244 ^il^ ^^^ Scarlet, 



criterion by which scent can be properly estimated." 

 " I have known," he adds, " a burning scent when 

 apparently there should have been none; and vice 

 versa, I have known a great lack of it under the most 

 propitious prospects. I have seen hounds fly in a 

 strong westerly wind, which is supposed to be the 

 most unfavourable for scent, and I have seen them 

 run in all weathers and winds. There are, however, 

 some rules which may be considered as regulating 

 more or less the scent. For instance, when the quick- 

 silver is low, the atmosphere is generally disturbed, 

 and in that case, if not altogether a lack of scent, it 

 is so fluctuating and catching that it varies almost 

 momentarily. On the contrary, however, I have 

 always found that when the quicksilver is steady and 

 settled the scent is good. The condition of hounds 

 has a good deal to do with their noses. Dorsetshire 

 cannot be called a good scenting country in a moist 

 season ; the hills and woodlands, however, hold a 

 fair scent, and I was able to place my hounds so as 

 to suit the weather. The last season of my having 

 hounds, I think, was the worst I can recollect for 

 scent." 



The Puckeridge is nearly all on the plough, and 

 carries no great scent, and its huntsmen generally like 

 to force the foxes into Essex. The Ainsty is very 

 uncertain, and the Hurworth is good in wet, but bad 

 in dry, as the clay gets as hard as a brick yard. In 

 the Burton country, scent is not so good as it used to 

 be ; and the Southwold is best on the Tothill and 

 Greenfield side, and near the Tower on the Moor. 

 When the High Wold Brocklesbury country is dry it 

 fails ; in fact, " the more rain the better, both for it 

 and the marshes, and up to our knees and hocks in 

 mud, we go best." The Berkeley country, on the 

 contrary, is best when dry ; and the Cotswold Hills 

 hold a scent better than the Vale ; but the latter 

 country knows no medium, and Harry Ayris always 



