ARISTOCRATIC HOUNDS 33 



of ascertaining. The Belvoir Pack are distinguished 

 from any other I have seen, by that pecuhar colour of 

 black and tan, and a silkiness of coat, or fineness of hair, 

 not generally seen in other fox-hounds, except in those 

 crossed with this blood ; and if, as some old sporting 

 writers assert, without any positive grounds for the 

 opinion, there has been a cross some two hundred years 

 ago between the greyhound and fox-hound, this pack, 

 from their clean necks and shoulders, appear in favour 

 of that supposition, although I do not beheve such to 

 have been the case ; for our Nimrods of olden times, to 

 whom fineness of nose was of paramount importance, 

 and who loved hunting for the sake of hunting, not 

 racing, appear to me the most unlikely men to have 

 crossed their fox-hounds with greyhound blood. 



There are, however, still visible the evidences of two 

 distinct varieties, if not more, of fox-hounds, although 

 daily becoming less perceptible from intermixture — the 

 smooth and the wire-haired, which differ in form and 

 features. The smooth-coated fox-hound is of smaller 

 size, with a small, neat, and rather thin head, arched 

 neck, and more compact form than the wire-haired, 

 which has a large head, coarse neck, and long powerful 

 frame, with great bone and muscular power. The 

 other variety is between the harrier and fox-hound, two 

 packs of which I have seen in Wales, and about whose 

 unde derivatur there could be no question. 



On first seeing one of these packs out hunting, before 

 I knew anything of their descent, I immediately remarked 

 to a friend, ** Those are not fox-hounds." 



*' Not fox-hounds ? " he replied ; " why, they have 

 never hunted anything but foxes for years, and are 

 considered quite a crack pack.'' 



