to
water.

Now the young hounds dash thoughtlessly across the river, thinking of
nothing but a straight course, and they are thrown out on the barren
bank on the other side. Back they come again, wind about the last
track for a few minutes, and then they are forced to give it up--they
are thrown out altogether.

Mark the staunch old hounds!--one has crossed the river; there is no
scent, but he strikes down the bank with his nose close to the ground,
and away he goes along the edge of the river casting for a scent. Now
mark old "Bluebeard," swimming steadily down the stream; he knows the
habits of his game as well as I do, and two to one that he will find,
although "Ploughboy" has just started along the near bank so that both
sides of the river are being hunted.

Now this is what I call difficult hunting; bad enough if the huntsman
be up to assist his hounds, but nine times out of ten this happens in
the middle of a run, without a soul within a mile.

The only way to train hounds in this style of country is to accustom
them to complete obedience from puppyhood. This is easily effected by
taking them out for exercise upon a road coupled to old hounds. A good
walk every morning, accompanied by the horn and the whip, and they soon
fall into such a habit of obedience that they may be taken out without
the couples.

The great desideratum, then, is to gain their affection and confidence,
otherwise they will obey upon the road and laugh at you when in the
jungle. Now "affection" is a difficult feeling to instill into a
foxhound, and can only be partially attained by the exercise of
cupboard love; thus a few pieces of dry liver or bread, kept in the
pocket to be given to a young hound who has sharply answered to his
call, will do more good than a month of scolding and rating.

"Confidence," or the want of it, in a hound depends entirely upon the
character of his master. There is an old adage of "like master, like
man;" and this is strongly displayed in the hound. The very best seizer
would be spoiled if his master were a leetle slow in going in with the
knife; and, on the other hand, dogs naturally shy of danger turn into
good seizers where their master invariably leads them in.

Not only is their confidence required and gained at these times, but
they learn to place implicit reliance upon their master's knowledge of
hunting, in the same manner that they acknowledge the superiority of a
particular hound. This in