H. (continued 3)

The proper stable discipline, and general management, of hunters, are so perfectly understood in the present state of equestrian emulation, and universal improvement, that a few experimental maxims only are required, as mementos to shield the young, inconsiderate, and unwary, from unthinkingly encountering various foundations of vexation, trouble, expence, and disappointment. Those of immense fortunes, and adequate establishments, are not so liable to this aggregate of ills, as those whose more humble and confined possessions restrain them within a much smaller sphere of gratification. To the latter, therefore, it is, such hints of utility are more particularly addressed and submitted, who not having the good fortune to be surrounded with a profusion of subordinates, by whom such offices are generally executed, feel the necessity, and enjoy the happy opportunity, of sometimes personally superintending their own concerns. The great exertions in respect to speed, labour, and durability, of which the well-bred hunter is so evidently capable, are almost beyond belief; and eminently entitle him to every adequate tenderness, care, and attention, that can be possibly bestowed in return. When it is within the compass of the reflecting mind, that an animal of this description is frequently most laboriously engaged for the whole of a dreary winter's day, encountering and surmounting difficulties in succession almost beyond description, (till in many instances nature is nearly exhausted,) no doubt can arise, but the frame must sometimes stand in need of extra assistance upon such occasions.

Of this greater proof need not be adduced, than the deaths of horses which have recently happened, (particularly with the King's stag hounds,) some in the field, and many within a few days after different chases of singular severity; one instance of which is so truly remarkable, that it lays claim to record in the annals of sporting, to prevent its being buried in oblivion. The DEER was turned out at Ascot Heath, and, after making Bagshot Park, crossed the whole of the heath country, to Sandhurst, through Finchamstead Woods, Barkham, Arborfield, Swallowfield, and the intervening country, to Tilehurst, below Reading in Berkshire, where he was taken unhurt after a chase of FOUR HOURS and TWENTY MINUTES; horsemen being thrown out in every part of the country through which they passed: one horse dropt dead in the FIELD; another, after the chase, before he could reach a stable; and seven more within the WEEK: of such speed, and almost unprecedented severity, was this run, that tired horses in great danger were unavoidably left at the different inns in the neighbourhood. A tolerable idea of the powers of an English hunter may, from this description, be formed by those who are not sportsmen, and have consequently a very imperfect conception of the task he has to perform; of which incredulity Mons. Sainbel, professor of the Veterinary College, gave sufficient proof, treating the subject with the utmost indifference, very little short of contempt; declaring, "it was all chimerical, and that no horse could be found to continue a chase of that kind four hours in succession."

That such exertions may be continued till nature itself is totally exhausted, must be admitted beyond a doubt; but that they in general happen to horses by much too slow for the CHASE, and to those in improper condition, is as clearly ascertained. The result of which facts clearly demonstrate the truth of observations previously made, and forcibly inculcate the indispensible necessity of selecting horses properly formed for the purpose; and as forcibly urge the propriety (indeed the safety) of getting them into condition for the field. When taken up from his summer's run at grass (which every perfect hunter is entitled to) he should go through his regular course of physic; the strength and number of doses to be regulated by the accumulated flesh, and general appearance of the horse: if in a fair, good, clean state, not loaded in substance, and perfectly clean in the skin, more than TWO doses may be superfluous; if labouring under a weight of flesh, flabby, and fluctuating under pressure, less than THREE will prove insufficient; which should be preceded by BLEEDING in either, according to the state of the horse. During the operation of physic, the subject should undergo moderate exercise, and great friction in the stable; both which tend to remove and circulate the stagnant fluids, that they may be carried off by the evacuations. Great, regular and patient leg-rubbing is not only absolutely necessary at all times, but more particularly during physic; it braces the solids, and preserves them in a proper state of elasticity; for want of which, they frequently acquire a degree of flaccidity; the legs swell, and, if brought into work too soon, continue in that state, more or less, during the season.

