[ 140] 



he had scarcely finished his repast by that 

 time in the morning. In the present day, 

 we are anxious to find a stout fox; and, 

 instead of his being full, we wish him to be 

 as empty as possible, and to stand one 

 hour and twenty minutes, the best pace, 

 before the hounds. 



A celebrated writer on fox-hunting, the 

 late Mr. Beckford, (if I remember right, not 

 having read his book for many years,) is of 

 opinion that break of day is the most de- 

 sirable time to hunt, and that you have 

 a better chance of sport early in the 

 morning. For the reason I before stated, 

 there is certainly a greater probability of 

 killing your fox; and in cub-hunting, in 

 the end of August and beginning of Sep- 

 tember, the weather is often so warm, you 

 cannot hunt after ten o'clock ; but if it is 

 not too hot, and the ground too dry, I 

 never thought there was any great advan- 

 tage gained by hunting so very early.— 



