COUESING THE HARE. 
201 
The hare prefers grain-fields for its dwelling and nourishment. 
The green stalk of the wheat, of barley and of oats, in grain, are 
its most savory meats. This passion for the stalk of cereals some- 
times becomes quite mischievous. In many parts of Russia, in 
Crimea of the Ukraine, gi’eat proprietors have a special servant 
for the destruction of hares. 
The chase of the hare with running dogs is most amusing and 
interesting of all. I know no enjoyment like a mountain hare 
chase in the fine days of October, nor any concert preferable to 
the unison of twelve full-voiced hounds, capable of forcing their 
hare in two or three hours. Oh ! how, of all the paradises that I 
know of, I would choose, if it were given me, the happy hunting 
grounds of the red-skins of the great lakes, those forests of the 
great Manitou, where the elect throng in to eternal view halloos. 
The scent of the hare is as delicate as that of the roebuck, and 
not so well adapted to the nose of dogs spoiled by hunting fox- 
es, and other strong smelling varmint. Such hounds become 
like topers, whose palates, burned by alcohol, grow insensible to 
the fine aroma of the Yougeot, or Lafitte wines. Every dog 
which has hunted the fox successfully is liable to quit the track 
of the hare. I permit my hare hounds no other distraction than 
the chase of the roebuck, and this is a license forbidden by great 
hare hunters. But a pack which suffices for the hare will not 
alw^ays answer for the roebuck, which possesses the most solid 
hamstring of any beast after the wolf. It commonly requires the 
employment of relays, like that of the wild boar and the stag. 
In hunting the roebuck then with a pack of hare hounds, it is 
understood that the hunters have the right to use their guns. 
The delicacy of the scent requires proportionally in chasing the 
hare, a time and country expressly adapted. 
The heats of summer spoil a dog’s nose ; the south wind also ; 
sharp freezes poison the earth ; rain drowns the scent ; strong 
herbs and dung absorb it ; a wet loam boots ; that is, that the 
hare’s foot being furnished with hairs, carries after it the mud 
impregnated with the scent, and baffles the dogs about its pas- 
sage. The true season for coursing the hare is from the equi- 
nox of September to the twentieth of November, then skipping 
