72 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 21, 1S84. 



be effected by military drill, is it not bettor to get it done with- 

 out cost to government? 



I hope none of the readers of Eorest and Stream are so 

 foolish as to think war is soon to be abolished, or that the 

 habit of nations conquering others whenever they are able 

 has fallen into the least disuse. We have but to look at the 

 changes in the map ot the world wrought -within the last 

 twenty years to show us that the only way to get or keep 

 liberty is by force of arms. 



Oh! But some one will say, "This is oniy an artist, a 

 dreamer." True enough, but the artist has heard the whistle, 

 and felt the stint- of Indicts, and the vision is inspired by the 

 haunting memory of battlefields where, with his own eyes, he 

 has seen the breechloader do its awful work, 



J. M. Tracy. 



FOX HUNTING ON CAPE COD IN 1884. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I take the liberty of sendiug to you herewith an account of 

 a fox hunt which took place at the close of last inonth within 

 the Limits of the old Bay State. 



Of course I would not compare our sport here with the more 

 delightful method of enjoying this pastime in "merrie" Eng- 

 land. 1 am too familiar with the music of the Warwickshire 

 and North Warwickshire hounds, and. with the top and width 

 respectively, of the hedges and ditches which skirt the hunting 

 grounds about Leamington to draw the comparison, albeit 

 ten years have passed since I joined with the members of the 

 hunt there in the run 'cross country. 



Now the scene is changed, and the beautiful pasture lands 

 of Warwick give place to the sandy pine-growing hills of Cape 

 Cod, with acres ot scrub oak, dotted with ponds and inter- 

 sected b} T little streams. Here a sportsman could not follow 

 on horseback, and we who love to hear our foxhounds "sing 

 the news" must enjoy the sport on foot. 



It happened that oh a day peculiarly adapted t© fox hunting a 

 party consisting of Mr, C, H, Nye, the agreeable superintendent 

 of the Cape Cod divison of the Old Colony Railroad, Mr. James 

 Tavlor, an old fox hunter of West Barnstable, Mr. G. L Bas- 

 set', of Hyannis, and others, together with Mr. Wm. D. King, 

 of Newport, B. I. (who took with him to the cape Mr. George 

 A. Strange, of Berkley, Mass.) assembled for a New England 

 fox hunt. So motionless was every tree and shrub, that but 

 for the hunt, nothing would have broken the stillnes of nature, 

 save the shrill whistle of the passing locomotive, the noise of 

 the wood-carts, the song of the woodman or the sound of his 

 laboring axe. A thin sheet of snow which covered the 

 ground made the scent of the fox most favorable for the 

 sagacious dogs. 



After driving two miles to the scene of our sport, we hastily 

 tied our horses in woody lanes, and took our stands at points 

 properly distant from one another, leaving pur dogs to do their 

 wor-k. Nor did they betray this trust. In a few moments we 

 heard them, and their first occasional notes were very soon 

 f ollowed by that thrilling burst, which always greets our ears 

 when rey nard is up and away. Probably each one of the party, 

 -when, in the early morning hour, he heard the dogs give oat 

 their measured and unbroken tongue, mentally ejaculated, 

 "that is a start," tor so it proved. In the language of our fox 

 hunters, reynard "played well," and we listened for two 

 hours to the entrancing sounds which came from the lips of 

 each of our "favorites." happy when they were faraway, 

 carrying the responsibility or the shot elsewhere, still and 

 almost breathless when they were near, lest a chance move- 

 ment of ours should turn the quarry, and forfeit the brush. 

 At about half past 9 o'clock the fox crossed within thirty yards 

 of Mr. King's view, when a shot from his Parker gun ended 

 the run. and for a short time silenced the music in the air. 



It was the work of but a few moments to place fox No. 1 in 

 a wagon, divide into two parties within good hearing distance 

 of one another, and attempt another "start." Mr. Bassett 

 soon discovered the track of an old "settler," and at once 

 placed his splendid animal Alto upon the trail. In a few 

 moments she drove the veteran upon his feet, and away she 

 went alone and unattended to wait upon this fox which had 

 so long baffled the hunters of the locality. One of the party 

 now sought the railroad near by, having learned that it was 

 the custom of this particular fox to go and run the rail, thus 

 throwing the dogs off the scent. Though he failed to place 

 himself in a posjtion to get a shot, Mr. Bumpus, however, saw 

 the fox come upon the track, witnessed the running of the 

 iron for some distance, and watched the animal as he slipped 

 olf the rail and hopped up the hill, pausing there for a moment 

 to look behind. Soon along came Alto, in full cry until she 

 reached the iron rail, there all scent was lost, of course, and 

 so running over, and back and forth, the intelligent beast, un- 

 able to rectify the fault, submitted to the call of Mr. Bumpus, 

 who placed her where the fox had left the iron, when away 

 she flew carrying her beautiful head well in the air and utter- 

 ing the language, "this time you are mine," clothed with all 

 the melody of a fox hound's tongue. At noonday Mr. Strange 

 succeeded in crippling, at long range, the sly old fox, which 

 Alto finally brought to bay, and then it was that a charge 

 from Mr. Taylor's 10-bore relieved the dog of any further duty 

 in that direction, and stretched a handsome twelve-pound fox 

 at his feet. 



