THE LIFE OF A FOX. 75

which is chilled by water upon it, and there-
fore may not hold a scent to discover that we
have gone into one.

During the time that that fine old sportsman,
Lord Spencer, hunted this country, there were
nothing like so many of these drains as there are
now, which may in some measure account for
fewer foxes being killed at the present time, than
when Charles King hunted the hounds. I have
heard my old granny say, that the first thing his
lordship thought of and wished to do, was to im-
prove and strengthen his pack in every possible
way. Of late, the pack has been thought to be
of least consideration; and it would seem by the
system adopted, that a fox is to be run down by
men who can ride fast, and that whippers-in are
nearly all that is wanted. For instance, when
I have been pursued by the hounds, if I have
run towards or through any covert, I have fre-
quently been astonished, after passing through
it, and almost before the hounds had arrived at
it, to see one of the whippers-in riding beyond
it, in order to see me go away, which he rarely

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