that that fine specimen of the sportsman and English gentleman now bears the distinguished title of " the Father of the Field," having succeeded to it at the time Mr. Musters, who was "Pater venatorum" until he parted with his celebrated pack to the Duke of Cleveland, relinquished that honourable distinction amongst British sportsmen; when we consider that the country is decidedly under such great obligations to Mr. Farquharson for during so long a period conducting upon so liberal a scale the venatic amusements of the squirearchy of Dorsetshire, it does seem extraordinary that sufficient quarters cannot be found amongst their numerous tenantry for the purpose of rearing a sufficient entry of young hounds to recruit his pack without having recourse to the drafts of other masters of hounds, who may be more fortunate in being able to avail themselves of good quarters for the whelps of their own breeding. Amongst the numerous features which may be recognized with the good old times of fox-hunting, and which are so thoroughly in keeping with the substantial and aristocratic bearing with which the chase is conducted in the county of Dorset, and the liberal manner in which every department in the kennel and stables of Mr. Farquharson is carried on, we were not a little surprised to observe the nearly exploded system of the constant use of barley-flour mixed up in equal proportions with oatmeal as feed for the hounds; the feeder informed me, upon my expressing some surprise at seeing a large tub filled with the above named heating ingredient, that they had invariably used meat thus prepared and mixed for years, even during the whole of the hunting season; but I could see plainly that he by no means approved of the practice, and the "fiddling" of the hounds on their benches, and the numerous instances of eyes being a little down, were evident proof of the heating consequences of feeding with barley-flour instead of pure oatmeal; this tendency to scratch themselves and lap water was also considerably inercased by the heat of the lodging rooms, which are built so exceedingly low as scarcely to admit of a tall person standing upright in them; this might easily be remedied without any expense, as the buildings are thatched, which is far preferable to tiles or slates in a kennel, in my humble opinion, and which totally does away with the necessity of having a deep enclosed roof ceiled in, and which now covers the confined and ill-ventilated lodging rooms of the Cattistock kennels. As I before observed, Jem Treadwell has hunted Mr. Farquharson's hounds about ten seasons; at the time he was appointed huntsman, old Ben Jennings, whom many of my readers must well remember, and who had been the huntsman to the pack hunting this country for nearly forty years, was, with the accustomed kindness and liberality of his master, allowed to retire upon a pension, and this fine sample of the huntsman of the old school is now living in one of Mr. Farquharson's cottages, in the enjoyment of excellent health, about a mile from the mansion-house, at Eastbury, where the summer kennel of these hounds is situated. There is no country in England where the foxes are better preserved than they are throughout the whole of that part of Dorsetshire hunted by Mr. Farquharson's hounds, and the numbers of noses to be counted on the kennel doors generally equal the most murderous establishment in the midland districts; they usually kill from fifty-five to seventy brace of foxes every year, including of course the period of cub-hunting. This season, that is, up to last Saturday, they had killed twenty-nine brace and a

half. The stud consists of nearly thirty horses, and though they appear to the eye of a stranger an undersized stamp of animal and inferior to the high-bred slashing cattle the horsemen bestride in the more crack countries, still they are well calculated to climb the everlasting hills, and scramble about the thickly dispersed dingles and boggy bottoms which on every side present themselves throughout the greater part of the county of Dorset. (To be continued.)

OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE, AND "HARE-HUNTING."

BY LINTON.

(Concluded.)

The finding and starting of a hare before hounds are naturally proceeded with according to the humour and inclination of the person who hunts them. Some fancy the hunting of a hare from her feeding ground, or having one frequently marked on her form, for their special hunting on the morning fixed for the chase; others prefer to beat in the most likely places to find her; whereas many prefer by far the most sportsman-like and gratifying mode of turning the hounds into a field, or on a down or small plantation, at an appointed moment, and allowing them to do their own duty as a pack of foxhounds when thrown into covert: thus they hit on her trail and hunt all her doubles, till at length from scent they come to view, and the whole pack, settling well to their game, fly unmolested to the chase. Others take advantage of all doubles and circumstances, and are everlastingly hallooing and calling off their hounds, and laying them on again and again. This is worrying a hare to death, not hunting her. Recollect, however, there are circumstances and occasions which admit of harriers, as well as foxhounds, being lifted to their game: these, however, are resorted to, to secure sport, and not for the mere gratification of killing a hare. Should an animal have run for any considerable time, along a high road or other place where scent will not lie, then lift your hounds; otherwise the delay occasioned in order to prick her, or by trying here or there when no question can exist but that she has gone forward, may cause the loss of a good run. At the end of a run, also, when the hare is dead beat, and the hounds have done their duty during a long chase, and fairly earned blood, then assist them to obtain what is their right. But to listen to a man in a tree, or a sweep on a donkey who "see'd the 'are" go this way or that way, and to give ear to the eternal halloing and shouting of bipeds who frequently attend a pack of harriers, is to turn one of the most delightful of sports into the mobbing of an innocent and timid puss. But, whatever way you may in your judgment fancy the best to hunt harriers, observe this simple rule-never to press them forward or over their scent, nor, if you can possibly help it, allow others to do so this practice destroys all chance of a good hunt; from the nature of the hare, which we have already explained, your hopes of sport will be most undoubtedly lost. Riding too close to harriers is, nine times out of ten, the cause of their