About the time that Alto had started the second fox, and 

 but a short distance away, Mr. Nye's beautiful spotted dog 

 aroused another from his morning nap, and began a run which 

 lasted nearly the remainder of the day, through a partially 

 burned district, the scene of our hunt. She was at once 

 joined by Mr. Taylor's pet (the hero of many a day's sport) 

 and by Mr. King's white dog Dick (celebrated iu Sullivan 

 county, N. IL, especially in the vicinity of Newport, and who 

 to-day was hunting away from his native hills for the first 

 time)'. The second fox having been dispatched, Alto entered 

 with the others upon the race for the third, and now came 

 the grandest chorus of the day. 



Brother fox hunters, old and young, "Who love the wood- 

 lands and the cry of hounds, listen, with your ears of memory 

 and experience, to the music of those hours which were pass- 

 ing, alas ah too quickly, by. 



Until late in the afternoon the dulcet tones of Alto, mingling 

 in glorious harmony with the clarion voice of Dick (ever in 

 the van of the chase), were echoed back by the combined mel- 

 ody of the slower but none the less true four-footed followers 

 belonging to Mr. Nye and Mr. Taylor. Once I caught a glimpse 

 of them, and again I saw them them as they crossed the lane 

 in the distance; first the flash of yellow fur, then, with superb 

 dash and ringing chorus, Alto with the white dog, followed 

 by the rest, and all pointing to the fleeing fox with the accu- 

 racy of the needle to the pole. 



This was rapture itself, and could the English bard have 

 been in the midst of us perhaps he might have qualified his verse : 



" In thee alone, fair land of liberty, ■ 

 Is bred the perfect hound, in scent and speed 

 As yet unrivalled; while in other climes 

 Their virtues fail a weak degenerate race." 



With the declining day, the crack of Mr. King's breech- 

 loader secured to mm a second brush, and ended the song 

 notes which had so long marked the devious path over which 

 the fox had been leading. The fatal shots alone had inter- 

 rupted the incessant cry of the hounds from morning untfl 

 nightfall. 



On our way to the wagons the indefatigable Alto, familiar 

 as she was with every part of the hunting ground, stole away 

 from us and started another fox, which we were reluctantly 

 obliged to leave, Thus we had secured three foxes, in runs 

 occupying nearly the entire day, and had started a fourth fox, 

 and these were full grown foxes and not early cubs. 



By the participants in this fox hunt the 30th of January, 



1884, will be counted as a red-letter day in the annals of their 

 fox hunting, and such, I think, it will be considered by your 

 readers, who may be interested in this kind of sport. ' K. 

 Berkley, Mass., Feb. 11, 1884. 



CINCINNATI BENCH SHOW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Numerous have been the inquiries as to whether the flood 

 here would stop the holding of the bench show. I am glad to 

 be able to state that the river is receding fast, so that by next 

 week the railroads will be all right and the show will be given 

 as advertised, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th of March. The entries 

 close Feb. 25. Chas. Lincoln, Sunt. 



Cincinnati, Feb. 16. 



BEAGLES FOR FOX HUNTING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I am a New England man, and fond of fox hunting. To me 

 it seems that the foxhound of to-day is a degenerated dog. 

 Am I right, or is it only that I am growing old, and the notes 

 of the old-time dogs came to me more mellow and musical 

 in memory than they really were? Whatever be the true 

 cause of my discontent, one thing is cortain, I am looking 

 about for a successor worthy of the hound I knew whea a 

 couple of decades younger than I am now. 



Your columns have recently had much about the beagle. Is 

 he the coming dog? And how would the beagle do for fox 

 hunting? Is he too slow? Will some of your readers -who are 

 conversant with the qualities of the beagle give, through your 

 columns, their views on the points referred to? Bugle. 



Vermont. 



THE BEAGLE CLUB. 



PRESS of business has prevented me from expressing sooner 

 my thanks for the honors conferred upon me and the 

 confidence shown in me, by members of this club, to most of 

 whom I am a stranger. I shall faithfully serve the club and 

 its interests, and do all in my- power to make it a successful 

 and strong organization. 