After the chase (during the dressing in the stable) observation should be made whether injury of any kind has been sustained during the day; either by the heat and friction or pressure of the saddle, the loss of a shoe, stubs, treads, over-reaches, bruises, or lameness of any kind; for any of these once discovered, the necessary remedy should be immediately applied; as it not unfrequently happens, that what in the first instance would only prove a slight or trivial grievance, continues to increase in proportion to the delay in discovery. Horses evidently distrest and fatigued with the labour of the day, displaying lassitude, bodily debility, and loss of appetite, should be nicely attended to; a cordial ball becomes more applicable and useful at this time than any other; frequent supplies of water, with the chill off, in moderate quantities, should never be neglected; every horse is invariably thirsty after a hard day; and many will take repeated supplies of water, and plenty of hay, when they will eat no corn; in which case, a good warm mash, of GROUND MALT and BRAN, is an excellent invigorating substitute, and in many of the best managed establishments is never omitted (particularly with tender, delicate, or violent tempered horses) after a long or rainy day, as a preventive to COLD, as well as to DISEASE.

Hunters, after long and severe chases, should not be brought too soon into similar exertions; numbers are crippled, broke down, and irrecoverably ruined, for want of a little precautionary patience: brought into the field too early, with a stiff rigidity in the limbs, and without the wonted pliability in the joints, the spirits, as well as the frame, become affected by a consciousness of the deficiency; and the RIDER, upon making the discovery, moves in little less misery than the HORSE, who, feeling his temporary imperfection, seems in fear of falling at every stroke. A horse is best recovered from the visible effect of over fatigue, by a great deal of patient walking, exercise upon the turf, and equally patient friction in the stable: no horse perceptibly affected in FRAME or SPIRITS, by long days or severe chases, should be brought into exercise GALLOPS, till every degree of stiffness is previously worn away, and obliterated in gentle motion, of which they are the first to make discovery, by a renovation of strength and action. It is in many hunting stables an invariable practice, upon the appearance of LAMENESS, to bleed and follow up that with a dose of physic, exclusive of whatever local applications it may be thought necessary to make to the part affected; and this, it must be acknowledged, is very frequently attended with the most salutary effects: naturally, however, leading the mind of scientific investigation to believe, much of the advantage may be derived from the rest obtained during the course, as from the operation of the medicine.

HUNTING

,—in its general sense, implies the pleasure of the SPORT at LARGE, without specifying any particular kind of CHASE; of which there are three, and equally well known under the different distinctions of STAG-HUNTING, FOX-HUNTING, and HARE-HUNTING. A minor kind of sport, called OTTER HUNTING, might formerly have been said to constitute a fourth; but it is at present so little known, (and much less practised,) that, like HAWKING, it seems nearly buried in oblivion, and promises very little prospect of sporting resurrection.

Hunting is the pursuit of any species of GAME (or vermin) with a collected body of HOUNDS, sportingly termed a PACK; who, bred for, and broke to, the chase, FIND and HUNT the particular sort to which they are appropriated by scent, drag, or trail, till it escapes by the ARTS, WILES, and SAGACITY, with which it is gifted by NATURE; or, being exhausted, falls a victim to the persevering patience, indefatigable exertions, and instinctive impulse, of the HOUNDS. This sport, in its different degrees, is of very great antiquity, and has been enjoyed, through successive centuries, with gradational improvements; but at no former period has it ever approached its present zenith of unparalleled perfection. Some few reigns past, the enjoyment was considered so truly extatic, that it was engrossed entirely by the NOBLES and superior orders, to the entire exclusion of the people at large, who were then so much in a state of vassalage, as to be held unworthy the participation of so rich a gratification, under the most rigid proscription that legislative and feudal LAWS could frame, or unqualified TYRANNY adopt. Not so in the happy melioration of the present age, when every blessing, every privilege, and every comfort of life, is equally enjoyed from the HIGHEST to the lowest, according to the possessions of every individual; under such necessary and indispensible restrictions, as it may have been found, by the Legislature, prudent to adopt, for the preservation of ORDER, and promotion of PUBLIC GOOD.

