174 
FOREST AND STREAM 
IAog. 26, 1905. 
The Cry of Hounds. 
I HAVE beard people say, who hunted in the middle and 
at the beginning of the last century, that in their younger 
days foxhounds had much finer voices than at the present 
time, and I believe this to be a fact. One cannot help 
noticing that the modern foxhound (with a few excep- 
tions in most packs) has not the voice of a hound at all, 
but makes a yapping noise, hardly to be distinguished 
from the bark of a sheepdog chasing a rabbit ; and though 
people, from force of habit, still continue to write about 
“crashes of music” and “bursts of melody,” alas ! they 
seldom or never hear them. There is none of the bell- 
like clamor made by the true hound, and such as we still 
hear in the fell packs of Westmoreland and Cumberland 
— and no stouter or faster hounds are to be found any- 
where. 
Many people seem to think that hounds cannot run so 
fast when they are making a good cry, but this, I am 
sure, is not the case. Fell hounds always throw their 
tongues, no matter how fast they are running, whereas 
the ordinary foxhound is not expected to make music 
when running hard, and does not do so. I have seen fell 
hounds and ordinary hounds of the best blood running 
together in all sorts of countries, both flat and hilly, and 
can confidently state that the former are faster, tenderer 
nosed, more self-reliant, and infinitely more persevering 
than the latter, while, with regard to their music, there 
is, of course, no comparison. 
Yelled, on the view, the opening pack; 
Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back. 
I am afraid that if a pack of our modern foxhounds 
found themselves in the picturesque situation described 
in the above lines, “rock, glen, and cavern” would remain 
practically silent.. Why should they be less musical than 
their ancestors, or than the old-fashioned hound who stMl 
flourishes in the Lake District and other parts of the 
country? I think that the reason is that most breeders 
of hounds nowadays are so bent upon producing what 
is thought tO' be the perfect hound of the show-bench 
type, and so much attention is paid to make, shape, and 
even color, that, so long as he is not actually mute, they 
do not mind if his voice is merely a squeak. The mod- 
ern hound must not have a trace of ihroatiness if he is to 
be considered good looking, and one cannot help thinking 
that breeding all throatiness out of hounds has had a 
prejudicial effect upon their voices. In old pictures one 
notices that many of the hounds are decidedly throaty, 
and the fell hounds of to-day are most of them slightly 
so. In my own humble opinion, this adds to, rather than 
detracts from, their beauty; but I know that not many 
people will agree with me on this point. Good shape is, 
of course, essential to a hound, for without it he can 
neither run- far nor fast; but there is no reason why he 
should not have a good voice as well. There are a few 
packs in England — notably some woodland ones — whose 
hounds have a good and musical cry, but I fancy that if 
these were heard after listening to a pack of hounds of a 
hundred years ago, or, let us say, the Ullswater, Blen- 
cathra, or Coniston hounds to-day, their voices would 
sound poor and weak. 
Apart from all questions of sentiment, it is often very 
necessary to be able to hear hounds a long way off. Who 
has not experienced the exasperating way in which they 
will sometimes make a sharp turn down a fence-side, and, 
if one is not very close to them, slip away unperceived 
and unheard, and are seen no more that day? Or how 
often do they get away quickly from a wood, leaving the 
greater part of the. field, who, not having seen them, could 
not hear them, at the covert side? This would not oc- 
cur had the hounds voices like those described by Shakes- 
peare : 
Never did I hear 
Such gallant chiding; for, besides the groves, 
The skies, the fountains, every region near 
Seemed all one mutual cry; I never heard 
So musical a 4iscord, such sweet thunder. 
How greatly the pleasures of cubhunting would be en- 
hanced had one but hounds with better voices to listen to. 
The pleasure that one derives from hearing a really musi- 
cal pack in full cry is so great that I confess I often 
wonder how people can put up with the chorus of 
squeaks and yaps to which they are obliged to listen, 
when they might have the real thing. Surely a hound’s 
voice, such a beautiful and thrilling sound as it is, is as 
important an attribute as a faultless shape, or an evenly 
marked back. — A. B. S., in Field (London). 