The present condition of our club is flattering indeed, and 

 beyond our most sanguine expectations. Its membership is 

 growing from day to day, and I hope, at no distant day, to be 

 enabled to report a membership of five hundred, as you, dear 

 editor, think we ought to have. 



Let me once more call upon all, not only breeders and owners 

 of beagles, but all those who take an interest- in the beautiful 

 and useful little hounds, to enroll themselves with us, in 

 this, our mutual cause, and send in their name at an early 

 date. A. C. Krueger, Sec'yand Treas. 



Wrightsvixle, Pa. 



THE POINTING INSTINCT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I am the possessor of a dachshund puppy now some four 

 months old, the mother of which was imported last summer 

 from the celebrated kennel of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, in 

 Germany, said to be the finest strain of black and tan dachs- 

 hunde in that country, she giving birth soon after her arrival 

 here to four puppies, all of which, except one, have since died. 

 I am told in olden times they were used for birds as well as 

 rabbits, badgers, foxes, etc. The mother this last fall came 

 across a bevy of quail and stood them as staunch as any old 

 setter or pointer. Is it in the blood or an exception? My dog 

 is a perfect beauty and house pet, and quick as lightning and 

 veiy intelligent. Yorick. 



[It is not uncommon for individuals of many of the different 

 breeds of sporting dogs to imitate the point of the setter and 

 pointer. We have shot a ruffed grouse, over a foxhound, who 

 pointed it as staunchly as a setter. We have also seen a half- 

 bred rough-haired terrier frequently point sparrows in the 

 street, remaining perfectly rigid untfl the bird flew.l 



THE CLUMBER SPANIEL. 



[Cancluded from page 34.] 



THE Earl of Arundel, at Wardour Castle, has or had some 

 ten years ago a nice strain of the breed ; but those I have 

 seen have been rather on the small side, and resembled very 

 much in appearance Prince Albert's strain. I have seen sev- 

 eral of them at work, and nothing certainly could be better; 

 and although the Clumber spaniel should be large and heavy, 

 I think, if this strain is purely bred, which there is no reason 

 whatever to doubt, though, as I have stated before, of a dif- 

 ferent character to the Duke of Newcastle's, his lordship's 

 keeper, Adams, who took great pains in breeding them, erred 

 on the right side, as far as a sporting spaniel is concerned, in 

 encouraging the stamp of dog wdnch 1 have seen there and at 

 Mr. Bevan's, at Weston Grove, Southampton, who was par- 

 ticularly partial to them; and he is no mean judge of what is 

 required in the field, whether it be setter, spaniel, or retriover. 



The Earl Spencer has long cultivated the genuine breed of 

 Clumber spaniels at Apethorpe, Northamptonshire; and so 

 thorough a sportsman is likely to have the best, though I have 

 never had the pleasure of seeing his kennel. Mr. Foljambe's 

 breed was long held in high and just repute, but whether it is 

 still kept up I do not know; his blood is justly prized in most 

 of the best Clumber kennels of the day. 



"Stonehenge" says the Clumber is invariably long, low, and 

 heavy; but I have, I believe, shown that this is not so, and 

 that a slight divergence from this rule in the Prince Consort's 

 and Lord Arundel's breed seems to point very strongly to the 

 theory which I have propounded that there may have been an 

 original breed of Clumbers in this country before that imported 

 by the Duke of Newcastle from France. The weight of the 

 Clumber varies, but he averages about 40 lbs. or 45 lbs. , though 

 many dogs will weigh from 60 lbs. to 68 lbs. I think the prize 

 dog, Duke, which I sold to Mr. Sam Lang, of Baldwin street, 

 Bristol, for fifty guineas, was over 56 lbs. ; he was a fine dog, and 

 had beautiful feather, coat, and color, but he was too short in 

 the. back, and carried his stern high, two very bad faults in a 

 Clumber, and when I took him to Mr. Holford's kennel and 

 compared him with his team these faults were very manifest. 