Nothing can more clearly demonstrate the attracting power, and exhilarating effects, of the CHASE, than the enthusiastic rapture with which it is enjoyed, and the constantly increasing number of its implicit devotees. Cynical opponents will always continue to be generated, inveterately averse to every pleasure, however sublime or select, that is not immediately congenial to their own sensations; and will with avidity declare perpetual war against any gratification, or enjoyment, in which they are not eventually interested, or personally concerned. The bewildered POLITICIAN, who erroneously suspends the balance of power in his own disordered imagination; the PEDANTIC book-worm, who derives self-consequence from his closet; the MISER, who wraps himself up in the solitary consolation of his canvas comforts; and those PRIGS of puppyism (by Shakespeare better denominated "poppinjays") who exist only in their own personal ambition, and the reflection from the silvered glass, naturally decry pleasures, in which, from the innate sterility, and instinctive apathy, of their own souls, they feel no disposition to engage. Lovers of the CHASE, who, for time immemorial, have been better known and distinguished by the appellation of SPORTSMEN, are almost proverbial for their mutual offices of civility and friendship; no class of men enter more into the openness and glowing warmth of unsuspecting society, the genial inspiration of PHILANTHROPY, and the infinite inexpressible extent of unsullied HOSPITALITY.

Hunting, in respect to the enjoyment, as well as the description of each particular kind of CHASE, will be found under their distinct heads of "Hare-Hunting," "Fox-Hunting," and "Stag-Hunting;" leaving nothing for introduction here, but such general remarks, and salutary inculcations, as appertain solely to the systematic concerns of the field. The prudent sportsman is invariably the guardian of his own safety; for, however he may rely upon the attachment and punctuality of an old or faithful servant, he never declines the service of his own faculties, so long as he can derive advantage from their evident utility. He therefore never mounts his horse, however great his haste, however late his hour, without taking a slight (but sufficient) survey of his apparatus: he feels it a duty to himself to observe, and be convinced, that his SADDLE is not fixed in an improper place, but literally in the centre, equally free from the withers as from the hip-bones; that his GIRTHS are not only judiciously tightened, but that the buckles extend on each side above the PAD, as well as that the STIRRUP-LEATHERS are in too good a state to hazard a chance of their breaking; whenever which happens, in the very heat of the CHASE, great danger (if not an accident) certainly ensues.

Thus safely seated, in the full confidence of his own prudent precaution, he never suffers himself, by the persuasions of the weak or inconsiderate, to be diverted from his invariable purpose of proceeding SLOWLY to the place of meeting, or throwing off the HOUNDS; he well knows, not only the manly propriety, but the sporting necessity, of letting a horse unload the carcase before he is brought into brisk action or strong exertion. Upon joining company in the field, he enters into little or no conversation beyond the friendly salutations of the morning; experimentally knowing, the frivolities sported upon such occasions, by the young, the confident, and the inexperienced, are only calculated to excite the silent curses of the HUNTSMAN, and the contempt of the company, by attracting the attention of the HOUNDS. The judicious sportsman, whether the hounds are drawing or RUNNING, is never seen in a place to incur disgrace, by heading the GAME, or obstructing the HOUNDS; it is a business in which he is a proficient, and he is never at a loss in the execution. From an instinctive attachment to the sport, and an implicit observance of custom, he is totally insensible to the less attentive part of the company, but "tremblingly alive" to every tongue of a HOUND. Not a whimper, a challenge, or hit, but vibrates upon his anxious ear; and his whole soul seems absorbed in the eager hope of transmitting the enlivening signal of A VIEW to his distant friends, in equal expectation.

The CHASE thus commenced, he lays as well in with the hounds as the speed of his horse, and the contingencies of the country, will permit; he stands upon no paltry ceremony with, or servile subservience to, local superiors; this alone is the happy spot where all are equal, where personal pride can assume no consequence, dignity can claim no precedence, and an immensity of property is of no avail. Ever attentive to the sport, he ruminates upon no other object than the object of pursuit: his mind is eternally intent upon the GAME, or the leading hound; the latter of which he makes it a point never to lose sight of, unless by COVERT obscured from his view; when, with the advantage of the WIND, (which he is sure to avail himself of,) and that unerring directory the EAR, he is seldom far from the hounds, or ever thrown out. In every chase there are plenty of slow goers behind, who, prompted by ENVY, are never wanting in the vociferous exclamation of, "Hold hard!" without knowing why; and from no other motive, than not being themselves at the head of the hounds. To these clamours he pays not the least attention, if having viewed either the GAME, or the leading hound, and observed the chase going on without interruption; experimentally convinced, those who are the most forward, must best know the state of the SCENT by the check, or breast-high running of the hounds.

