See what an excellent race it is between them! It is doubtful which will reach the cover first!-How equally they run!-how eagerly they strain! Now, Victor-Victor!-Ah! Brusher, you are beat; Victor first tops the hedge! See there-see, how they all take it in their strokes !-the hedge cracks with their weight, so many jump at once! Now hastes the whipper-in to the other side of the cover; he is right, unless he head the fox.

Ileav'ns! what melodious strains! how beat our hearts
Big with tumultuous joy! the loaded gales
Breathe harmony; and as the tempest drives
From wood to wood, through every dark recess
The forest thunders, and the mountains shake.

Listen! the hounds have turned. They are now in
two parts.
The fox has been headed back, and we
have changed at last.

"Now, my lad, mind the huntsman's halloo, and stop to those hounds which he encourages. He is right !—that doubtless is the hunted fox! Now they are off again!

What lengths we pass! where will the wand'ring chase
Lead us bewildered? smooth as swallows skim

The new-shorn mead, and far more swift we fly.
See my brave pack; how to the head they press,
Jostling in close array; then more diffuse
Obliquely wheel, while from their op'ning mouths
The vollied thunder breaks.

His vigour spent; the tall, plump, brawny youth
Curses his cumbroue bulk; and envies now
The short pygmean race, he whilom kenn'd
With proud insulting leer. A chosen few
Alone the sport enjoy, nor droop beneath
Their pleasing toils.

If such an one there be,
There, Trueman is on the
is doubtful: 'tis right!
See those wide-casting

"Ha! a check. Now for a moment's patience. We press too close upon the hounds !-Huntsman, stand still: as yet they want you not. How admirably they spread!-how wide they cast! Is there a single hound that does not try? he ne'er shall hunt again. scent!-he feathers, yet still how readily they join him! hounds, how they fly forward to recover the ground they have lost! Mind Lightning how she dashes! and Mungo, how he works! Old Frantic, too, now pushes forward; she knows as well as we the fox is sinking.

On! yet she flies, nor yields

To black despair. But one loose more, and all
His wiles are vain. Hark! through yon village now
The rattling clamour rings. The barns, the cots,
And leafless elms, return the joyous sounds.
Through ev'ry homestall, and through ev'ry yard,
His midnight walks, panting, forlorn, he flies;
Th' unerring hounds

With peals of echoing vengeance close pursue. "Huntsman, at fault at last! How far did you bring the scent? Have the hounds made their own cast?-Now make yours. You see that sheep-dog has been coursing the fox!-get forward with your hounds, and make a wide cast.

"Hark! that halloo is indeed a lucky one. If we can hold him on, we may yet recover him; for a fox, so much distressed, must stop at last. We now shall see if they will hunt, as well as run; for there is but little scent, and the impending cloud still makes that little less. How they enjoy the scent! see how busy they all are, and how each in his turn prevails.

"Huntsman, be quiet! Whilst the scent was good, you pressed on the hounds;-it was well done. Your

hounds were afterwards at fault;-you made your cast with judgment, and lost no time. You now must let them hunt; with such a cold scent as this you can do no good. They must do it all themselves. Lift them now, and not a hound will stop again. Ha! a high road at such a time as this, when the tenderestnosed hound can hardly own the scent!-Another fault? That man at work, then, has headed back the fox. Huntsman! cast not your hounds now, you see they have overrun the scent; have a little patience, and let them, for once, try back.

"We now must give them time: see where they bend towards yonder furze brake; I wish he may have stopped there. Mind that old hound, how he dashes o'er the furze; I think he winds him. Now for a fresh entapis :-Hark! they halloo !-Aye, there

he goes.

"It is near over with him; had the hounds caught view he must have died. He will hardly reach the cover;-see how they gain upon him at every stroke! It is an admirable race; yet the cover saves him.

"Now be quiet, and he cannot escape us; we have the wind of the hounds and cannot be better placed;-how short he runs -he is now in the very strongest part of the cover. What a crash! every hound is in, and every hound is running for him. That was a quick turn!-Again, another! he's put to his last shifts. Now Mischief is at his heels, and death is not far off. Ha! they all stop at once; all silent, and yet no earth is open. Listen!—now they are at him again. Did you hear that hound catch view? they had overrun the scent, and the fox lain down behind them. Now Reynard look to yourself. How quick they all give their tongues! Little Dreadnought, how he works him! How close Ven

geance pursues! how terribly she presses !—It is just up with him-gods! what a crash they make the whole wood resounds. That turn was very short. There-now-aye-now they have him.-Whoo

hoop!"

A pack of fox-hounds should not be too numerous; and to be good, they must be kept in constant employ. Forty couple at the most are always sufficient, and these should be taken into the field about three times a week. Too many hounds in the field at once always spoil the sport.

THE STAG-HOUND

Is a most majestic animal, and next to the bloodhound, is the most powerful of his species. His whole appearance is particularly dignified and majestic, and his countenance very expressive. They had their origin from the fox-hound and blood-hound. This breed is not very numerous at the present. A striking proof of the spirit and perseverance of the hound is furnished in the following anecdote :—

Many years since, a very large stag was turned out of Whinfield Park, in the county of Westmoreland, and was pursued by the hounds, till by fatigue or accident the whole pack was thrown out, except two staunch and favourite dogs, which continued the chase the greatest part of the day. The stag returned to the park whence he set out; and as his last effort, leaped the wall and expired as soon as he had accomplished it. One of the hounds pursued him to the wall; but being unable to get over, lay down, and al

most immediately expired; the other was also found dead at a little distance.

The length of the chase was uncertain; but as they were seen at Redkirks, near Annan, in Scotland, distance by the post-road about forty-six miles, it is conjectured that the circuitous and uneven course they might be supposed to take could not be less than one hundred and twenty miles. To commemorate this fact, the horns of the stag, which were the largest ever seen in that part of the country, were placed in a tree of enormous size in the park, afterwards called Hart-horn Tree. But they have been since removed; and are now at Julian's bower in the same county."

THE GREYHOUND

Is the swiftest of the dog species, and his formation is beautiful, delicate, and majestic; having the body long, the head neat and elongated, the teeth very white and sharp, the ears little, the neck straight, the mouth long, the breast full, the legs long and straight, and the ribs round, strong, full of sinews, and taper about the belly. He is easily trained for the chase when twelve months old, and used generally to be kept by royalty for the purposes of field sports. The original name of this tribe was Gaze-hound, and at what time it was changed does not appear clear.

The invincible ardour and determined progress of these animals will surmount every obstacle; their energetic velocity in pursuit of game is not to be surpassed; and notwithstanding their apparent natural simplicity and placid demeanour, they will display remarkable instances of fidelity, sagacity, and courage.