3'JO 



FOEEST AND STREAM. 



pDeobmbek 10, 1880. 



THE CHASE : ITS HISTORY AND LAWa 



BT THB-LOKD CHIBP JD.TIOE OP ENOtAHD. 



[Continued from page 875.] 



AN account is given by Henophou of the natureaud habits 

 of the liare, which even a naturalist might study with 

 advantage, and in the conrse of which the author appears to 

 be worlied up to an enlliusiastic admiration of the creature, 

 the destruciion of which i.s the very suljjoct of his worlv. 

 '• So charming an aniuial is it tluit no one wlio sees it either 

 tracked, fouuo, followed, or caught, but must lose al! thought 

 of all else he cares for." Elaborate directions are given for 

 the construclion and use of the different nets, and for the 

 breeding, choice and training of the hounds, whiehhe divides 

 into two sorts, one of which lieasci-ibes to a cross between the 

 dog and tlie fos, and of which he speaks with contempt ; the 

 ■other, which he calle the C'astor hound — as being the breed 

 ■with which Castor himself used lo iuuit— and of which a de- 

 tailed descripUou is given — probably the Spartan or Cretan 

 hound, whicli would seem to have been of the same or a very 

 similiar spiicifs. 



Xeiioplioii ni'.Yt treats of .stag-hunting, for which ho recom- 

 mends Uie employment of Indian honnd.s, as being large, 

 strong, swift and liighcouragcd, and so bestsuited for work. 

 But he propo.ses t<j pursue the" sport in a \vay which wo .should 

 deem highly uufportsmaii-like. He recommends the use of 

 afootsnare— a son of wooden (rap, the construction of which 

 it isnot very esi.'sy to understand or explain, but which the 

 Ksyntians appear to have used centuries before, and which 

 Sir' Gardner Wilkinson tells us the Arabs use to this day: to 

 this contrivance a noose is to be allachcd. When complete, 

 the irup is to be placed in the triiok of the deer, below the 

 surface of the ground, and carefully covered over With earth 

 nnd leaves, so that, stepping on it, the foot cf the deer may 

 be cuuglit, and Ihe animal, unaitle lo disengage it, maybe 

 COiupeiled lo drag the uooden log after it." Coining after- 

 ward with his dogs and iindiiig ihe trap gone, the hunter is 

 to follow the track it will baveleft on tlie stones and gnnuid, 

 and with the aid of liis hotuids will soon come up with the 

 deer, Vvdilch, lis pnigressb-ing thus impeded, will fall an easy 

 prei'. Not but what, it" it proves to be a stag, XenophoH ad- 

 vises that it should be approached with caution, as the ani- 

 mal can strike furiously both with horns and feet. It should 

 therefore be killed froui a distance willi darts and javelins. 



It is remarkable that Xenuphon makes no mention of the 

 u^e of the bow. Nor in Irealing of hare-hunting does lie 

 speak of llie throw-slick which, as we know from other 

 sources, the Greek hmiter used with effect to knock over the 

 hare when be could get within reach of her. 



The third form of hunting treated of by our author is that 

 of tbe wild boar, which, as described by him, was of a for- 

 Diidablc nature, and llie preparations for which requii ed to be 

 of a corresponding character. The nets must be of greater 

 strength. The lifjids of the javelins used by the htmter must 

 be broad, and sbaip as razors, the shafts must be of hard 

 wood. Ttie spears should have an iron head, five palms long, 

 Btrougly guarded by cross-bars. And the prudent advice is 

 given not to hmit alone, but always in company. The hounds 

 Siould be, not of a common sort, but Indian, Locrain, 

 Cretan or Spm-tan. A Spartan hound, these hounds having 

 apparently been remaikable for keen scent, is to be first em- 

 ployed to find the boar, the rest being carefully kept back. 



