484 
HUN1 
ing torn in. pieces by dogs, favours but little of moral 
fentiment or tender feeling; yet we lee numbers of the 
tender-hearted fex captivated by it. 
Stag-bunting, with us, is called a royal fport; and cer¬ 
tainly it is the beft that can be adopted in this country 
for the parade and (how of majefty. When the field is 
formed for this diverfion, the king and his attendants 
mounted, the hounds thrown off upon the feent, and the 
royal liuntfman with his numerous attendants all in mo¬ 
tion, decked in uniforms of fcarlet and gold, the fight, 
and the melody, are enchanting beyond the powers of de- 
feription.—But this is all. The cavalcade is foon broken 
and out of fight, or otherwile the promifed chace is fruf- 
trated by the obltinacy of the animal, which will fome- 
times die in the thicket, rather than break before the hounds. 
If gentlemen are difpofed to enjoy real hunting in Eng¬ 
land, it muft be in purfuit of the fox. It certainly is 
the moll arduous and moll: manly diverfion, and by far 
the belt exercife. Mr. Beckford, in his elegant work on 
this fubjeft, is of opinion, that, for fox-hunting in its proper 
llyle, the pack Ihould conlift of not lefs than twenty-five 
couple of Haunch and true-bred hounds. The hour molt 
favourable for the diverfion is an early one; and he thinks 
that the hounds Ihould be at the cover at fun-rifing. 
The liuntfman Ihould then throw in his hounds as quietly 
as .polfible, and let the two whippers-in keep wide of him 
on either hand; fo that a fingle hound may not efcape 
them ; let them be attentive to his halloo, and let the 
fportfmen be ready to encourage, or rate, as that direfls. 
The fox ought on no account to be hallooed too foon, as 
in that cafe he would mod certainly turn back again, and 
ruin the fport. Two things he particularly recommends, 
viz. the making all the hounds lteady, and making them 
all draw. “Many liuntfmen, fays he, are fond of having 
them at their horle’s heels ; but they never can get fo well 
or fo loon together as when they fpread the covert; be- 
lides, I have often known, when there have been only a 
few finders, that they have found their fox, brulhed down 
the wind, and been heard of no more that day. Much 
depends upon the firft finding of your fox; for I look 
upon a fox well found to be half killed. I think people 
are in too great a hurry on this occafion. There are but 
few inftances where fportfmen are not too noify, and too 
fond of encouraging their hounds, which feldorn do their 
bufinefs fo well as when little is faid to them. The huntf- 
man ought certainly to begin with his foremoft hounds ; 
and I Ihould wilh him to keep as clofe to them as conve¬ 
niently may be; nor can any harm arife from it, unlels he 
Ihould not have common lenfe. No hounds can then flip 
down the wind and get out of his hearing; he will alfo 
fee how far they carry the feent, a necelfary requifite ; for 
without it he never can make a call with any certainty. 
You will find it not lefs necelfary for your liuntfman to 
be a£live in prefling his hounds forward when the feent 
is good, than to be prudent in not hurrying them beyond 
it when it is bad. It is his bufinefs to be ready at all 
times to lend them that afliftance which they fo frequently 
need, and which when they are firft at a fault is the molt 
critical. A fox-hound at that time will exert himfelf 
moll; he afterwards cools and becomes more indifferent 
about his game. Thole huntfmen who do not get for¬ 
ward enough to take advantage of this eagernefs and im- 
petuofity, and direft it properly, feldorn know enough of 
hunting to be of much ufe to them afterwards. Though 
a huntfman cannot be too fond of hunting, a whipper-in 
eafily may. His bufinefs will feldorn allow him to be for¬ 
ward enough with the hounds to lee much of the fport. 
His only thought therefore Ihould be to keep the hounds 
together, and to contribute as much as he can to killing 
of the fox: keeping the hounds together is the fureft 
means to make them Heady. When left to themfelves 
they feldorn refule any blood they can get; they become 
conceited; learn to tire upon the feent; and, befides this, 
they frequently get a trick of hunting by themfelves, and 
are feldorn good for much afterwards. 
3 
I N G. 
