THE CHASE OF THE STAG. 167 



run, and the cause thereof, mention has already been 

 made, but it is not invariable. On one occasion, for 

 instance, the pack was laid on a hind that had been 

 gone half an hour (the field numbered three on this 

 occasion), and raced away with an extraordinary 

 scent in compact order just as when they first hit the 

 line. Not one of the sixteen couples could gain an 

 inch on his neighbour, and so they strode away as if 

 going by clockwork. A mile or two on the hind had 

 jumped a gate, and every hound took it flying — a very 

 pretty sight. 



The long days, immense distances, severe weather, 

 and water hunting tell very heavily on hounds, and 

 but few outlast their fourth season, many succumbing 

 even after the second. Great physical endurance is 

 necessary in hounds, horses, and men to chase the 

 wild deer to death, and the weak points of all three 

 discover themselves only too readily under the test. 

 Hounds are frequently running hard for four, five, and 

 six hours; the huntsman frequently traverses fifty, 

 sixty, and seventy miles in the course of a day, some- 

 times, though not of course every day, not much 

 under a hundred. On September 10, 1883, hounds 

 started at 8 a.m. from the kennels to meet at Haddon, 

 fourteen miles away. They drew those enormous 



