268 POINTERS CROSSED WITH TKE FOX-HOUND. 



partridge shooter knows where to find his game at 

 once, without toiUng over imhkely ground. The 

 fiekl should always be traversed by the dogs against 

 the wind, if possible, and beaten over cross ways. 

 I have a decided objection to pointers scoring away 

 straight over the ground, which badly broken 

 dogs will do, as they often leave the birds behind 

 them ; and in this manner I have known several 

 coveys entirely missed by a rapid sportsman, and 

 met with afterwards in the same fields by a more 

 patient w^orkman. The corner of a field is not the 

 most unlikely spot to find partridges in, and every 

 acre should be well tried before leaving one en- 

 closure for another. In open countries, where 

 there are scarcely any fences, dogs may be allowed 

 a wider range, but still they should be made to 

 quarter their ground. 



Some of the best pointers I have ever seen, both 

 for nose and work, were from a cross with a fox- 

 hound. They required a good deal of trouble and 

 patience in breaking, but I never saw them beaten 

 in the most severe day. I have shot over many 

 different kinds of pointers in my time, but this 

 cross was decidedly the best. The old-fashioned 

 Spanish is now almost, if not quite, out of fashion, 

 and no loss. I was once master of an individual 

 dog of this species, the very ugliest of the canine 



