112 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



that even dwellers near its haunts get a peep 

 at him. If surprised, he is never disconcerted, 

 but trots off with the most unconcerned air 

 conceivable. One day, walking by a fence 

 which skirted a fir-plantation and suddenly 

 rounding a curve, I observed a Fox coming 

 towards me ; when we mutually stopped to 

 gaze at each other. On the part of the Fox the 

 hesitation did not last long. In a moment he 

 again came leisurely on. When a few paces 

 in front, however, he took the fence at a 

 bound, kept close beneath its further side for 

 some distance, and then, slightly exerting him- 

 self, was soon out of sight. 



To show the stamina of mountain Foxes, of 

 the hounds which are bred to hunt them, and 

 of the yeomen hunters who follow on foot, 

 one remarkable run may be cited by way 

 of illustration. This lasted upwards of nine 

 hours, and the distance covered must have been 

 considerably over a hundred miles. The chase 

 began about noon, and at six in the evening, 

 when reynard was believed to be exhausted, 

 he again made for the hills, where both fox and 

 hounds were lost to the hunters. At nine the 

 hounds were heard returning by the way they 



