LETTER XXI
Your huntsman, you say, has hunted a pack of harriers: it might have been better, perhaps, had he never seen one; since fox-hunting and hare-hunting differ almost in every particular;—so much, that I think it might not be an improper negative definition of fox-hunting to say, it is, of all hunting, that which resembles hare-hunting the least. A good huntsman to a pack of harriers, seldom succeeds in fox-hunting:—like old hounds, they dwell upon the scent, and cannot get forward; nor do they ever make a bold cast; so much are they afraid of leaving the scent behind them. Hence it is, that they poke about, and try the same place ten times over, rather than leave it; and, when they do, are totally at a loss which way to go, for want of knowing the nature of the animal they are in pursuit of. As hare-hounds should scarcely ever be cast, halloo’d, or taken off their noses, hare-hunters are too apt to hunt their fox-hounds in the same manner; but it will not do; nor could it please you if it would. Take away the spirit of fox-hunting, and it is no longer fox-hunting: it is stale small-beer compared to brisk champagne. You would also find in it more fatigue than pleasure. It is said, there is a pleasure in being mad, which only madmen know; and it is the enthusiasm, I believe, of fox-hunting, that is its best support: strip it of that, and you had better leave it quite alone.
The hounds themselves also differ in their manner of hunting. The beagle, who has always his nose to the ground, will puzzle an hour on one spot, sooner than leave the scent; while the fox-hound, full of life and spirit, is always dashing and trying forward:—a high-bred fox-hound, therefore shows himself to most advantage when foxes are at their strongest, and run an end. A pack of harriers will kill a cub better, perhaps, than a pack of fox-hounds; but, when foxes are strong, they have not the method of getting on with the scent which fox-hounds have, and generally tire themselves before the fox. To kill foxes, when they are strong, hounds must run, as well as hunt: besides, catching a fox by hard running, is always preferred, in the opinion of a fox-hunter.1 Much depends on the style in which it is done; and I think, without being sophistical, a distinction might be made betwixt hunting a fox and fox-hunting. Two hackneys become not racers by running round a course: nor does the mere hunting of a fox change the nature of the harrier. I have also seen a hare hunted by high-bred fox-hounds; yet, I confess to you, it gave me not the least idea of what hare-hunting ought to be. Certain ideas are necessarily annexed to certain words—this is the use of language—and when a fox-hound is mentioned, I should expect not only a particular kind of hound, as to make, size, and strength (by which the fox-hound is easy to be distinguished); but I should also expect by fox-hunting, a lively, animated, and eager pursuit, as the very essence of it.2 Eagerness and impetuosity are such essential parts of this diversion, that I am never more surprised than when I see a fox-hunter without them. One hold hard, or reproof, unnecessarily given, would chill me more than a north-east wind; it would damp my spirits, and send me home. The enthusiasm of a fox-hunter should not be checked in its career; for it is the very life and soul of fox-hunting.3 If it be the eagerness with which you pursue your game that makes the chief pleasure of the chase, fox-hunting surely should afford the greatest degree of it; since you pursue no animal with the same eagerness that you pursue a fox.
Knowing your partiality to hounds that run in a good style, I advise you to observe strictly your own, when a fox is sinking in a strong cover: that is the time to see the true spirit of a fox-hound. If they spread not the cover, but run tamely on the line of one another, I shall fear it is a sort that will not please you long. A fox-hound that has not spirit and ambition to get forward at a time like this, is at no other likely to do much good.
You mention, in your last Letter, pretty hounds: certainly I should not pretend to criticise others, who am so incorrect myself; yet, with your leave, I think I can set you right in that particular. Pretty is an epithet improperly applied to a fox-hound: we call a fox-hound handsome, when he is strong, bony, of a proper size, and of exact symmetry; and fitness is made essential to beauty. A beagle may be pretty; but, according to my idea of the word, a fox-hound cannot: but, as it is not to be supposed that you will keep a pack of fox-hounds for the pleasure of looking at them, without doubt, you will think goodness more necessary than beauty. Should you be ambitious to have a handsome pack of hounds, on no account ought you to enter an ugly dog, lest you be tempted to keep him afterwards.
I once heard an old sportsman say, that he thought a fox, to show sport, should run four hours at least; and I suppose he did not care how slow his hounds went after him. This idea, however, is not conceived in the true spirit of fox-hunting—which is not to walk down a fox, or starve him to death; but to keep close at him, and kill him as soon as you can. I am convinced that a fox-hound may hunt too much: if tender-nosed, and not over-hurried, he will always hunt enough; whilst the highest-bred hounds may be made to tie upon the scent, by improper management.4
It is youth, and good spirits, which suit best with fox-hunting: slackness in the men occasions slackness in the hounds; and one may see, by the manner in which hounds hunt, what kind of men they have been accustomed to. The speediest hounds may, by degrees, be rendered slow; and it is impossible for the best to do their business as they ought, unless followed with life and spirit. Men who are slack themselves, will be always afraid of hurrying their hounds too much; and, by carrying this humour too far, will commit a fault which has nothing to excuse it. The best method to hunt a fox, they say, is never, upon any account, to cast the hounds; but, on the contrary, to let them tie upon the scent as long as they will, and that they will hit it off at last. I agree with them partly: it certainly must be the best method to hunt a fox; for, by this means, you may hunt him from morning till night; and, if you have the luck to find him, may hunt him again the next day: the likeliest method, however, to kill him, is to take every advantage of him that you can.