As there is so frequently a jealous clamour about being too forward, the zealous sportsman will never condescend to be too far behind. He knows his place, and he keeps it. He is never seen in the body and bustle of the crowd, riding in a direct line with, and pressing upon, the HEELS of the HOUNDS, but parallel with the last two or three couple of the PACK; where his horse is not only enabled to keep his ground with ease, but the rider enjoys the advantage of observing most minutely every winding of the chase, as well as the various struggles, and enchanting emulative efforts, of the LEADING HOUNDS. In this situation he is sure of seeing where they throw up, and knows to a certainty how far they have carried the SCENT; consequently those only who are FORWARD, and know the state of the chase, are properly QUALIFIED to give the signal of "Hold hard!" to those behind; and not, as is too commonly the case, for those behind to transmit the petulant exclamation to those before. The moment hounds are at fault, he invariably keeps a proper distance, that they may not be obstructed in making their casts, or get interspersed amongst the legs of the HORSES. Upon a hit being made, he attends to the hound who made it, and, upon a recovery of the SCENT, goes instantaneously on with the chase; for a loss of ground at so critical a moment, he well knows it is sometimes difficult to regain.

Notwithstanding his enthusiastic attachment to the sport, the safety of his HORSE preponderates over every other consideration; and this inflexible determination is supported by a few invariable rules, which are never broken in upon under any plea, persuasion, or perversion, whatever. No temptation can induce him to deviate from a plan so prudently adopted, and persevered in with such laudable resolution. He is never seen to enter into the spirit of racing during the CHASE, thereby distressing his horse, and wasting the strength that may be found necessary before the conclusion of a long day: he scorns the idea of taking high or large leaps when they are truly unnecessary, merely to attract attention, or display his own VALOUR, well knowing, "the better part of valour is discretion." He regulates the speed of his horse by the nature of the country he is engaged to go over, and is never known to ride hardest in the deepest ground. Experience, and attentive observation, having long before convinced him, that whatever distance may have been unavoidably lost under temporary obstacles, may with less difficulty be recovered when the horse's WIND (as well as his strength) is preserved, till he can go more at his ease. Whatever may have been the fate of the day, and whatever the length of the CHASE, it is no sooner concluded, than the same steady and cool deliberation with which he started in the morning accompanies him home: no rash or juvenile example induces him to reduce the estimation of his HUNTER to the standard of a post-horse; superior to the instability, and impatient impetuosity, of the majority, he neither TROTS with one, or GALLOPS with the other; but, regardless of the distance, humanely walks his horse to the place of his destination, where he sees, or knows, he undergoes the attentive comforts so fully described under the last head.

HUNTING-CAP

—is a cap made of leather, and covered with black velvet, fitting close to the head behind, and having a semicircular peak before, for the protection of the face in case of falls, as well as in passing through strong coverts during the chase. In the sporting world it is termed A DASHER, and is supposed to confirm a generally received opinion, that the wearer never swerves from any difficulty that may occur, or refuses any LEAP in the field, but takes them all in stroke.

HUNTING-WHIP

.—The whip so called, is of different lengths in the handle or stock; having at one end a long thong and lash, to assist occasionally in managing the hounds; and at the other, a HOOK, HAMMER, or CLAW, for the purpose of holding or opening gates.

HUNTSMAN

.—The huntsman is a person whose entire business it is to superintend every department of a hunting establishment, as well as to hunt the hounds. As it is an office of considerable trust and responsibility, so it requires no inconsiderable share of those qualifications which constitute some part of the approach to human perfection. It is indispensibly necessary he should be possessed of a comprehensive mind, a clear head, and humane heart; of affable and easy manners; not prone to peevish petulance, or rude brutality. He should be of consistent sobriety, ready observation, quick conception, great personal fortitude, patience, and activity; have a good constitution, an excellent ear, and a sonorous voice. As, however, it may not be inapplicable to have the necessary qualifications more forcibly depicted from the very words of the best experimental authority extant, the opinion of Mr. Beckford is literally introduced, who says,