Foxhounds and Harriers. 
It is a natural, and perhaps excusable weakness, that 
almost all “doggy” men are inclined to imagine the par- 
ticular breed in which they are interested the most inter- 
esting. Those whose business and pleasure it is to super- 
intend the breeding, and in due course ride after, fox- 
hounds and _ harriers, go even a step further; they place 
them on a pinnacle above all other dogs, and will not even 
allow them to be classed within the category. To call a 
foxhound or a harehound a dog betrays ignorance of the 
sport and ignorance of the breed, and I remember the 
present master of the Hurworth (Mr. W. Forbes) inform- 
ing a farm laborer who had told him “t’ dogs had gone 
out at t’ other side ov t’ cover,” that “we have no dogSr — 
they’re hounds,” with no small emphasis on the last de- 
signatory word. John Jorrocks, the immortal, was equally 
particular, and in one of those famous sporting lectures 
of his, he counselled the young sportsman to “beware of 
calling ’ounds dogs, or sterns tails. Such a slip would 
make the M. F. H. turn tail on you directly.” 
It is not, however, with the peculiar and by no means 
uninteresting nomenclature of the sport with which I 
would deal, but rather with the foxhound and harrier, 
which is even more interesting. Regarding the sports 
mentioned there is no small degree of ignorance, and one 
finds, too, that very few people who have made dogs their 
study-— and they are by no means few — who are conver- 
sant either with the actual work, life, or idiosyncrasies of 
these most interesting species. Indeed, I have heard 
doggy people on many occasions declare they cannot dis- 
cover a redeeming feature in the hound, and allege he is 
sullen, morose, unintelligent, ever sombre and undemon- 
strative. All I can say is let these people go to a meet in 
white breeches, and dismounting, speak to one or two of 
the hounds they know, to which they are known, and they 
will discover to the cost of the afore-mentioned white 
breeches whether or no the foxhound is undemonstrative. 
That he usually carries with him a thoughtful air I admit, 
but this is born of his large head, his drooping ears, and 
large dark eyes, more than a real love of losing himself 
in day dreams or in the realms of thought. 
■ Dog stories are cheap, and this is no place to air exag- 
gerations, for though anglers may tell their tall stories 
to brother fishermen, we of the doggy world know just 
how far to go with our yarns. Still, I will relate what is 
more a fact than a story, and which is one nail in the 
coffin of any suggestion that the foxhound lacks intelli- 
gence. A few years ago the Sinnington hounds, in York- 
shire, were trencher fed, that, is to say, instead of being 
kept permanently' in kennels at a considerable expense, 
individual sportsmen, farmers and others each kept a 
hound. I forget for the moment which are the Sinning- 
ton hunting days, but say Mondays and Fridays. On the 
evening preceding these days the hounds in the outlying 
districts were gathered up and kenneled at Kirby Moor- 
side all night. They needed no feeding that evening, nor, 
of course, the next morning, for hounds, like horses, hunt 
on an almost empty stomach. The hounds near the ken- 
nels were left till the morning, when a bla.st or two on the 
horn was sufficient to call them up. 'Where one finds 
proof of the intelligence, however, is here. On the proper, 
hunting mornings the hounds would sit and wait the 
sound of the horn, and were it a frosty morning, and 
hunting in consequence impossible, they would trot away 
down on the Monday and Friday morning to the kennels 
to satisfy themselves on the point, and then return to their 
homes, as they did — and do yet with the Goathland and 
Farndale hounds, which are still trencher fed — after the 
day’s sport is ended, dropping their sterns and leaving 
their comrades at the nearest cut to their homes. 
But one need have no difficulty in stating a hundred 
and one evidences of intelligence, the very control which 
they essentially recognize, the understanding they display 
of the hunpn language, and the knowledge they display 
of the habits and eccentricities of the animal they hunt, 
not only convince _me of a superb intelligence, but also 
that animals do think, and have a good deal more brain 
power (in addition to instinct) than we human beings, 
in our conceit that we alone are the thinkers and brain 
possessors, give them credit for.— J. Fairfax Blakebor- 
ough. in Our Dogs. 
