COURSE OF THE FOX. 1 1 7 



some point to make, which he will endeavom- to 

 reach without the slightest regard to wind or 

 weather; but because, should hounds, by any means, 

 give you the slip, by being down- wind, their cry 

 will be borne to, not from you, and of course you 

 will have a better chance of recovering lost ground. 

 A fresh fox, when homeward bound, goes as 

 straight as he can go, up or down wind, wherever 

 his point may happen to lie, and any deviation 

 from his direct course may be accounted for by 

 his meeting obstructions in his path, such as a 

 team of horses in a field, or an old woman in a 

 lane. When barred out from home, driven out of 

 his knowledge of country, or beaten, he will then 

 go down-wind as a last resource, when he has not 

 power to run against it ; but it is not natural, as 

 some suppose, or rather habitual, in a fox, to sink 

 the wind, as long as his strength enables him to 

 hold on his line, or he has got a point to reach. 



There is a phrase often used by sporting men 

 in reference to a hunter, '' Hold him tight by the 

 head, and shove along," which, if it means any 

 thing at all, means a process similar to that 

 adopted by coachmen with their bearing reins, for 

 the sake of keeping their horses' heads well up, at 

 the expense of the poor brute's comfort and power 

 of action ; but I should most decidedly deprecate 

 any such treatment of a liorse which has any pre- 



