THE LIFE OF A FOX. 107

to his fore leg, which was broken above the knee.
In the course of a few minutes the fatal “whoop”
was heard, the signal of his death.

During the tumult which ensued amongst the
gentlemen who had been hunting, an_ honest
farmer, whose land surrounded the covert, came
up, and stated that a short time before he
had found in a field close by a large trap
exactly of the same sort, which had in it two
of a fox’s toes. They belonged to the foot
which I parted with myself. It is impossible
to describe the sensation created by this addi-
tional circumstance; but it caused amongst
other remarks the following, which reached my
ears: “These acts of shocking cruelty were
scarcely ever heard of in this part, till game
became an article of traffic to the landlord, and
shooting on his land began to be let to strangers
who have no interest whatever in the welfare of
the country where it lies. Nothing conduces to
that welfare more than brilliant sport afforded
by a pack of hounds; as it leads others, as well
as those who own estates, to become residents

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