Canada Cup Races. 
BY CLUTE E. NOXON. 
For the first time in the history of the Canada’s Cup 
that trophy has been successfully defended. Iroquois, the 
30ft. j'acht designed by Mr. Charles F. Herreshoff and 
representing the Rochester Y. C. in the series of races 
just finished, defeated the Canadian challenger Temeraire, 
the creation of Mr. William Fife, Jr. 
For the second time since the Cup has been contested 
for, a period covering ten years, it has required the sailing 
of the entire five races to decide the championship. In 
1903 Rochester and Toronto- clashed, their respective 
boats being Irondequoit and Strathcona, and it was not 
until the fifth race had been sailed that Irondequoit was 
able to lift the Cup. 
The match was one of the most notable ever held on 
fresh water. It brought to the harbor of Charlotte 
yachtsmen from every club on both sides of the lake, and 
a fleet of pleasure yachts that taxed the accommodations 
of the port. Both designers, Fife and Herreshoff, were 
present throughout the entire series and watched carefully 
the performances of their craft, aiding in every way pos- 
sible skippers and crews in their efforts to win the Cup. 
It was a case of a light weather boat against a heavy 
weather craft, and the intervention of a Sunday, undoubt- 
edly saved the treasure for the Rochesterians, for had the 
easterly blow that set in on that day delayed its coming 
twenty-four hours, Temeraire, with her long keel and 
extra tons of ballast, would have defeated Iroquois in 
three, straight races. But the fates were with the Ameri- 
cans. The first day’s race was sailed in calms, catspaws 
and fitful breezes; the second and third races were sailed 
in strong winds from the east that put the tucks and 
storm canvas on Iroquois while the Fife boat stood up 
under full sail. A day of heavy swells and no wind fol- 
lovying the blow was the cause of the postponement of 
the fourth race, and then came two beautiful August days 
with the most delightful of wholesail breezes. Iroquois 
did exactly what she was expected to do, while Temeraire 
lived squarely up to her reputation in the blows, showing 
also a good turn of speed in the lighter airs. 
'When Iroquois was first launched she was heavier, by 
a thousand pounds, but in order to make her trim to her 
lines and more evenly balanced, her keel was twice pared 
down and several hundred pounds of deadwood removed. 
Prior to this she had made a most remarkable showing 
in windward work in heavy weather, but it was to make 
her faster in the light airs that the reduction of lead was 
deemed advisable. 
For three days the high winds continued and then 
dropped, leaving Temeraire with two victories to her 
credit, and one for Iroquois. Then once more Iroquois 
showed the way around the course and won the fifth and 
deciding race that carried the supremacy of the lakes. 
The judges of the races were Messrs. E. H. Ambrose, 
of Hamilton, Ont. ; Charles Van Voorhis, of Rochester, 
and W. P. Stephens, of Bayonne, N. J. 
First Race, Saturday. Aug 12. 
Long before the start, which was scheduled for ii 
o’clock, racing crews and skippers busied themselves 
aboard the rival yachts, putting on the last touches before 
they lined up for the gun. Not a breath of air was stir- 
ring, not a ruffle disturbed the waters of the lake. 
By 9 o’clock sail was up on every craft. At 9 130 the 
launch to mark the course was sent out towing the flag 
floats, and a few minutes later the power yacht containing 
the judges and press dropped down the river. Then came 
the lightest of puffs out of the S.'W. As the breeze 
picked up Iroquois broke out her anchor, with Skipper 
Lorenzo G. Mabbett at the helm. Five minute later came 
Temeraire with Skipner E. K. M. Wedd. Out beyond 
the lights the judges gauged the weather, and immediate- 
ly sent the launch off on the first leg of the triangle, which 
would make a balloon reach to the mark, a spinnaker run 
, to the second flag and a close reach or easy beat home. 