 The Clumber spaniel must be white and lemon; for many 

 years the judges wavered about orange markings, which are 

 decidedly wrong, and the less color about him the better. He 

 should have great bone and very short legs, and they should be 

 straight; he should be well feathered, and his coat should be 

 perfectly straight and sflky in texture, and it can hardly be 

 too thick. The eyes should not be large, and should be deeply 

 set in the head, and hi mature dogs the haw is often shown as 

 in the bloodhound ; a cherry-colored nose is, in my opinion, 

 fatal to any chance of being considered of pure blood The 

 ears should not be lobe-shaped or long, and they shotdd have 

 little fringe to them and lio close to the head. The loin should 

 not be arched, but the back must be straight; above all the 

 stem must be set and carried Jow when in work, though he 



fenerally carries it gafly when he is not, and shotdd not be 

 ocked too short, and be well covered with hair, having a good 

 flag. Jock, the dog whose dimensions were given in "Dogs of 

 the British Islands," and which were taken by myself, was 

 perhaps the best Clumber spaniel ever seen, and he was con- 

 sidered so by Garland, who sent him to Birmingham Show in 

 my name as an experiment. I told him he would be beaten 

 by Duke, who was then in my possession; and so he was, 

 though Duke was not to be mentioned in the same twelve- 

 month with Jock. 



The worst fault a Clumber can have is to give tongue, and 

 no one who values his kennel would keep one who did. There 

 are very few really good Clumbers now being exhibited, and 



the champion, Looby, is, in my opinio]:, not worthy of his 

 position; he is too leggy, his eye' is wrong, and he has not a 

 'lumber head. The clog Bruce, which is the dog given to 

 illustrate the breed in "Dogs of the British Islands," was 

 not a Clumber spaniel; he was admittedly cross-bred; he was 

 a very fine dog, and had. perhaps, the best feather ever seen, 

 I measured it on his forelegs at over eight niches, but his 

 head was far too long and pointed, his forelegs very crooked, 

 his color too deep, and his eye large and full. Htm so astute 

 a judge as Stonehenge 1 could have seleefied him to illustrate 

 such an important work, I am tit a, loss to eoiiaeive; he was, 

 moreover, pig-mouthed; that is to feay, his under jaw was 

 very short, and receded frorn the upper Bruce was largely 

 bred from at the time, and, in my opinion, did more harm to 

 the breed of Clumber spaniels than any other dog I have ever 

 known. 



As I have before said, the Clumber spaniel is an aristocratic 

 dog, and requires to be treated as such ; he is a difficult dog to 

 rear to begin with; but, when once reared, he is very hardy, 

 and will stand a good deal of work, and when (nice broken 'is 

 a very valuable dog; but. although he is hardy, and will last 

 for many years, I do not think he is the dog to stand the gen- 

 eral wear and tear we require of a spaniel. He is not h'fc for 

 every kind of covert; and when you have to work all day iu a 

 rough, wild country, thinly stocked with game, the Clumber 

 spaniel is not the clog; the kind of ground he should be worked 

 over is that where game is tolerably plentiful, and not too 

 rough, and he should be always worked in a team. Take, for 

 example, hedgerow shooting- where you exjjeet to meet with 

 a few brace of pheasants, a hare of two. and plenty of rab- 

 bits. He is decidedly not cut out for that kind of thing. He 

 is too big for the rough woodcock shooting in the large, strag- 

 gling coverts of Wales and Devon. He is not at home there, 

 as a more active and quicker working dog is required. In a 

 recent book on the dog I was rather amused iu the article on 

 this dog by its being laid down that a team of Clumbers 

 should consist of nine. I do not know what magic there is in 

 this number, or why it should be neither more nor less. At 

 all events, a couple of Clumbers is of very little use for ordin- 

 ary shooting. They are too heavy, and cannot force them- 

 selves into places where a smaller and more active dog can, 

 though they are by no means deficient in pluck, as I have 

 seen a team of Clumbers come out after working a thick piece 

 of gorse with their eyes ah torn and their ears covered with 

 blood. Nobody ever thinks of shooting bo sp-mieis of any land 

 in covert now where game is heavily preserved, as the 'pheas- 

 ants and hares are all reserved feu a grand clay or two near 

 Christmas; but I prefer a team of good, well-broken Clumbers, 

 and a brush through the coverts half a dozen times in the 

 season for sport before all the battues in the world. I know- 

 well that this is impossible where a large head of game is to 

 be kept up; I only say what I like best; but it is only- in 

 outside coverts or where game is not very thick that the 

 Clumber is made use of. in commenting "on the Islington 

 dog show of 1862. the writer of the article called "The 

 Omnibus" in the new Sporting Magazine of that date 

 says: "The eyes and general style of Earl Spencers 

 Clumbers place them quite beyond Mr. Holford's, 

 and in both classes Western Birt bowed to Althorp." Just 

 before this he says: "The sweet dish heads of the Irish setters 

 attracted many a visitor." Now, with all due deference to 

 such an authority, if in nothing else, this wa3 a point in which 

 Mr. Holford's dogs were certainly a long way superior to Lord 

 Spencer's. I remember examining all the dogs thoroughly, 

 and have no hesitation in declaring the award a mistake. Mr. 