Generally speaking, when found by a single bound, the boar, 

 Xenophon tells us, does not condesoeud to rise from his 

 lair. The hunters are then to take advantage of this lo 

 spread the nets around him ; having done which they are to 

 Bet the hounds on him, but, if po.ssible, al sutBcient inter- 

 vals to allow hiui to pa.ss between them, so that he may not 

 kill or injuio more bounds than can be helped, the object 

 being to get him entangled in the nets, in executing which 

 the hunters are to assist by shouting and throwing darts and 

 s'-ones at him. When he is well entangled in the net, one of 

 the boldest and mo.st skillftd of the hunters is to attack him 

 with his Ijoar-spear — an ojieration, however, which requires 

 great dexterity antl cure. The blow is to be struck with the 

 right baud, wLile the spear is supported by tlie left. But in 

 this dangerous sport hunters, as well as hounds, sometimes 

 perished. Woe betide the hunter if the boar, by turning his 

 head, should succeed in averting the stroke, and should knock 

 the spear out of the huitter's hand. Great and iuuninent is 

 then the danger. The only resom-ce of the hunter is said to 

 bo to fall flat on his face. The lioar vri II endeavor to raise 

 him with bis tusks, in order lo rend him therewith, and, if 

 he fails in Ibis, will trample on him, and possibly trample 

 him to death. The wild sow, being without tuslis, will al- 

 ways, under such circumstances, end^eavor to trample on the 

 prostrate hunter. The peril can only be averted by some 

 brother sportsman coming to the rescue and attacking the 

 beast with his spear, and. so diverting its fury from the t'tdlen 

 man. Bui this nmst bo done with caution, lest the spear 

 thi-ust al the boar should injure tlie man whom it is intended 

 to protect. lUany huiUets as well as hoimds, Xenoplion tells 

 US, found their dentil in tills perilous anuisement. 



Lions and other bea.sts of prey were destroyed, Xenophon 

 proceeds to tell us, as they could not well be hunted in these 

 tnountainous districts owning to the roughness of the cnuntiy, 

 by means of aconite, as poison, mixed with the food they 

 liked, and iilaced near the water or other places tiiey were in 

 the habit of frequenting. Sometimes they were caught in 

 pitfalls, a she-goat being tied to the spot over wliicb the 

 Deast had lo pass, to attract him by lier cries. Sometimes 

 the ajiimals, coming down into the open coiwtry by night, 

 were then smToumled by men and horses, and taken, not 

 •without danger to the hunters. 



Xenophon concludes liis interesting treaties by an eloquent 

 but somewhat exaggerated eulogy of hunting. "According; to 

 him, tbe chase is ilie soi irce of health to the miud as well 

 as the body. It makes men strong, hardy, active, fit for 

 labor, manly, bold, cuuiagcuns ; it prejiares and fits them for 

 war and for tlieir conntiy's service ; it diverts them froni 

 mischievous and demoralizing habiis and pursuits, and, giv- 

 ing a liealtby tone lo the miud, tends lo make men virtuous 

 and happy. — Tlte Nineteenth CerUury. 



> .». ■ 



SHOOTING MATCHES. 



■ViNCEKTOWN, N. J., Dec. 1.— The Coaxen Glass Ball Club of this 

 place held their monthly shoot for badge hero to-day. Cnrd'H ro- 

 tai'v trap, 18 yards, weather cold, Btoi-my and disagreeable ; 10 baUe 

 each ; score as follows : W.'b. Hilliard, 7 ; J. W. Haines, 6 ; H. 

 E. Httiuea, 5 ; R. H. Iiick, S ; S. S. Butterworth, i ; Capt. Haines, 

 8 ; F. S. Hilhard, 6, Capt. Haines won badge. Sheldeake. 



Rhimbbeck, N. Y., Dec. 8 — lu a match betwesn a gentleman of 

 Ithiuebeck aud a meznbei- of the Bhiuebeok Club, the latter to 



broak 24 balls out of 25 from a Card revolving trap, 19 yards rise, 

 6 baUa from three notches and seven from last notch. The latter 

 won to-day by brealdng 25 bails sb-aight. P. J. M. 



Newtown, L. I., Dec. 10.— The thhxl monthly contest of the 

 Audubon Gnu Club for the olnb-ljadge, took place yesterday. The 

 cold accounts for the score not being up to the mark Eight mem- 

 bers participated in the match, who shot at ten balls each sprung 

 from rotarj' trap, twenty-one yards rise ; ties were shot off at three 

 extra balls each : 



!<'. Blackwell o ] l l l l 1—6 



James Hemlng i iilioilO 0—7 



.\. Andrews » Ouuiiiio 1-5 



L. B. Flew 1 I I u 1 1 1—6 



Tiobt. Allen I) oiiooooo 1-3 



(J, W.Fleld u 1 1 1 q I 1 a 1- T 



Henry Eger fl o 1 i 1 1-4 



P. Phillip « 1 1 « 1 0-S 



In shooting off the tie between tlie two highest contestants, Jlr. 