At 10 130 the half hour gun was fired, and the contest- 
ants came alongside the judges’ boat for instructions. The 
ten-minute gun was fired at 10:50 and the jockeying com- 
menced. By a skillful rnaneuver Wedd got Mabbett under 
his lee, but Iroquois wiggled out and showed her taffrail 
to the challenger. Balloon jibs went up in stops as they 
neared the line, and 15s. after the gun the defender shot 
across, Temeraire following on the weather berth 13s. 
later. Quickly ballooners were broken out in the breeze, 
■ which had now picked up to five or six miles an hour. 
The ballooner on Temeraire lifted while the light canvas 
on Iroquois stood full. Iroquois gradually drew out a 
lead until several boat lengths separated them. Turning 
the mark the defender led by 59s. Once around Wedd 
was the first to try a spinnaker, but it failed to' draw and 
quickly came in. A few minutes later Mabbett ran his 
out and it filled away nicely, spilling into the balloon jib. 
Half way down the leg the wind commenced dropping 
and the yachts drifted slowly along with barely steerage 
away. Iroquois led by an eighth of a mile, creeping inch 
by inch in the calm. She rounded the mark im. is. ahead 
of Temeraire, and then commenced the beat home. The 
wind had again picked up slightly and hauled farther to 
the S., which made it an easy beat back to the line. Both 
Mabbett and Wedd went wind hunting on this leg and 
split tacks for fifteen minutes in an effort to pick out a 
streak of air. Iroquois retained the lead, however, and 
gradually worked away. The breeze freshened still more 
and Iroquois got down to her rail as Mabbett headed for 
the line. Temeraire got into a favorable slant not far 
from the line and gained on her rival, the defender round- 
ing only 43s. in the lead. Up the lake they went again, 
the fluky wind heading them off as it swung around the 
compass. A big bank of thunder clouds rolled down from 
the S.W. before the yachts got to the mark, and while 
they were still tacking a short rain squall hit them. It 
looked windy for a few moments, but the rain swirled on 
down the lake leaving a, flat calm. 
The judges’ boat had a long wait at the mark to take 
the rounding time, which showed Iroquois im. 30s. in the 
lead. The second leg was even worse, the yachts covering 
the distance of 3 miles in ih. 30m. Both Mabbett and 
Wedd were at their wit’s end to keep their craft moving. 
They trimmed in and eased off; they tried balloon jibs 
and spinnakers, light working canvas and reaching head- 
sails. Eventually Iroquois got the better of it and luffed 
around 2m. 43s. ahead. The last leg was the flukiest of 
all. A light draught coming in from the N. put a wrinkle 
on the water, and Wedd, feeling it first, ran out the 
spinnaker. Slowdy he began closing up the gap that sep- 
arated the two boats, while Iroquois hung limp. The puff 
went by, Temeraire catching Iroquois and she too soon 
began to foot. Suddenly it died out again and Wedd 
headed up. looking for another stray streak of wind. Iro- 
quois in the meantime had been carried far enough in 
shore to catch the edge of a new breeze springing up out 
of the S.W., and under working jib and staysail made 
a slant for the mark. The breeze grew stronger, and in 
a few minutes Iroquois had a ripple under her bows, while 
Temeraire, now far in the rear lay passively in z calm 
Another catspaw drifted in from the N. and filled the 
spinnaker, but the defender was nosing her way for the 
line, which she crossed to the accompaniment of whistles 
shouts and the waving of flags ; 12m. ^os. later Temeraire 
swept over under spinnaker, having come along on the 
incoming breeze from the N. 
Start. First Mark. Second Mark 
Iroquois 11 00 16 H 24 15 . 11 54 48 
Temeraire 11 00 28 11 25 14 11 55 49 
Second Round. 
. First Mark. Second Mark. 
Iroquois 1 33 67 2 59 37 
Temeraire 1 35 29 3 02 20 
'F.lapsed time; Iroquois 5.02.41; Temeraire 5.15,18, 
Iroquois won by 12m. 37s. - 
Home. 
12 30 57 
12 31 40 
Finish. 
4 02 5(1 
1 lo It) 
