AN UNRULY PACK. 177 



as well or better than his man. I have been told 

 that m one kennel last summer no fewer than four- 

 teen hounds were worried and torn to pieces by 

 fighting among themselves. But there is little 

 cause for astonishment at such a loss, when it 

 appears that these hounds, after the season is over, 

 are allowed to remain for weeks together without 

 proper and sufficient exercise. They are merely 

 walked out for half an hour or so in the morning, 

 and again after feeding in the afternoon. The 

 pack w^as represented to be extremely riotous and 

 unsteady, flashing away from their own game when 

 in full chase, on deer, hares, or any other scent 

 they might cross ; and I conclude the truth of the 

 matter is this, that the huntsman is actually afraid 

 to take them out to exercise with the horses after 

 the hunting season, for fear of their breaking away 

 from hini; in fact, I was told they committed 

 every kind of excess, worrying sheep, running 

 sheep-dogs, and almost every living animal they 

 caught sight of. 



Idleness is the parent of vice in the canine as well 

 as in the human species, and here is a strong exem- 

 plification of it — a fine pack of fox-hounds ruined by 

 ignorance or want of energy in their huntsman. They 

 were described to me as a dashing, high-spirited 

 lot of hounds, and when they did hold to their 



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