212 FOREST CREATURES. 



at such moments his whole manner speaks of foaming 

 ansfer within. 



And to whom, but one who had seen the fury of 

 hounds in presence of a " luounded " boar, could have 

 occurred the expression, than which absolutely none 

 better could be found, that they had but one longing 

 — the desire '^ to annihilate " him. Not to kill, nor 

 to mangle, nor to devour, but to annihilate. It seems 

 as if nothing less would satisfy them. They yell, and 

 shriek, and rage with convulsive madness, in their 

 unappeasable, unsatiated a-hungering to utterly de- 

 stroy. WTiat more fitting word could have been chosen 

 to depict the whole animal at such times " when break' 

 ing through the underwood," than " defiant ? " On he 

 dashes then, with body leaning forward and tail erect, 

 and every limb — ay, in every limb is resolute, sturdy, 

 unflinching defiance. 



In the twenty-second book, when Achilles pursues 

 Hector, allusion is again made to the incidents of the 

 chase, and both hart and hound are sketched with 

 characteristic touches. And it is just such character- 

 istic sketch, dashed off at a stroke, that indicates a 

 mastery, and the capability of executing, if required, 

 the parts here passed over ; whose effect, taken together 

 as a whole, has notwithstanding been seized on and 

 given.* Only he who is acquainted with the ivhole of 



-^ My very clear friend John CoiistaLle was once .sketeliing an old tree 



