxhounds. But if you should run 

 your fox into a drain, or any hole that is not 

 a regular fox-earth, it is then thought fair to bolt 

 him in any way you can, except by digging ; but 

 on no account must you allow a spade to enter 

 the ground. It may be your hunted fox, or it 

 may not ; though, if he goes to ground in 

 a main earth, it is most likely you have 

 changed, as a fox will seldom go into an earth 

 with which he is unacquainted. Under-ground 

 fox-hunting is but poor fun : waiting shivering 

 in the cold for two or three hours is not very 

 agreeable, — and your horses arc in great danger 

 of catching cold. If you have no chance of 

 getting him out soon, and the day is not too 

 far advanced, it is far better to draw for another 

 fox, after having taken proper precautions against 

 the probability of his being taken by fox-stealers. 

 That slow operation of digging for a fox, is 

 only allowable when your hounds are in great 

 want of blood ; from experience I know it may 

 be sometimes necessary, and on such occasions it 

 cannot be considered unsportsmanlike. Any thing 



