128 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



seen in that part of the country, were placed over it." 

 The Pox- " Ii giving a description of the various breeds of 

 Hound, dogs," says Mr. Jesse, "everyone must be aware, 

 that by crossing and recrossing them many of those we now 

 see have but little claim to originality. The fox-hound, the old 

 Irish wolf-dog, and the CoUey or shepherd's dog, may per- 

 haps be considered as possessing the greatest purity of blood. " 

 Mr. Jesse then refers to a picture of a pack of hounds in 

 Wilkinson's " Manners and Customs of the Egyptians, " a picture 

 which was copied from a painting found in one of the tombs 

 of the Pharaohs, in which "every individual hound is cha- 

 racteristic of the present breed. " If this be so, as Mr. Jesse 

 says, " this breed must be considered of a much more ancient 

 date than is generally supposed." The Fox-hound is des- 

 cribed by Colonel Smith as " somewhat lower at the shoulders 

 and more slenderly built" than the stag-hound. His colour 

 is " white, but commonly marked with larger clouds of black 

 and tan, one on each side the head, covering the ears, the 

 same on each flank and one at the root of the tail." The 

 Fox-hound has great strength and endurance, and will run 

 ten hours in pursuit of the fox. 



The Fox-hound's Many extraordinary stories are told of the 

 Tenacity. Fox-hound's ardour for sport. According to 

 Mr. Jesse, a bitch was on one occasion taken in labour while 

 in the hunting field, and after giving birth to a pup took it 

 in its mouth and pursued the chase. Another bitch, whose 

 eye had been struck from the socket accidentally by the lash 

 of the whipper-in who did not believe her challenge, pursued 

 the fox alone for a great distance with her eye pendant, until 

 the rest of the pack came up and the fox was killed. Per- 

 haps one of the most remarkable instances of tenacity of 

 purpose in an animal is that quoted by Mr. Jesse from the 

 supplement to Mr. Daniel's "Rural Sports." "The circum- 

 stance took place in the year 1808, in the counties of 

 Inverness and Perth, and perhaps surpasses any length of 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



