(the successors to Storr and Mortimer), of Bond-street. It consists of a group of four figures and a horse, representing the conflict between King Robert Bruce and three men employed to assassinate him, as he retreated from the battle of Glendochart, near Tayndrum. The history of this event is described at length by the historian Barbour, and was the subject of one of the prize cartoons exhibited in Westminster Hall. The assassins watched the king until, being alone, he had entered a narrow pass between a lake and a precipice, and where he had scarcely room to manage his steed. They sprang upon him at once: one seized his bridle, but was cut down by a blow that hewed off his arm; another grasped Bruce by the stirrup and leg, and endeavoured to dismount him. The king put spurs to his horse, and threw the man down, still holding by the stirrup. third assassin, taking advantage of an acclivity, sprang up behind the king upon the horse. Bruce, however, whose personal strength is uniformly mentioned as being immense, extricated himself from his grasp, threw him to the ground, and cleft his skull with his sword. By similar exertion he drew his stirrup from the grasp of the man he had overthrown, and killed him with his sword as he lay under the horse's feet. All this is represented in the group. The figures are full of fire and character, and the composition is perfect. We will conclude our remarks by giving an abstract of the number and value of the prizes contested :

The

Independent of the Gold Vase, value £300; the Royal Hunt Cup, value £200; and the Emperor of Russia's Plate, value £500; the amount of which, if added to the value of stakes, amounts to £11,805. In the above are included forfeits, walks over, and the winner's stakes, but not dead heats, of which there was only one, and which would make the number of races 29. This, and the result of the last Goodwood meeting, will prove that, at the first-rate places of sport, racing is not on the wane, however much it may be at the minor ones: Brighton is in a rapid decline, Guildford is in a galloping consumption, and Lewes with scarce any life left in it. Not so Goodwood, the return for 1844 being as follows:

66

NIMROD'S ANALYSIS OF THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN." 127

In the above are included forfeits, walks over, and the winners' stakes. Doncaster too is looking up, Epsom flourishing; Bibury and Chester have recovered their former greatness. To the exertions of Lord George Bentinck the racing world are deeply indebted, and the testimonial voted to his lordship is the best proof of the estimation he is held in by the public. His unwearied labours, his persevering zeal in supporting the turf and exposing its rascalities, have raised racing to the highest pre-eminence, and we sincerely trust that the sports of our ancestors will never degenerate in our days.

We cannot take leave of the subject without congratulating the lovers of the true British sport of horse-racing upon the success of the Ascot meeting. The patronage extended by her most gracious Majesty in honouring the course with her presence on two days during the week, and the assemblage of rank and fashion there con gregated, will do much towards restoring horse-racing to its pristine grandeur. Let the members of the Jockey Club and other noble patrons, whose conduct have reflected the greatest credit and honour upon the turf, continue their exertions in exposing fraud and robbery, and ere long the black sheep will be expelled from the flock, and racing will again take its stand as one of the first of English sports. As it is mainly attributable to our most gracious Queen that Ascot still continues to flourish, we cannot finally take leave of the subject without wishing happiness and prosperity to

"The fair-hair'd Daughter of the Isles,
The love of millions."

So long as the court and the female aristocracy, radiant with beauty, grace the race-course with their presence, so long will the turf prosper; but, if it is left solely to the "lords of the creation," it then becomes a mere mart for speculation, and can only be kept up, as is the case at Newmarket, by first-rate running. Even there, we rejoice to say, the number of "ladies patronesses" gradually increases, and we cannot do better than record our gallantry by proposing, in the words of an American, "A bumper toast, with three times three, the honours, and one cheer more the ladies, the only endurable aristocracy, who rule without laws, judge without jury, decide without appeal, and are never in the wrong.

NIMROD'S ANALYSIS

OF

"THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN,"

BY THOMAS SMITH, ESQ., LATE MASTER OF THE craven.

