HARRIERS
—are the species of hound appropriated solely to the pursuit of the HARE, and from thence derived their present appellation. The breeding experiments so long made, and the various crosses so repeatedly tried, by the best judges in the kingdom, seem at length to have centered between the old southern and the dwarf fox hound. Mr. Beckford, whose "Thoughts" no sensible man, or judicious sportsman, will presume to dispute, was entirely of this opinion, and proved it by his practice; for he says, "his hounds were a cross of both these kinds, in which it was his endeavour to get as much bone and strength, in as small a compass as possible. It was a difficult undertaking. He bred many years, and an infinity of hounds, before he could get what he wanted, and had at last the pleasure to see them very handsome; small, yet very bony: they ran remarkably well together; ran fast enough; had all the alacrity that could be desired, and would hunt the coldest scent. When they were thus perfect, he did as many others do—he parted with them."
Notwithstanding the criterion of excellence thus laid down, the same sort of hound (as a harrier) is by no means applicable to every soil: the southern hound will be always in possession of THE SWAMPS, as will the beagles of the mountainous and hilly countries. Those who delight in seeing hounds bred and drafted to a certain degree of uniformity, in size, bone, strength, and speed, strictly corresponding with the opinion of Mr. Beckford, will not find it time lost, to take the field with the harriers of his Majesty, kept at Windsor: they are, as they ought to be, the best pack, and the best hunted, this day in the kingdom. See the Frontispiece; where every MAN, HORSE, and HOUND, is individually a portrait.