The following remarks of Mr. Beckford are worthy of their author:
"Hounds at their first entering cannot be encouraged too much. When they begin to know what is right, it will be soon enough to chastise them for doing wrong, and, in such case, one rather severe beating will save a great deal of trouble. The voice should be used as well as the whip; and the smack of the whip will often be of as much avail as the lash to him who has felt it."
hounds in the kennel, the frequent practice of too many huntsmen, should be held in utter abhorrence, and, if carried to a considerable excess, is a disgrace to humanity. Generally speaking, none but the sportsman can form an adequate conception of the perfect obedience of the hound both in the kennel and the field. At feeding-time, each dog, although hungry enough, will go through the gate in the precise order in which he is called by the feeder; and, in a well-broken pack, to chop at, or to follow a hare, or to give tongue on a false scent, or even to break cover alone, although the fox is in view, are faults that are rarely witnessed.
Let not this obedience, however, be purchased by the infliction of a degree of cruelty that disgraces both the master and the menial. A young fox-hound may, possibly, mistake the scent of a hare for that of a fox, and give tongue. In too many hunts he will be unmercifully flogged for this, and some have almost died under the lash. Mercy is a word totally unknown to a great proportion of whippers-in, and even to many who call themselves gentlemen. There can be no occasion or excuse for barbarity: a little trouble, and moderate punishment, and the example of his fellows, will gradually teach the wildest hound his duty.
That the huntsman, and not the hound, may occasionally be in fault, the following anecdote will furnish sufficient proof. In drawing a strong cover, a young bitch gave tongue very freely, while none of the other hounds challenged. The whipper-in railed to no purpose; the huntsman insisted that she was wrong, and the whip was applied with great severity. In doing this, the lash accidentally struck one of her eyes out of its socket.
Notwithstanding the dreadful pain that must have ensued, she again took up the scent, and proved herself right; for the fox had stolen away, and she had broken cover after him, unheeded and alone. After much delay and cold hunting, the pack hit off the same scent.
At some distance a farmer informed the sportsmen, that they were a long way behind the fox, for he had seen a single hound, very bloody about the head, running breast-high, so that there was but little chance of their getting up with her. The pack, from her coming to a check, did at last overtake her.
The same bitch once more hit off the scent, and the fox was killed, after a long and severe run. The eye of the poor animal, that had hung pendent through the chase, was then taken off with a pair of scissors.