losing the hare, or, at least, coming to a check; for the nearer you ride, the faster they are forced, and the hare, being naturally inclined to come backwards, avails itself of that chance for life the moment the hounds and field too nearly approach her. If you must ride, or cannot hold your horse, far better, at all events, ride parallel to the pack, instead of immediately in the rear of them; and when the hounds are fairly settled on a good scent, with a wild hare before them, then ride as you like; for if you be with many packs that we wot of, and in the stiff countries, the soil of which we have often carried home on our backs, no fear of your overriding them. But there are judgment, reason, and caution required, even in hare-hunting, as in all other sports. Should your hounds come to a check by a long double of the hare, the surest way to recover the scent is to draw your hounds round the ground in a large circle; this failing, try again in a smaller circle. Let this be done, however, without hurry or quick riding, and the chances are you will surely succeed. If you come to a check in cold hunting, then try your hounds well forward before you make any cast backwards; for if the scent be cold, and the hunted hare not have doubled, the chances are that you lose her altogether. Should, however, the scent be heavy, and the pack in full cry, come to a sudden check, stop them at once; for if it be not occasioned by sheep, highway, or ploughed ground, be assured it is a sharp double. At such moments, could a field be induced to stop, or moderate a little of their excitement, turn their horses' heads, and remain quiet, a good master of hounds would soon find means to settle his pets once more on their game; but the eternal pressing and overriding, and hallooing of "Here she goes!" and "There she goes !" on such occasions, is destruction to all sport. If you find that your hounds are hunting cheerfully, and suddenly give more than usual tongue, be assured it is a sure sign of a double. Remain quiet, and let them do their work: do not, like some huntsmen, gallop to their head; at such a moment hurrying and hallooing are destructive to hounds, and equally so to the chance of sport. A good sportsman, who thoroughly and practically understands his business, and has carefully observed the nature of the hare he hunts, the ground on which he sports, and the state of the weather, combining such knowledge according to time and circumstances, will rarely lose a hare, without such loss be occasioned by unforeseen causes or occasional accident. On the other hand, an inexperienced huntsman, who drives his dogs on their game, and allows others to assist him with shouts, intrusive and unsought advice, secking alone the pleasure of a gallop over fence and brook, will rarely obtain the latter or kill the former. No thorough-bred, really good master of hounds will ever be dismayed by checks or failures in obtaining what is called a straight run with harriers; for, though we declare to have seen as fast and as straight a twenty minutes with harriers as almost ever fell to the lot of fox-hounds, it is a rare and a fortunate case among hundreds to the contrary; but the pleasure of hunting with such hounds does not consist in obtaining that which is seldom awarded, but the fact of surmounting all difficulties, seeing the extreme extent of the animals which afford you the sport developed, watching the sagacious hunting of your hounds, remarking on the hit of this dog on the scent, or the recovery of it, the pace in the chase of another, and, in fact, by the thorough sporting experience of the huntsman, aided by his pets, overcoming and

