AND AMERICAN 
<¢In following hounds, it may be useful to know, that, 
when in cover, they run up the wind, you cannot in rea- 
son be too far behind them, as long as you have a perfect 
hearing of them, and can command them; and, on the con- 
trary, when they are running down the wind, you cannot 
keep too close to them. é 
«¢ When covers are much disturbed, foxes will sometimes 
break away as soon as they hear a hound, Where the 
country round is very open, the fox least likely to break 
is the one which you are hunting; fe will be very unwill- 
ing to quit the cover, if it be a large one, unless he can 
get a great distance before the hounds. HH sportsmen are 
desirous of a run over such a country, the likeliest means 
will be to post a quiet and skilful person to halloo one off, 
and lay on to him. The further he is before the hounds, 
the less likely he will be to return. The best method, 
however, of hunting a cover like this, which is full of foxes, 
is to stick constantly to it, not suffering the hounds to 
break so long as one fox remains:—if this be done two or 
three hunting days in succession, foxes will then fly, and 
good runs may be obtained. 
“Frequently changing the country is prejudicial to 
hounds: should they change from a good scenting country 
to a bad one, they willbe some time before they kill a fox, 
unless they have better luck than ordinary; whereas, 
hounds have always a great advantage in a country which 
they are used to. They not only know better where to 
find their game, but they will pursue it with more energy 
when they have found it. 
‘¢Huntsmen of penetration will observe where foxes 
like best to lie. Where there is a great tract of cover to 
draw, such observations are of great utility, and will save 
much time. Generally, foxes are partial to such as lie 
high, and are dry and thick at bottom; such also as lie out 
of the wind; and such as are on the sunny side of hills. 
The same cover where one fox has been found, if it has 
remained quiet any time, will most likely produce ano- 
ther. 
‘¢The season when foxes are most wild and strong is 
about Christmas; a huntsman then must lose no time in 
drawing; he should draw up the wind, unless the cover be 
very large, in which case, it may be better, perhaps, to 
cross it, giving the hounds a side wind, lest he should be 
obliged to turn down the wind at last:—in either case, he 
should draw as quietly as he can. 
<< The best drawing hounds are shy of searching a cover 
when it is wet; and on such occasions the huntsman should 
ride into the likeliest part of it; and as there will most 
likely be no drag, the closer he draws the better; hunts- 
men, by drawing in too great a hurry, frequently leave 
foxes behind them. Some huntsmen draw too quick, 
RURAL SPORTS. 51 
some too slow. The time of the day, the behaviour of 
the hounds, and the covers they are drawing, will direct 
an intelligent huntsman in the pace which he ought to go. 
«‘ When a fox slinks from his kennel, gets a great way 
before the hounds, and you are obliged to hunt after him 
with a bad scent—if you are in a country where foxes are 
in plenty, and you know where to find another, it will 
be advisable to call off, and try fora second. Unless a 
fox can be well pressed in the early part of the run, the 
hounds will not easily reach him; on the contrary, if he is 
at such a distance before them, as will enable him to regu- 
late his pace, he will be very likely to tire out both horses 
and hounds—hence one very essential reason for speed in 
the fox-hound. When the fox is a great way a-head, he 
will listen to the hounds, and act accordingly—if the 
hounds are not able to blow him, the chase is sure to be 
very long, and will most likely end with the loss of the fox. 
<¢ During the time that hounds are drawing for a fox, the 
sportsmen should place themselves in such a manner that 
he cannot go off unseen. Foxes will sometimes lie in 
sheep’s scrapes on the side of hills, and in small bushes, 
and even in stubbles, where huntsmen seldom think of 
looking for them; yet, when they hear a hound, they 
generally shift their quarters, and make for close cover. 
‘¢ When a huntsman has a perfect knowledge of his coun- 
try, he possesses an eminent advantage—he can trot away 
and make a knowing cast, from having observed that nine 
foxes out of ten, with the wind in the same quarter, have 
constantly made for the same point or cover. 
«¢ When a fox runs into a village, great caution is neces- 
sary: if he is halloo’d there, the huntsman should get for- 
ward as fast as he can. Foxes, when tired, will lie down 
any where, and are thus often lost. A wide cast is not the 
best to recover a tired fox with tired hounds—they should 
hunt him out inch by inch, though they are ever so 
long about it, and for the reason just given, that he will 
lie down any where. 
«¢ The true spirit of Fox-hunting is not to walk down a 
fox, or starve him to death, but to keep close at him, and 
kill him as soon as you can. A fox-hound may hunt too 
much; if tender nosed, and not over-hurried, he will al- 
ways hunt enough; whilst the lightest bred hounds may 
be made to tye on the scent by improper encouragement. 
Slackness in the men occasions slackness in the hounds; 
and any person may perceive by the manner in which 
the hounds hunt, what kind of men they have been accus- 
tomed to. 
<¢ The many chances in favour of the fox in Fox-hunting, 
such as the frequent changing, the heading of the fox, his 
being coursed by sheep-dogs, long faults, cold hunting, and 
the dying away of the scent, make it necessary to keep 