“Every country is foon known ; and nine foxes out 
of ten, with the wind in the lame quarter, will follow the 
fame track. It is eafy, therefore, for the whipper-in to 
cut fliort and catch the hounds. With a high feent you 
cannot pufli your hounds on too fall. Screams keep the 
fox forward, at the fame time that they keep the hounds 
together, or let in the tail-hounds ; they alfo enliven the 
fport, and if difcreetly ufed, are always of fervice ; but in 
cover they fliould be given with the greateft caution. 
Halloos feldorn do any hurt when you are running up the 
wind, for then none but the tail-hounds can hear you ; 
when you are running down the wind, you Ihould halloo 
no more than may be necelfary o bring the tail-hounds 
forward ; for a hound that knsws his bufinefs feldorn 
wants encouragement when he is upon a feent. Moll 
fox-hunters wiili to fee their hounds run in a good Jlyle. 
I confefs myfelf one of thofe ; I hate to fee a firing of 
them, nor can I bear to fee them creep where they can 
leap. A pack of harriers, if they have time, may fome- 
times kill a fox, but I defy them to kill him in the llyle 
in which he ought to be killed ; they mull hunt him 
down. If you intend to tire him out, you mull expert 
alfo to be tired yourfelf; I never wilh a chace to be lefs 
than one hour, or to exceed two; it is fufficiently long if 
properly followed; it will feldorn be longer unlefs there 
be a fault fomewhere ; either in the day, the huntfman, 
or the hounds. 
“ Changing from the hunted fox to a frefli one is as bad 
an accident as can happen to a pack of fox-hounds, and 
requires all the ingenuity and obfervation that a man is 
capable of to guard againlt it. Could a fox-hound dif- 
tinguilh a hunted fox as the deer-hound does the deer 
that is blown, fox-hunting would then be perfect. A 
huntfman Ihould always lilfen to his hounds while they 
are running in cover; he fliould be particularly attentive 
to the headmoll hounds, and he Ihould be conftantly on 
his guard againft a Ikirter; for, if there be two feents, he 
mult be wrong. Generally lpeaking, the beft feent is leall 
likely to be that of the hunted fox: and, as a fox l'eldom 
fuffers hounds to run up to him as long as he is able to 
prevent it; fo, nine times out of ten, when foxes are hal¬ 
looed early in the day, they are all frefli foxes. The 
hounds moll likely to be right are the hard-running line¬ 
hunting ones; or fuch as the huntfman knows had the 
lead before there arofe any doubt of changing. With re¬ 
gard to the fox, if he break over an open country, it is 
no fign that he is hard run; for they feldorn, at any time, 
will do that unlefs they are a great way before the hounds. 
Alfo, if he run up the wind; they feldorn or never do 
that when they have been long hunted and grown weak; 
and, when they run their foil, that alfo may direcl him. 
All this requires a good ear and nice obfervation ; and 
indeed in that confifts the chief excellence of a huntfman. 
“ When the hounds divide and are in two parts, the 
whipper-in, in Hopping, muft attend to the huntfman, 
and wait for his halloo, before he attempts to Hop either; 
for want of proper management in this relpefl, I have 
known the hounds flopped at both places, and both foxes 
loll. If they have many feents, and it is quite uncertain 
which is the hunted fox, let him Hop thofe that are far- 
theft down the wind; as they can hear the others, and 
will reach them fooneft ; in fuch a cafe there will be lit¬ 
tle ufe in Hopping thofe that are up the wind. When 
hounds are at a check, let every one be lilent and Hand 
Hill. Whippers-in are frequently at this time coming on 
with the tail-hounds. They Ihould never halloo to them 
when the hounds are at fault; the leaft thing does them 
harm at fuch a time, but a halloo more than any other. 
The huntfman, at a check, had better let his hounds 
alone; or content himfelf with holding them forward, 
without taking them oft' their nofes. Should they be at 
fault, after having made their own call, (which the huntf¬ 
man fliould always firft encourage them to do,) it is then 
his bufinefs to alfift them further; but, except in fome 
particular inftances, I never approve of their being call as 