All hounds go fast enough with a good scent; but it is the particular excellence of a fox-hound, when rightly managed, to get on faster with an indifferent scent than any other hound:5 it is the business of a huntsman to encourage this; and here, most probably, the hare-hunter will fail. He has been used to take his time; he has enjoyed a cold scent, like a southern hound; and has sitten patiently upon his horse, to see his hounds hunt. It is, to be sure, very pretty to see; and, when you consider that the hare is all the time, perhaps, within a few yards of you, and may leap up the next minute, you are perfectly contented with what you are about: but it is not so in fox-hunting: every minute that you lose is precious, and increases your difficulties; and while you are standing still, the fox is running miles. It is a satisfaction to a hare-hunter to be told where his game was seen, though a long while before; but it is melancholy news to a fox-hunter, whose game is not likely to stop. I believe I mentioned to you, in a former Letter on hare-hunting, a great fault which I had observed in some harriers, from being let alone too much—that of running back the heel. I have seen a pack of high-bred fox-hounds do the same, for the same reasons.
When hounds flag, from frequent changes, and a long day, it is necessary for a huntsman to animate them as much as he can: he must keep them forward, and press them on; for it is not likely, in this case, that they should over-run the scent. At these times the whole work is generally done by a few hounds, and he should keep close to them. Here I also fear that the hare-hunter will fail.6 If they come to a long fault, it is over, and you had better then go home.
The many chances that are against you in fox-hunting: the changing frequently; the heading of the foxes; their being coursed by sheep-dogs; long faults; cold hunting; and the dying away of the scent; make it necessary to keep always as near to the fox as you can; which should be the first and invariable principle of fox-hunting. Long days do great hurt to a pack of fox-hounds. I set out one day last winter from the kennel at half-past seven, and returned home a quarter before eight at night, the hounds running hard the greatest part of the time: the huntsman killed one horse and tired another, and the hounds did not recover for more than a week:7 we took them off at last, when they were running with a better scent than they had had the whole day. I also remember, after it was quite dark, to have heard a better view-halloo from an owl, than I ever heard from a sportsman in my life, though I hope that I shall never hear such another. A long day, nevertheless, once or twice in a season, is of use to a huntsman: it shows the real goodness and stoutness of his hounds.
When long days happen to hounds that are low in flesh, nothing will get them up again so effectually as rest: it is for this reason, hounds, that are kept constantly hunted, ought always to be, as sportsmen call it, above their work. If your hounds, either from accident or inattention, should ever be in the low condition here alluded to, be not impatient to get them out of it: should you feed them high with flesh, the mange, most probably, would be the immediate consequence of it: it is rest, and wholesome meat, that will recover them best. It will surprise you to see how soon a dog becomes either fat or lean: a little patience, therefore, and some attention, will always enable you to get your hounds into proper condition; and I am certain that you can receive no pleasure in hunting with them, if they be not.
I forgot, in my Letter upon the feeding of hounds, to observe, that such hounds as have the mange actually upon them, or only a tendency towards it, should be fed separately from the rest; they should have no flesh; their meat should be mixed up rather thin than thick; and they should have vegetables in great plenty.8 I must also add, that if my hounds return from hunting earlier than they were expected, I now order them to be shut up in the lodging-room till their meat be made ready for them. Hounds never rest contented till they have been fed; nor will they remain upon their benches, unless they be confined: yet, without doubt, lying upon the pavement, or even standing out in the cold after violent exercise, must be prejudicial to them.
I am glad to hear that your huntsman knows the country which he is to hunt: nothing in fox-hunting is more essential than that; and it may make amends for many faults. Foxes are not capricious: they know very well what they are about; are quick, I believe, at determining, and resolute in persevering: they generally have a point to go to; and, though headed and turned directly from it, seldom fail to make it good at the last: this, therefore, is a great help to an observing huntsman.
Suffer not your huntsman to encourage his hounds too much on a bad-scenting day, particularly in covers where there is much riot. Hark! hark! hark! which injudicious huntsmen are so fond of upon every occasion, must often do mischief, and cannot do good: while hounds are near together, they will get sooner to the hound that challenges without that noise than with it. If it be a right scent, they will be ready enough to join; and if it be a wrong one, provided they be let alone, they will soon leave it: injudicious encouragement, on a bad day, might make them run something or other, right or wrong.
I know of no fault so bad in a hound as that of running false: it should never be forgiven. Such as are not stout, or are stiff-nosed, or have other faults, may at times do good, and, at their worst, may do no harm; but such as run false, most probably, will spoil your sport. A hound capable of spoiling one day’s sport, is scarcely worth your keeping: indifferent ones, such as I have above described, may be kept till you have better to supply their places.
A huntsman should know how to marshal every hound in his pack, giving to each his proper rank and precedence; for, without this knowledge, it is not possible that he should make a large draft, as he ought. There are, in most packs, some hounds that assist but little in killing a fox; and it is the judicious drafting off of such hounds that is a certain sign of a good huntsman.
My huntsman is very exact: he always carries a list of his hounds in his pocket, and when in a distant country, he looks it over, to see if any of them be missing; he has also a book in which he keeps a regular account where every fox is found, and where he is killed.
Your huntsman, you say, knows perfectly the country that he has to hunt: let him then acquire as perfect a knowledge of his hounds: good sense and observation will do the rest; at least, will do as much as you seem to require of him; for I am glad to find, that you would rather depend upon the goodness of your hounds for sport, than the genius of your huntsman: it is, believe me, a much surer dependence.