 Holford's dogs had the correct eye, whereas those of Lord 

 Spencer's were too full. Mr. A. W.Langdale, who has bred and 

 shown many Clumber spaniels, thinks the weight of dogs 

 should be from 601bs. to TOlbs. I cannot help thinking this 

 latter weight excessive, and do not recollect seeing more than 

 one or two dogs of the latter weight, though I have not known 

 many over 601bs. Mrs. Smale's dogWynn, of Lyonsdown, 

 NewBamet, weighs 601bs. or over. I have not seen him, but 

 Leatherhead spoke highly of him when he won tirst over John 

 o' Gaunt. Tower and other good ones at Alexandra Palace last 

 year. Mr. Langdale's bitch Libnah, weighed 501bs. I never 

 remember seeing this bitch, but she must have been a large 

 one. I never saw a Clumber bitch who reached that weight; 

 they are generally much lighter than the dog's. 



The champion Psycho, belonging to Mr. Charles Frucn, is a 

 very good stamp of Clumber, but much too dark in color, and 

 I should not care to breed from him. 



Mr. Homes's John o' Gaunt is a good dog, showing many 

 good points of the Clumber in perfection; but unfortunately 

 his pedigree is unknown. Notwithstanding this I should not 

 fear to breed from him, as I feel convinced that he is a really 

 -well bred one. 



Mr. Herbert Moser's Bachelor is a fine dog, but bad in his 

 hind quarters. His young dog Baronet I liked much, and I 

 think must have grown into a fine dog when he finished. The 

 same gentleman's bitches, Lance and Loll, have been frequent 

 winners at most of the leading shows. I have not had an 

 opportunity of attending any show for over- a year, but I 

 believe there are several good candidates for fame. 



The breed of Clumbers is still kept at Clumber Park, where 

 they have some remarkably good bitches, and the kennel 

 would have been much strengthened and improved last season 

 if they had succeeded inbreeding from them, but unfortun- 

 ately they, strange to say, all failed to produce whelps. 1 do 

 not know what dog was used, but I shotdd say- most decidedly 

 that the fault was on the side of the sire. - 



The Earl of Cawdor has a strong kennel of Clumbers, and 

 shoots a great deal to them. He has a good deal of Mr. Fol- 

 iamb's and Sir Vincent Corbet t's blood in the kennel. His 

 bitches perhaps are rather lighter in the bead than is exactly 

 in accordance with the accepted form of the Clumber, but 

 are a rare working sort, with capital coats and good legs and 

 feet. I do not think they are ever exhibited. His lordship's 

 keeper told me that, contrary to what is usually the ease, he 

 finds no difficulty in rearing the puppies, rarely losing one 

 from distemper. ' The Clumber when once rared is not at all 

 a delicate dog, and will last and keep fresh for many years. 

 This is perhaps to be occounted for by the slowness of his 

 pace. This spaniel does not show to full adva ut age when tied up 

 on the show bench, and they should always be shown as a 

 team, which is certainly an attractive sight at a show to 

 sportsmen, and the dogs having more room and liberty show 

 themselves off to the best advantage. The well-known spanie 

 breeder, Mr. P. Bullock, exhibited a very gooa 'lumber, 

 Nabob, for many years, He was by Fol jam lie's Beau, and 

 was own brother to his Duke by Bang, oiit of Lord Foley's 

 Fan. I think this dog must have been a bad stock-getter, as I 

 have no recollection of seeing any of his progeny-, though ho 

 was at the stud for years. 



Lord Foley was at one time celebrated for his kennel of 

 Clumbers, and his blood was much sought; but I am not aware 

 whether the kennel is still kept up or not, Clumbers always 

 have and always will command a good price, as they are com- 

 paratively scarce, and likely to remain so. 



I came across, the other day. an original engraving lrumthe 

 picture of the Duke of Newcastle and his spaniels, which I 

 have before referred to. A part of this picture appeared, in 

 an engraving in the old Spurting Magazine many years ago, 

 but this contained the keeper and the spaniels only. This 

 original engraving represents the Duke of Newcastle and a 

 friend returning from shooting, both on horseback; and ilan- 

 sell, the keeper is examining a woodcock, several others with 

 pheasants and other game are lying about, and three spaniels 

 are surrounding him. If this is a correct representation of 

 the duke's spaniels, I think we have improved lb en i ; the char- 

 acter of the head is sh'ghtly different, being short, but not so 

 square as the modern dictum requires; they do not appear 

 to be so large as the modern dog, in fact I should say they are 

 a bout 35 to 40-pound dogs; they are not quite so low on the 



