OBSERVATIONS ON FOX-HUNTING 99 



exertions ; they were three dog-hovmds that I 

 prized very highly, bred by Lord Althorp, and 

 got by the Duke of Beaufort's " Justice," whicli 

 made me regret their loss the more. I must own, 

 this unfortunate circumstance caused me ever 

 afterwards to pay double attention to that most 

 material point, condition. 



A pack of fox-hounds formerly was quite a 

 different thing to what it is now-a-days ; nor 

 was one tenth part of the money expended on 

 the establishment. The breeding of hounds, com- 

 paratively speaking, was very little attended to ; 

 and the servants were mounted on horses of 

 inferior value. Few packs hunted oftener than 

 three times a week ; they certainly had long 

 runs, and, (if you believe the stories of old sports- 

 men,) killed their foxes at great distances from 

 the places where they found them, — but they 

 all allowed it was often tedious ; and about 

 St. Thomas's day, Reynard commonly escaped in 

 the dark. 



In modern times, the system of hunting is so 

 much improved, so nmch more attention is paid 

 to the condition of hounds and their style of work, 

 that, in this enlightened age, a master of hounds 

 thinks it a reflection on his judgment if one 

 hound in his pack is detected in a fault. The 

 men, too, are well mounted ; and none but 