 James Heming won the badge. II, Hunter. 



FotiNTAis Gvs Club. — At the last montWy match of the Poun- 

 ''ain Gim Club the mebera shot off the postponed tie« of their 

 Thanksgiving match, the contestiuits appeiiring being Stessrs. 

 Cben-y ut 25 yards and Behworer at 29 yards. The score was : 

 Bchworer, 15 ; Cheri-y, 12. For the badge shoot, 7 birds each, 22 

 contestants. Harry Muler had provided a fair lot of buds, some 

 good drivers rising from the traps oooasionaUy. Among the half 

 dozen contestants who killed eix birds each was Madison, the gun- 

 luaker, who, unluckily, had a hard bird on tbe sixth shot whi«h 

 fell dead out of bounds. JIadison shot at thirty yards rise. At 

 the close of the shoot at the seven bmls It was found that there 

 were four ties, the score being as follows ! 



Wliigeit, 30 yards. l 1 l l t l :— 7 11 1—10 



Dr Talbot, .I'l yards 1 1 1 1 1 1 IT 11 •— 9 



Sehworer, '26 yards I 11111 1— T 10 —8 



Van Staden, '.ii yards .1 11111 1—7 — T 



This left Secretary Wingert the victor for the day. The shoot- 

 uig was from five traps at handicap rise. 



Algonquim Gun Club, Dec. 6.— 8emi-montldy shoot for a gold 

 badge, 20 buUs, 3 traps, 18 yards rise : 



,los.Hanna I 1 I 1 1 1 1 rn I i i i 1 I n 1 o— IB 



.Jas, Dunseltli 1 11111 010 OlllltOlll ]— ic 



,r. H. Hill 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 ] 1 1 01 I 1 1 1 1 1—19 



L. Brenner ,...1 llllOlOllODOllllll t— i.^ 



Geo. Williams loilllioiioooioioi 1—12 



ii. M. Burns,.. 1 «00110110110tltt00 0-ll 



Thos. LougUery ....1 110011011101111111 t-io 



.Ionn:«ale 1 Oil 111000111 1 1 1 1 i l-lr. 



1^ Kckstem 1 110111111110011110 l-lil 



RObt. --Uld. , 101111101101000111 0-12 



H. UrlSWOia— ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 00 1 00 a 00- 7 



n. M. B. 



P/g fennel. 



CANINE OPINIONS. 



HBABD W THE STILLY MOBT. 



IT was right. The Eastern Eield Trials were over. The 

 great "go-as-you-please" forjudges and reporters was 

 at an end, and quiet reigned supreme. The sound of Tom 

 Aldrich's voice pleading for "just one more twenty-five cent 

 bid " was no longer heard in the land. The room was de- 

 serted, and only the empty bottles and a floor strewn with 

 cigar stumps spoke that aU iiul one that was human had at 

 last sough I a bed of rest. As I yawned and stretched out 

 my arms, disturbing the clouds of stale tobacco smoke that 

 bung heavily over where llic battle had so furiously raged, I 

 felt more like conquered than conqueror and made up my 

 miud that before donning my idsler and slipping iu between 

 the chilly sheets, a turn in the lane would do me good. No 

 sooner ibought than done, aud the frosty roadsoon gave back 

 the echoes of ray square-heel-and-toe. I had just got under 

 full swing, discussing the problem of how many meals of 

 scalli'iw a single man could make before going lo Heaven, 

 wlien a strange murmuring sound brought me to a stand-still. 

 A queer mumbling sound as if it came from human voices 

 hidden in some crypt beneath the earth. A moment later I 

 heard the word "Judges" spoken distinctly in half a dozen 

 dialects, and then a bowl went up that drew my attention to 

 Ihe bam where the dogs were kept. 



"Gretit Lucifer," 1 said, "can it be possihle that even the 

 dogs have fallen to sitting up and talking the matter over?" 