The author's descriptions of a well-shapen and a badly-shapen hound are too long for insertion, but the following passage is rather a remarkable one. "It is true that breeders of hounds of this day pride themselves on having bred some as near perfection, in point of shape

and make, as possible; but the question arises, when on this subject, whether such bounds will be considered perfect fifty years hence? The writer is induced to doubt this, from the fact that the pictures of the best hounds--and it is fair to suppose that they were thought then handsome-such, for instance, as were painted by the best artists of that day, Sartorius and Stubbs (which were as unlike what is now thought perfect as possible), in their pictures of foxhounds, are drawn with crooked legs, flat-sided, and loose in their loins. Yet these hounds, which belonged to the celebrated Meynell, and others, did wonders; for instance, on a trial of pace across the flat at Newmarket, they ran it in as short, or shorter time, than hounds of the present day could do it. And, however contrary it is to the writer's principle as to the shape of hounds, he is bound to say that some few hounds are bred too short, that is, too closely ribbed up to go the tremendous pace which is become the fashion in the grass countries; for it will be found, on close attention, that a more lengthy hound has more freedom, and goes with greater ease, than one that is more ribbed up and shorter. The great point, therefore, is to combine sufficient strength with the length, or the day will be too long; also even in the fast countries, but most assuredly so in all others; thus leaving it in doubt what will be thought perfection fifty years hence. But as to bad legs and feet, there can be no doubt that they are nearly exterminated for ever; and the only surprise is, how such legs and feet ever got into the hound at all, unless by crossing with some other sort of dog to acquire nose or courage; for on looking at nearly all wild animals, it will be seen that their legs are straight and good; for instance, who ever saw a crooked-legged fox? their legs are as straight as arrows, which is the case with most wild animals which never mix."

I agree in opinion with Mr. Smith, that there is disposition in some breeders of hounds to sacrifice too largely to beauty, and thus by wishing to avoid any appearance of that looseness of loin and length of frame which characterized hounds of Mr. Meynell's early days, have run into other extremes, and bred them too closely ribbed up and too short in the body. But I do not place much dependance on portraits of hounds by Stubbs, judging as I do from those of his horses, which can be considered nothing less than deformities.

Mr. Smith thinks the standard of foxhounds should not exceed twenty-four inches, but still feels obliged to those gentlemen who breed a larger sort, or in the course of time the race would dwindle below the mark. He also suggests that a little more attention, in breeding, to nose and stoutness, is desirable, fearing that the present rage for pace and shape is regarded in prejudice to these most essential qualifications, strengthening his argument by a quotation from the pen of Mr. Nicoll, late master of the New Forest hounds.

"But no, with him it's all the pace;
Then hounds will look him in the face,
And seem to say, My noble master,
You cannot have us go much faster;
For we, on flying full intent,

A mile behind have left the scent."

In fact, Mr. Sunith evidently inclines to another cross with the oldfashioned sort, as will appear by the following passage:-"It is true that hounds may be, and are, nearer perfection in point of beauty; a throaty hound, for instance, is rarely seen in a pack, although very common some years back, when men thought more of hunting than of riding; but by getting rid of the throat the nose has gone with it, for a throaty hound has invariably a good nose; and that hounds were so until the end of the last century, nearly all sporting pictures of hounds will prove." In confirmation of this, to a certain extent, I may observe that I remember a favourite stallion hound of Mr. Meynell's, whose blood is good to this day-Gusman was his name -who was very throaty. Of course he must have been very good in his work, or I should not have had him impressed so deeply on my memory as to recollect him after a period of forty years. Mr. Smith, however, is quite right in recommending breeders of hounds to attend to nose and stoutness, rather than to beauty and pace; in fact, without nose there can be no pace-no holding one, certainly.

Our author now speaks of his own system of breeding hounds, and the experiments he made; but it must be borne in mind that he was not an extensive breeder. Mr. Smith's first experiment was to ascertain whether hounds inherit particular qualities from the dog or from the bitch, which he decides in favour of the bitch. The following, however, is a singular fact as relates to the influence of the sire: "If a young hound," says Mr. Smith, "has any peculiarity which the sire had, such as standing in a particular way in the kennel, or in following closely the huntsman's horse, or any other trick of his sire, he will also generally inherit with it all his good qualities, and may be bred from, without fear, the first year; and if this (which is the only way of finding out a cross which nicks early) is a lucky one, it will be known soon enough to be repeated several times, but it must not be till after the produce with that bitch has been tried, consequently two years after it will be known, and the same bitch can be put to him again, but not till then."