surmounting all difficulties of scent, ground, and season, till you kill your game. Were volumes written on this subject to amuse the theorist, nothing but practice, patience, and experience, combined with temper and a thorough love of sport for sporting's sake, can make a good master of hounds. We will not dwell on the merits of drawing hounds a first, second, or even third time round the ground where you have checked; or the equal necessity, if on ploughed ground, of riding well across the ridges and looking well down the furrows, where your lost hare may have squatted; or, if on a highway, to go up and down the sides for such distance as you may judge the hounds may hit her off again; but, if you find her not, it is possible she may have squatted. On all such occasions let the huntsman immediately dismount, and try and find her course before the ground is overridden by the field; look narrowly at each gateway, style, or opening; and, if he be expert at pricking a hare, a service very easily obtained, he may very soon enable the hounds once more to settle on their scent. And this is important, inasmuch as hares are constantly in the habit of running on highways. You may observe, however, that she cannot be so readily pricked on her counter as by following the way she has run; and, lastly, we would remark that on all and every occasion a gentleman who hunts his own hounds cannot make himself too well known to them, and too much loved by them. No animal is more sensible to any act of kindness than are dogs of every species. Let a huntsman, therefore, invariably blood his own hounds, and, however rarely he may apply the whip, never be too niggardly of kindness: the more he visits his kennel the better; and, while caresses on his part will never be given in vain, they will repay them by heeding him and his voice in the field. Let him throw even a crust of bread among the pack, as he jogs home from his day's sport; the hound who receives at such a moment to him a dainty morsel, will never forget that it was a gift from his master's hand; and though that hand may in anger strike a blow, that same hand, when it caresses, will meet with nothing but gratitude. Indeed, it is utterly impossible for man, if a kind heart beat within his breast, to be unfriendly to horse or dog; but, if that heart beat within the breast of a sportsman, both dog and horse will become his cherished friends, as well as the faithful companions in his sports and pleasures.

Some years since, we passed the winter at a watering-place on the southern coast of Devon, in the immediate neighbourhood of which there resided a noble lord, whose principal claim to our recollection was that he possessed some twenty thousand acres of the fairest country eye ever looked on or man ever rode over, and also kept a pack of harriers. His age at the period to which we allude was four score and six; and we have been told that when in the prime of manhood he loved the sports of the field with all the zest, and entered into them with all the ardour, of a sportsman; and the remnant of this passion, which still flickered in his breast, was doubtless the cause of his still keeping hounds, which he came out frequently to see, but could neither ride after them himself, nor would he, as far as he was concerned, have wished any one else but his huntsman to follow. No London or local paper advertised their places of meeting; the population of the county over which they hunted was thin; and, save an occasional straggler from the neighbouring watering-place, a sporting farmer, or a sporting doctor, few

were there to enjoy or interrupt the sport. The nature of the country over which they hunted varied considerably; one portion of it consisted of what may be called an open country-at least, the coverts were "few and far between ;" but then the fields, all enclosed by high banks and hedges, were about two acres in size, intersected by innumerable byeroads, into one of which did you chance to drop, you were well nigh as snug as at the bottom of a well, for all you could see or hear, the banks and hedges being high above the head of a man on horseback; and as for riding across the fields, it was one continued jump-in fact, it was one eternal scrambling break-neck fence, and, save that you were mounted on a horse accustomed to such fences, far better remain at home. Another portion was probably even less suited to harriers, for here and there was a patch of common or open land, over which you rattled with an occasional exhilirating spirt bang into an unfathomable covert of innumerable acres, the home of two thousand hares. Thus it was one continued stopping of the hounds to return from whence we came, and then another race to the nearest covert. But the third portion of the hunting ground repaid you for all your disgust of the former two: here the hounds met on a large, extensive open down land, covered with short heather and grass, with here and there a few small enclosures, or a broad dry ditch, just to vary your gallop. This down may probably be from eight to ten miles in length, with nothing to interrupt the view save the undulation of its hills, with here and there a small fir wood, which contained no under-covert or retreat in which a hare could rest for a moment; and, in breadth, the narrowest portion was at least two miles, and thence open fields-small, it is true, and with tolerable posers in the way of fences, but this was agreeable; these fields extended to coverts, save one or two at most, far in the distance. Oh! it was indeed a pleasing sight to see the merry pack assembled on one of these downy knolls on a fine mild hunting morning, ready to receive the word to seek for their game, which they were never long in finding; for if such were a fault, hares were rather too numerous.

On our arrival in Devon we had heard of these hounds, and we lost no time in visiting and making acquaintance with the huntsman. The noble owner we had known from our childhood; but enough of him; he and his title are dead to the world. Now, with regard to the hounds, it was scarcely possible to see a nicer pack; true, they were not overwell sized; and as for the huntsman, he was a very young man, who knew very little of his duties save what his hounds had taught him; nevertheless, he was a bold and active rider in the field, and a most civil servant to any one who knew as much of hounds as he did, and who would ride over any fence that he would. We soon found out his weak points, and profiting thereby, gained from first to last all the information we required, viz., a hint the night previous to the meeting of the hounds on the down land. This much accomplished, we purchased at a very low figure a regular hunter," as the huntsman termed our three-parts-bred switch-tail chesnut, and prepared to take the field. Our nag had been the property of a sporting Cornwall parson, and never was a beast more thoroughly au fait than was he with the nature of the fences he had to surmount; this we discovered the very first day he carried us through a fast and long run, for, almost running up the side of an immense great bank, which appeared totally impracticable, he