74, THE LIFE OF A FOX.

pack, and to this end getting rid of all those
which they called slow hounds, many of which
were such as would not go the pace without a
good scent, as they would have them do. Such
hounds were always drafted, although, when
there was a good scent, this sort could puzzle
even the fast riders to keep with them. Partly
to this cause, then, I attribute my having
lived to my great age. There are other rea-
sons why fewer foxes are killed than formerly.
In the first place, the country is overrun with
drains, of which thexe are thousands unknown to
the hunters, but known to us. When severely
pressed by the hounds, I have often got into one
of them, and it frequently happened to be in the
middle of an open field, when hounds in chace
of me have run over it; and owing to their mettle
and to their being pressed by hard riders, they
have been urged on beyond it, then held on forward
in every way by the huntsman ; and if, after this,
the drain has been discovered, the scent, owing to
the time lost, has been nearly gone. The entrance

to drains is generally in a low part of the land,