COURSING WITH THE GREYHOUND. 



L. F. Bartels. 



" The greyhound, the greathound. the graceful of limb, 

 Rough fellow, tall fellow, swift fellow and slim ; 

 Let them sound o'er the earth, let them sail o'er the sea, 

 They will light on none other more ancient than he." 



Scott. 



Among the many different breeds of 

 dogs, the greyhound stands out 

 boldly, and occupies the highest place 



in the group of those hunting by keen- 

 ness of sight and fleetness of foot. 



The greyhound, wolfhound, and deer- 

 hound probably sprang from the same 

 source. Although the greyhound was 

 known in the most remote ages of antiq- 

 uity, the first portraiture, which can be 

 relied on is in a painting on one of the 

 tombs of the fourth dynasty of Egypt, 

 which must be upwards of 4000 years 

 old. The type of the greyhound has, by 

 careful breeding, become fixed and is 

 by far more important and perfect than 

 that of any other breed. It exhibits a 

 model of elegance and combination of 

 symmetrical proportions, unrivalled by 

 those of any other animal, the perfec- 

 tion of the mechanism for speed being 

 apparent throughout its structure. 



The alterations in the game laws of 

 modern times led to the great and in- 

 creasing popularity of coursing and the 

 diffusion of greyhoundsamongallclasses. 

 It is impossible to separate the grey- 



hound from coursing, so thoroughly 

 have they become identified. If we go 

 back to the earlier centuries, we find the 

 Gauls, who first practiced this sport, and 

 the Greeks with whom it was a great 

 favorite, using him in the pursuit of the 

 wolf, boar, deer and other large game, 

 depending upon his speed and endur- 

 ance to conquer it. His speed is pro- 

 verbial. It is thus eulogized by Scott 

 in his introduction to Canto II, Mar 

 mion : 



" Remember'st thou my greyhounds true? 

 O'er holt or hill there never flew, 

 From slip or leash, there never sprang. 

 More fleet of foot, or sure of fang." 



Coming down to the present time, 

 when the opportunities for coursing the 

 larger game became more rare, and in 

 many cases was restricted or prohibited 

 by the game laws in force, coursing the 

 hare, or his American cousin the jack- 

 rabbit, grew in favor. With the increas- 

 ing popularity of this sport and the 

 conditions thereof, came the modern 

 greyhound. 



MONK UISHOI". 



Drayton has so well described a course 

 of this kind, that I may be pardoned 

 for quoting it here : 



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