 That thei'c w:ii] enything strange in the dogs having acquired 

 the !)i".' ■! ' 1.1. .ii did not fur one moment occur to me, 

 for [j ; ; , i.-.^- one week I had heard such wonderful 

 storie. :. :: : I it the intelligence of each individual dog 

 that I was iuUy prepared for anything that might happen as 

 far as canines were coucerned My hat, therefore, did not 

 poise on the ends of my luxuriant locks, but the burning of 

 my left ear warned me that soi 

 Now, although curiosity is gen 

 long list of virues belonging 

 have known just as many men 

 sire to know -what was going oi 

 the barn and i»]jplicd Ihe heated organ of hearing to a crack, 

 jnst in lime to catch ihe words of Iron Duke, who for the 

 tiiiie seemed to have the floor : 



"Yon see, it ain't a .squai'c deal. I've been spiled in 

 gitlin' ready for these 'ere dai'n tritds. They'll spile any good 

 dog. Tlie judges, did you say, Glad.? Well, that caps it. 

 No move (litila on ray plate. When a feller gits in two lieats 

 to be downed by a dutfer iike Glcn. That sifts it down. I 

 know il all. It was a set up Job and fixed beforehand. I'm 

 done, bust up, when I ouglU lo be a winner." 



"A winner?" says Gladstone, " j'on'd be a healthy winner 

 with me and Whit, alongside. It would take a right smait 

 lot to gel away with us. I don't reclion we came East lo 

 lose. A winner? Well I s-li-o-u-l-d s-m-i-l-e. Wouldn't 

 we, Peep ?" 



"He! he! so we would, Pa," tittered Peep 0' Day. 



"'Ear me hout," said a gruff voice I knew at once as com- 



■ one 



wan tidkiuir about me. 



iilh- s 



umniefl up among the 



clusi^ 



jeW lo women, yet I 



lio ha 



ve had a sneaking de- 



So, 



silently, I crept up lo 



Ing from Croi'teth, "ith'aint KmeUe?'s I'm talkin' 'bout, but 

 Imoi-yR; did yon see the swell chew tlie burds ? That's what 

 /calls too bad, 'though he be from same country and kind of 

 related loike. I 'olds no such Warsted swell no pal o' mine 

 Hits hall rot for Mm to 'avea place,- and, Lasa, you 'ere me 

 tell you straight." 



"That's too most awfully unkind to scold poor dear Sen.sa- 

 tion so," says Ln.=s, "aud aliitoiigli he is no kin of mine he 

 is so charmicirly picturesque." 



" liy Jove," eliiiiied in the champion pointer, with ayawn. 

 "By jove, yes ; on the bench I am called 'handsome Sensa- 

 tion,' but here I am called 'bloody Don,' With a few^ o.^i- 

 ce.Jtions this crowd is quite too low for nie. I don't mix 

 with these kind of fellows at home, you know. In fact, if I 

 met t.bem iu the street I wouldn't even wag my tail " 



"Picturesque he blowcd," growled Croxleth. 



" Any crow bait that has knobs 'long his hack loike bell 

 handles to a liniment house," says Raleigh. 



" He thinks he's a masher," says Trim. 



Here a very feeble voice was heard saying, iu a squeeky 

 tone, "That's so," which I recognized as coming from Jen- 

 nie II. 



" Thim jidges," says Spy, "hain't got no appreciation. I 

 made the best pint of all of yer. I sthiiick a schent right 

 through old Juke, and thin they wint and pinalized me. Aud 

 thim rephortersl Oh! begoi'i'ah, what a gang. That Glad- 

 stone man wi(h the bow-legs, which ho says he got from 

 ridin' to hounds too much Avhen he was young, and that 

 young Jersey rhuslcr with the red beard, the slaughters. 

 Why don't yer say somcthin', Nat ? Smut and you have a 

 right to squeal." 



"It's money that talks down our Way," says little Nat, 

 "and if wc had 'em there it would be a different raclcet. 

 They'd ought to see little Smut and uie on ruffed grouse ; it 

 would make them sick. We ain't over-much on style, but 

 we mal« up iu lu^se. It ain't style thatfiuds birds, it's nose, 

 and when we come tu a point it ain't no blue-blood point, 

 wilh the tail \viggle, wiggle, wiggle, but we stiffen out our 

 tails stiff aud solid, as much as to say, ' Boys, come up and 

 have a siiot ; we've got 'em' "— 



" And you bet that's the way to point," says Grouse Dale, 

 a Down Easter, too. 



