69 



11. Bear in mind that M^hen it is necessary for you to halloa a fox away 

 you should do so from the spot he broke covert, and whenever you have to 

 tally one in or out of covert, do so from where he luas when you last saw 

 him. The huntsman then brings his hounds to the right place without 

 delay, whereas, if you shout from where you were standing at the tiihe — 

 perhaps half a mile away — an obvious and at times most disastrous delay is 

 occasioned. It is to the fox and not to you the hounds are to be brought. 



12. If more than one fox is afoot, do not tally or halloa any hut the hunted 

 one, and, if you are not perfectly certain, do not shout at all, more particularly 

 after the fox has been hunted for some time. Nothing is more baneful to 

 hunting than changing from the hunted to a fresh fox. 



13. Let hounds get well away with their fox from covert and settle to the 

 scent before you follow them. If the scent be bad, do not go within a 

 hundred yards of them ; they need all the room they can get to work the 

 line out, and they cannot get away from you. When scent is good and they 

 are racing on good terms with their fox over a good line and his point 

 several miles distant, then 



If your horse be well bred and in blooming condition, 



Both up to the country and up to your weight, 

 Oh, then give the reins to your youthful ambition, 



Sit down in youi' saddle and keep his head straight ! 



Kemember also that there is a vast difference betwe n hounds getting well 

 a -^ ay with a fox and getting away well with him. 



14. Do not interfere with hoands at a check, unless requested to do so by 

 the Master or huntsman. If asked to turn a hound, get beyond him, so as 

 to get him betiveen you and the huntsman, before you try to do so. Never 

 gallop after him till you have got beyond him, or he will gallop away from 

 you. 



15. Do not crowd a huntsman when he is making a cast or interfere with 

 him by making suggestions ; doing so, unless you have actually seen the 

 fox, distracts his attention from what he is much better able to form an 

 opinion on than you are, gets the hounds' heads up, and the smell of your 

 horse's sweat spoils the scent. 



16. Do not hurry hounds running along a lane. A fox likes running a 

 lonesome lane, but often makes a sharp turn out of it, and of course hounds, 

 if pressed, will overrun the scent, and a good run is often spoiled thereby. 



17. Do not jump into a road unless hounds have carried the scent up, 

 down, or across it, or until they have done so. Foxes often resort to dodges 

 when they come to a road, and hounds then must be left to themselves, 

 more almost than when in any other difficulty. 



18. Do not bring your horse near the pack when breaking up a fox. 

 The smell of the blood will often make the quietest horse kick a hound, and 

 if he does it is sure to be a good one, if not the best in the pack ! 



19. Last, but not least, never buy a fox. Nothing encourages stealing like 

 having a market for the stolen, and foxes offered for sale are nearly always 

 stolen from some country, and generally from the very country in which 

 they are afterwards offered for sale. It is much better to tell the fellow 

 who brings you a fox to buy to knock his brains out than to give him even 

 sixpence for it. 



