694 
MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 
countries of Europe, they quickly degenerate, and lose ail 
the admirable qualities for which they are remarkable in this 
country. 
“ In thee alone, fair land of liberty, 
Is bred the perfect hound, in scent and speed 
As yet unrivalFd ; while in other climes 
Their virtue fails—a weak, degenerate race/’ 
Somerville. 
The chief excellence of a pack of foxhounds is the head 
they carry, taken collectively; and on this and the fineness of 
their noses depend their speed. Mr. Beckford says, “ that 
hounds should go, like the horses of the sun, all abreast.” Five 
and twenty couple are a sufficient force at any time to be 
taken into the field ; they are a match for any fox, supposing 
them steady and their speed nearly equal; too heavy dogs 
always do more mischief than service. Hounds that are 
meant to run well together should never have too many old 
ones amongst them. Five or six seasons are sufficient to 
destroy the speed of most dogs. 
Fox-hunting at the present day is not carried to that 
extreme which was the custom twenty years ago, as it then 
killed many of the finest horses. When George IV. was 
Prince of Wales, he hunted with a pack of hounds which 
were silent in the chase. 
THE HARRIER. 
The harrier is considerably less than the foxhound, and 
was originally generated in a double cross, between the 
beagle and the southern hound and the beagle. Sports¬ 
men, however, have different sizes of harriers, adapted for 
the kind of country in which they hunt, as well as the fancy 
of the owner of the pack. The colour and markings are 
similar to those of the foxhound, but frequently the dark 
