230 MANUAL FOR YOUNG SPORTSMEN, 
marshy brakes and deep forests, where perfection of scent 
is the most desirable of qualities, and where great speed is 
not attainable, owing to the nature of the ground, and not 
desirable, owing to the extreme difficulty of following the 
hunt, which must be kept in hearing rather than in sight 
by the sportsman. 
I should advise persons choosing this animal to select 
him exactly for the points laid down by Beckford, as 
quoted above on page 223; and to be contented with his 
great scenting powers, industry, and deep resounding 
voice, which makes wonderfully stirring and sonorous music 
under the solemn arches of the grand re-echoing forest. 
The best colors are black and yellow pied, or blue 
mottle with black and tan ears, eyepatches and saddles; 
and a medium-sized dog, strong, muscular, and compactly 
built, with long back ribs, which, as in the horse, should 
be well developed and firmly fixed to the hips by-strong 
muscles, long thighs and good strong “stifles” —all of which, 
as Nimrod properly insists, are essential points—not to 
exceed from 22 to 24 inches in height, is preferable to a 
larger dog. 
The English staghound, which is never seen in this 
country, and of which there are but two or three packs 
kept in England, is from 26 to 28 and even thirty 
inches, and is a beautiful spiry animal closely resembling 
the improved foxhound, or in fact identical with him in all 
points, except that he is exaggerated in size. 
The English foxhound ranges from 28 to 25 inches for 
the dogs, from 22 to 23 for the bitches; but uniformity 