The question was put to Mr. Smith, as to whether dog-hounds or bitches are quickest in cover? He answered, bitches; but not because they are bitches, but because they are smaller than dogs, and can make their way more easily in thick underwood, &c. He thought dog-hounds oftener right in chase than bitches, being naturally not so flighty.

Mr. Smith thinks the best proof of a hound's goodness is, that he is never remarkable in a run. This, he admits, appears paradoxical, but he means to imply that a hound which holds the line throughout a chase, and drives a scent without dwelling on it (a good line-hunter in fact), is the most valuable hound throughout a season, although he may not once signalize himself by an extraordinary recovery of a fault. In strong woodland countries Mr. Smith prefers dog-hounds to bitches, because they are not so free with their tongues as bitches, who often slip away with their fox unheard.

Spaying bitches that are light is recommended by Mr. Smith, as it not only greatly improves their form, but also their nose; and they last much longer than open bitches. I do not, however, think the

130 NIMROD'S ANALYSIS OF "6 THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN."

system of spaying is much resorted to. Mr. Smith attributes the same good effects to castrating dog-hounds that are light and weedy.

Speaking of faults, our author condemns a mule-hound as unpardonable, be he in other respects ever so good; in fact, the better he is and more likely to find his fox, the more mischievous is he, as he goes on with him by himself, and of course foils the ground by the stain he leaves behind him, and creates confusion.

The skirter comes next; a cause for great regret, says Mr. Smith, for many capital hounds become skirters. There is, however,' says he, "no end to the mischief a skirter creates," and, therefore, drafted must he be. Still Mr. Smith hazards the opinion that a pack of skirters would do well, if not better, than any other for the first year, in proof of which he says, a new pack made up of drafthounds, half of them skirters, kill more foxes the first year than in any one which follows. Hounds that dwell on the scent, or throw their tongues when behind the pack in chase, should be drafted.

Chapter the seventh treats of the fox, which Mr. Smith calls the most perfect animal in the shape of a quadruped, so much so as to defy the pencil of the artist to pourtray him. Mr. Smith, however, has given two lythographic sketches, one of a fresh, the other of a beaten fox, both of which are well represented, and it would be well for young sportsmen to study the difference in appearance of each. After describing the points in the frame of the fox which enable him to stand so long as he sometimes does before hounds, Mr. Smith says, "There are foxes which, if they have time to prepare themselves for work, will defy any pack to kill, even with a good scent." He here alludes to foxes that have been hunted and become "seasoned," as he expresses himself, and get a right good start before hounds.

On the food of foxes we have the following interesting passage:"There are hundreds of old foxes which never tasted a fowl; nor do they commit a twentieth part of the mischief to game that is sometimes talked of by keepers, who tell their masters it is no use to preserve pheasants whilst there are foxes. Surely some signs would be left in covers if foxes did destroy so many pheasants-they could not eat up feathers and all; and the writer can declare that he never saw three places where a pheasant had been destroyed by a fox during the whole time he hunted hounds." Lambs he thinks are often said to be killed by foxes when dogs have done the mischief.

Mr. Smith devotes many pages to the animal fox, and, among many very useful remarks, ventures some that are paradoxical, and have been rather severely criticised by Mr. Delmè Radcliffe in his "Noble Science." I am of opinion that he is wrong in supposing that "the scent by which the fox is hunted by hounds does not come from the body, but from the touch," that is from the pad touching the ground. The very circumstance of hounds running hard in water, as I have twice seen them do, is at once a contradiction to this theory. Again, I cannot go this length with our author. He says, "Some persons think the reason why foxes are not oftener killed later in the day, after a hard and long run, is, that it is owing to their strength recovering as their natural time for exercise comes on." But he himself thinks the more probable cause to be, that as night comes on,