"I will endeavour to describe what a good huntsman should be. He should be young, strong, active, bold, and enterprising; fond of the diversion, and indefatigable in the pursuit of it: he should be sensible and good-tempered: he ought also to be sober, exact, civil, and cleanly: he should be a good groom, and an excellent horseman: his voice should be strong and clear; and he should have an eye so quick, as to perceive which of his hounds carries the scent when all are running; and should have so excellent an ear, as always to distinguish the foremost hounds when he does not see them. He should be quiet, patient, and without conceit. Such are the excellencies which constitute a good huntsman. He should not, however, be too fond of displaying them, till necessity calls them forth. He should let his hounds alone, whilst they can hunt; and he should have genius to assist them, when they cannot."

Although the qualifications of a HUNTSMAN, upon the great scale of universality, should be precisely the same, yet there is an infinite contrast in the various points of execution. No distinct difference of light and shade upon the CANVAS, no effect of the ELEMENTS upon the human frame, can be productive of more opposite sensations, than the requisites necessary to form a proper distinction between the modes of hunting HARE or FOX; for the very means calculated for the successful promotion of the one, would in a few minutes prove the evident destruction of the other: from which it is natural to infer, that a huntsman eminently qualified to hunt either, would never be likely to acquire CELEBRITY for hunting both; for as the accustomed spirit, speed, and dashing impetuosity, of the FOX-HUNTER would soon lose a HARE, so the philosophic patience, and constitutional tardiness, of the HARE-HUNTER would never kill a FOX.

Of this, corroborative proof may be adduced in a subsequent passage from the before-mentioned AUTHOR, where he observes, "It may be necessary to unsay, now that I am turned hare-hunter again, many things I have been saying as a fox-hunter; as I hardly know any two things of the same genus (if I may be allowed the expression) that differ so entirely. What I said, in a former letter, about the huntsman and whipper-in, is in the number. As to the huntsman, he should not be young; I should most certainly prefer one, as the French call it, d'une certain age, as he is to be quiet and patient: for patience he should be a very grizzle; and the more quiet he is, the better. He should have infinite perseverance; for a hare should never be given up whilst it is possible to hunt her: she is sure to stop, and therefore may always be recovered. Were it usual to attend to the breed of our huntsmen, as well as to that of our hounds, I know no family that would furnish a better cross than that of the silent gentleman mentioned by the Spectator: a female of his line, crossed with a knowing huntsman, would probably produce a perfect hare-hunter."

The scent of the STAG, the FOX, and the HARE, is so exceedingly different in the duration of each, that it requires a method as proportionally different in the pursuit of either; all which is practically known to huntsmen, who have no alternative, but to render their endeavours applicable to the kind of chase they are destined to pursue. The scent of the FOX is well known to be the most powerful, as well as the most volatile, of any; the scent of the STAG is equally grateful to hounds, but is known to evaporate sooner than the scent of the HARE. In the two first, clamorous exultation upon view, is more customary, and more to be justified, than in the latter. Stag or FOX breaks away with the most undaunted fortitude, seeking safety in a rapidity of flight to even a distant and unknown country; in both which the hounds cannot be too fleet; nor can they be laid on too close to the GAME; both deer and fox run the better for it. Not so with the latter; where a general silence should prevail, and the industrious endeavours of the pack should never be obstructed by the busy tongues of officious obtruders; and upon this well-founded position, if they receive no assistance, they encounter no interruption. Harriers (as well as their huntsman) should never be permitted to hunt FOX: the strong scent which he leaves, the difference of his running, the indescribable eagerness and noise of the pursuit, all contribute to spoil a harrier, and render no service to the huntsman when they return to HARE again. It is a very prevalent error of the present time, to have bred and crossed harriers to too much speed: the hare is but a mere inoffensive, timid animal, and fully entitled to all the little artifices she can avail herself of to shield her from destruction.