" Law !" .says Isabella, of whom no one had taken any no- 

 lice, "don't he talk sweet." 



" He is the boss talker," says Glen, " and he ought to pro- 

 test against this foul and most unnatural outrage." 



"Indeed he should," said pretty little Bessie, "itis a burn- 

 ing shame, because Nat and Smut arc small, that they shoidd 

 be sat on." 



"Shake," says Nat to Glen ; and shake they did. 



PBN PAKAOEAPa. 



"AIY EXPERIENCE WITH SETTERS." 



EOR a long liiiie 1 have been waiting for some practic-id 

 sporlSMian lo tell, llin.nigli Ihe piipers, bis and tbe gen- 

 eral experience wilh seihTS as Im-J dei-.«, i^oin;^- into thc'de- 

 tails, wiiich in this arc so impoit;iui. ihh! leaving tbe gliuer- 

 iug generalities to those who iiuve pi them an iulerest iu uot 

 descending to particularize— or who do not know enough 

 about it to do so— reeling contideui that liis experience would 

 coincide with mine and save me the trouble of telling my 

 story. 



To begin with, I would say that I shoot only for pleasure, 

 and breed dogs only for sport and because 1 love them, never 

 having sold a dog in my life. From my earliest recolle<'tion 

 I have been fiiH liar with bird dogs. Lmii; liefore I could 

 carry a gun have I, day after day, ridden beliiud my uncles, 

 who were ardent sportsmen and fine shots, and held their 

 hor.ses when the dogs wuuld aland, while they shot Ihe birds; 

 and from the time that I was considered old enough to be 

 trusted with a sun I have been tbeo'^ner of a bird dog and 

 spent a part nf'e:ieh fall in pursuit of quail, or partridge as 

 we in Virniiiia call tlicm. 



When 1 can brsf lemeinber, my imcleshad abreed of liver 

 and white pointeia— descended from Stock imported by the 

 Randolphs of Cuuiberlaud imd Ihe Hoopers of Buckingham- 

 large, strong dogs, wilh grand heads and long muzzles and 

 hair as short as Vhe modern breed, hut coarse and harder t<o 

 the touch, which were inlinilely superior to any dogs I have 

 ever seen. They were remarkably fast and capable of liunt- 

 ing eveiy day for « eeks ; hut Ihe most remarkable thing 

 about them, and the aU-important thing in a bird dog, was 

 nose, which enabled them to hunt always for the body scent, 

 never stooping to foot or pottering in Ihe leiwt ; and they 

 never false-pointed or failed to exnctly locate their Iiirds. 

 Most of them were taught to tree squirrels, and so inherent 

 was the disposition to hunt with bead up, and for the body 

 scent, in them, that Ibey would run tluougb the woods at 

 full speed and stop instanlly. throw np their lioads and bark 

 without ever pulling tlieir noses to the gmund or regarding 

 tbe squirrel's track in the least, but smelling the animal itself 

 in the tree. We managed to keep this breed more or less 

 piu-e until since the w>u, and in 1871 I-becarae the owner of 

 the last of the blood in this country, a bitch some eiffht or 

 nine years old, but showing even at that age all Ihe (hirac- 

 leristics of the breed, including retrieving, for which they 

 were also noted, for with them a dead or wounded bird was 

 never lost. Not knowing whore to find a mate for her 1 lost 

 the stock. About this time, from reading the sporting 

 papers and dog books the rage which was sweeping over 

 Ensrland and this country, and nothing would do for me but 

 a high-bred setter. Jusi then I met in the cars a gentleman 

 from New Jersey returning from a shootingtrip up the .lames 

 River valley, who was equipped with a fine breech-loader 

 and brace of slasirmg setteis, and full of all the new kinks in 

 the sporting worid. From him I purchased a cross-bred Gor- 

 don and Irish setter. " Don " was a red dog, very handsome 

 and large. He was fast enough, but had no nose aud pot- 

 tered and false pointed invcteralely, and was worn out at 

 five years old. From what I could Icaru iTom tlie sporting 

 authorities, 1 concluded ibat tbe fault was in ihc crossof the 

 two breeds, and the thing was to get it ijerfectly from Irish 



