TH£. FOX-HOUND. 429 



sagacity and the most refined powers of scrutiny, but is far supe- 

 rior in bottom and stoutness to any other breed of the hound race. 

 Only consider the immense distance a hound travels over during 

 the many hours that he is frequently absent from home. The 

 country he travels over is generally of the very roughest descrip- 

 tion, such as sharp rock§, scrub oak, brambles, etc., and he fre- 

 quently takes to the water. 



The best breed for fox-shooting is the English fox-hound, 

 crossed with the American hound. The English-bred hound is 

 .00 delicate. The ground you ride over and the ground you shoot 

 over are totally different. The English dog is too finely bred to 

 suit our rocky ground ; its pace is too fast, as, unless it runs in 

 the open, it is apt to overrun the scent. A dog running at thirty 

 miles an hour cannot be expected to hold the scent as strongly as 

 one running at fifteen miles an hour. The speed which can be at- 

 tained by fox-hounds may be-estimated from the well known match 

 which took place upon the Beacon course at Newmarket, England. 

 The length of the course is four miles and 352 yards, and this 

 distance was run by the winning dog, Bluecap, in eight minutes 

 and a few seconds. The famous racehorse Flying Childers, in 

 running over the same ground, was little more than half a minute 

 ahead of the hound. Now, if we compare the dimensions of the 

 horse and the hound we shall form a tolerably accurate idea of the 

 extraordinary speed to which the latter animal can attain. In the 

 match no less than sixty horses started, together with the compet- 

 itors, but of the sixty only twelve were with the dogs at the end 

 of this short run. The English hound is of the utmost import- 

 ance to our fox-shooting friends, as what they require in a hound 

 is a good nose, hard feet, padded with a thick sole, strong pro- 

 pelling powers behind, and more endurance than excessive speed, 

 not forgetting a musical tongue, which can only be attained by the 

 cross of the American hound with the English. As there has been 

 so much breeding " in-and-in," and very little fresh stock imported, 

 the fox-hound is sadly deteriorating, as we only hear of a few in- 

 stances of fre^h blood. The first fox-hounds ever brought to 

 Florida, were from a celebrated "pack" owned on the estate o>f 

 the " Marquis of Berresford," in England. Sir Reginald, (subse- 

 miently Marquis) of Berresford came to America and opened ex- 