When found, she cannot be permitted to go off too silently before the hounds; her own extreme timidity frequently occasions her heading, and the pack are as repeatedly liable to over-run the scent. The huntsman, by not pressing too close upon the hounds himself, will keep the company at a proper distance also; and when they are thus left to a proper and free use of their own faculties, they are but little likely to over-run it much. The author whose judgment and celebrity has been so frequently mentioned, has something so applicable, and so truly just, in every page upon this subject, that it is impossible to resist the temptation of quoting a few occasional passages, where the intentional meaning is so emphatically and sportingly exprest. He not only accords with every systematic principle of the chase, but so constantly strengthens his opinion with the embellishment of applicable anecdote, that it is impossible to peruse his "Thoughts" without both amusement and instruction. He holds it a rule, "that hounds, through the whole chase, should be left almost entirely to themselves, and not be much hallooed: when the hare doubles, they should hunt through those doubles; nor is a hare hunted fairly when hunted otherwise. They should follow her every step she takes, as well over greasy fallows, as through flocks of sheep; nor should they ever be cast, but when nothing can be done without it."

Making every possible allowance for the diversities of the different chases already alluded to, there are leading rules characteristically annexed to the OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT of the HUNTSMAN, from which hardly any possible circumstance can justify a deviation. In addition to the invariable and indispensible duties of the KENNEL, a strict and regular discipline in the stables (so far as his own and the horses of the whippers-in are concerned) should fall under the eye of his inspection; by well knowing the state of which, he best can tell of what work they are capable. And this is the more necessary, because it is impossible for him to relax from his duty in the field: he is the GENERAL OFFICER, having the supreme command, and whom all must obey. Persevere and conquer, should be his motto in the chase. Veni, vidi, vici, at his return. This, however, becomes more applicable to the spirit of the huntsman whose good fortune it is to preside over a fox-hunting establishment, where every energetic nerve of emulative sensibility is so constantly roused into action. How different from the languid enjoyment, and frigid apathy, of what is so admirably adapted to the opposite extremes of youth and age! upon which no two opinions can arise: the best authorities admit the good find of a FOX to be preferable to a bad run with the HARE.

From the moment of throwing off, as well as during every progress of the chase, it is the peculiar province of the HUNTSMAN to be at the HEAD of the HOUNDS; once convinced of the abilities of his subordinates, he has nothing to do with what is going on behind. The place he should endeavour to keep, when circumstances and unavoidable obstacles do not occur to prevent it, is parallel with the leading BODY of the HOUNDS; in which commanding situation he has unobstructed opportunity to observe what hounds carry the scent; and if it fails, to know to a certainty how far they brought it: as well as ample scope for the exertion of his proper authority, to prevent the horsemen pressing too eagerly upon the HOUNDS (at a moment so truly critical) by the emphatic injunction of "Hold hard!" a signal that never can come with so much propriety from any other voice as his own, nor will it be so implicitly obeyed. A huntsman is naturally anxious to obtain blood, not only to support the reputation but the excellence of his hounds: he should, however, avoid killing his game unfairly, by lifting his hounds too much, or taking them from CHASE to view, which is a most cruel, unfeeling, and unsportsman-like practice. If the hounds cannot kill by fair and equitable efforts, the object of pursuit is justly entitled to its escape.

As in hare-hunting it is impossible to press on the hounds too little, so in fox-hunting it is impossible to press them on too much, at least while the scent is good; that failing, much must be left to their own industrious endeavours; those not soon succeeding, the proper casts should be made with judgment, and that without delay. Five minutes lost in hesitation, frequently loses every promised pleasure of the day. It is proverbially asserted, that in a multitude of counsellors there is safety; this is the very moment that proves an exception to the rule; for, amidst the variety of obtruded opinions, a huntsman should think before he ACTS; and once determined, abide by his own stability, regardless of the frivolities with which he is so frequently surrounded. If courage is thought a necessary qualification in a huntsman, philosophic patience, upon many occasions, is much more so; for, whilst he sees a number of experienced sportsmen in the field ready to assist his own judicious exertions, he has the mortification to observe double the number moving in a retrograde direction, doing every thing but the thing they should do; riding directly where they should not; probably heading the game into COVERT, at the very moment they ought to be standing still "as silent as the grave." A proper degree of modesty, blended with a little good sense and reflection, would soon prevent those confident inconsiderates from such glaring and absurd acts of indiscretion. It is a maxim resulting from observation in the chase, that those who do not seem anxious, and take pains, to do good, are, as it were, habitually unfortunate in doing the very reverse, and becoming (perhaps undesignedly) the almost perpetual instruments of mischief; and to this tribe of misnamed sportsmen, a huntsman has in general the most unqualified aversion; convinced that those who mean to render him service, and prolong the sport, know in what particular place they ought to be upon every emergency; and if they are repeatedly elsewhere, to where they should be, he soon knows how to estimate their judgment in the field, and ability in the chase.

The instant a huntsman observes his hounds come to a check, is the moment when his assistance is most wanting; then is the time to enjoin an equal check and silence of the company; every eye and every ear may be anxiously and inquisitively employed, but not the sound of a tongue is necessary upon the occasion. Those who are inclined to babble in a moment of so much doubtful expectation, lay claim to, and generally obtain, a most contemptuous sneer from the HUNTSMAN, and not unfrequently what is called a blessing into the bargain. He should at no time be too ready to avail himself of a HALLOO when hounds are at fault; they are very often deceptive, and occasion disappointment; exclusive of which, after they have been taken from the spot to which they know they brought the scent, they become less strenuous in their endeavours, when they do not recover it elsewhere, even where they were encouraged to expect it. Boys keeping birds, as well as rustics, from sympathetic enjoyment, frequently lead the huntsman from his point. Mr. Beckford is therefore of opinion, that when a doubt arises, it is better for a whipper-in, or one of the company, to ride forward, and inquire; it is only the loss of a little time; whereas if you gallop away to a halloo, and are obliged to return, the hounds become very indifferent, and it is a chance if they make another effort to recover the scent afterwards.

Not the least attention should be paid by a HUNTSMAN to any halloo unless the hounds are at fault; a huntsman taking his hounds from the chase (when running with a good scent) to a halloo, without much more than a common cause, ought to be dismissed as a fool or a madman. Hounds are sometimes hallooed too much, and too frequently permitted to obey it; the consequence is, they are no sooner at fault than they expect it: huntsmen hurt their hounds by availing themselves of such advantage, it makes them indifferent; they are always upon the listen, become more and more slack, particularly in COVERT. So long as hounds can carry on the scent, it must be admitted a very poor and paradoxical practice to take them off; but when, with all their fair and indefatigable exertions, it cannot be recovered, it then becomes a duty to render them every assistance. Cases sometimes occur in opposition to every effort (particularly in covert) where the leading hounds, in running, get a head of the huntsman, and much before the principal body of the pack; in such situation, he must strenuously surmount intervening difficulties, with all possible resolution, and get to them as fast as he can, with what he can collect of the PACK, and leave the remainder to be hallooed forward, and brought along by the whipper-in.

Huntsmen who have too much dash themselves, dash with so much rapidity in drawing from one covert to another, that they frequently leave hounds behind; and the whipper-in (where there is but one, and there ought always to be two) being no less eager than the huntsman to be forward, renders what was an error in the first instance, a confirmed fault in the next. It would be more sportsman-like to get the hounds collected, and bring them away all together; it might sometimes prevent the return of a whipper-in for even a single skirter, more particularly at the conclusion of the day, when hounds are hallooed off for home. Left behind, they become liable to loss as well as accident: when once addicted to skirting, it becomes a growing vice, and is seldom discontinued; they acquire confidence in hunting by themselves, which they never relinquish, and would rather dwell upon their own tongue, than give proper credit to another: in which persevering obstinacy they continue, till the pack, drawn off, and evening coming on, they are left to make their weary way through a dreary country; or, exposed to the inclemency of a winter's night, take up their lodging upon the ground, with the additional chance of being attacked and worried by every dog they see in exploring their way the following morning.

HURLE (or whirl) BONE

—is situate in the centrical part of the hind-quarter, midway between the hip-bone and the gaskin, and is more known now by the appellation of ROUND-BONE, than the former, which is almost obsolete, unless in particular country districts. Notwithstanding the singular strength of its formation, and peculiar junction with the lower extremity of the hip-bone, it is liable to injury from sudden turns or twists in too confined a space, and should be the more particularly guarded against; as being deep seated, no relief can be obtained, but by long and patient daily FOMENTATION, followed by stimulative strengthening EMBROCATION.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.