Cynegetica/Observations on Hare Hunting

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ESSAYS

ON

HUNTING.

Observations on Hare Hunting.


ABOVE all things the ſcent has ever been my admiration. The bulk, ſize, figure, and other accidents or qualities of theſe parts or portions of matter that diſcharge themſelves from the bodies of theſe Beaſts of Game, are ſubjects much fitter for the experiments and learned deſcants of a Philoſopher, than a ſimple Huntſman. Whether they are to be conſidered as an extraneous ſtock or treaſure of odoriſerous particles given them by Divine Wiſdom, for the very purpoſe of hunting? Whether they are proper identical parts of the animal's body, that continually ferment and perſpire from it? Whether theſe exhalations are from the breath of her lungs, or through the ſkin of her whole body? are queſtions alſo that deſerve the ſubtlety of a Virtuoſo. But ſuch obſervations as long experience has ſuggeſted to me, I ſhall, in the plaineſt manner I am able, lay before my readers.

That theſe particles are inconceivably ſmall, is, I think, manifeſt from their vaſt numbers. I have taken hundreds of Hares, after a chace of two, three, four, or five hours, and could never perceive the leaſt difference in bulk or weight, from thoſe I have ſeized or ſnapt in their forms: nor could I ever learn from Gentlemen, who have hunted baſket Hares, that they could diſcover any viſible waſte in their bodies, any farther than may be ſuppoſed to be the effedt of diſcharging their groſser excrements.

But ſuppoſing an abatement of two or three grains, or drams, after ſo long a fatigue; yet how minute and almoſt infinite muſt be the diviſion of ſo ſmall a quantity of matter, when it affords a ſhare to ſo many couple of Dogs, for eight, ten, or twelve miles ſucceſſively: deducting, at the fame time, the much greater numbers of theſe particles that are loſt in the ground, diſſipated in the air, extinguiſhed and obſcured by the fœtid perſpirations of the Dogs, and other animals, or by the very fumes and exhalations of the earth itſelf. That theſe particles are ſubject to ſuch diſſipation or corruption, every Sportſman knows; for as none of them will retain their odour after a certain proportionable time, ſo it is daily evident, that this time of their duration is very obnoxious to the viciſſitudes of the weather; that the ſcent of the animal (as well as her more ſolid fleſh) will loſe its ſweetneſs, ſooner or later, according to the diſpoſition of the ambient air. I have frequently heard the good Houſewives complain, that, againſt rain or thunder, their milk will turn, and their larders taint; and I have as often perceived, that, a ſtorm approaching, the ſcent will, in a moment, change and vaniſh. Nor is the ſuddenneſs of ſuch alteration the leaſt wonder, if we take into conſideration the ſmallneſs of the particles. The ſame efficient cauſe may penetrate and corrupt theſe minute corpuſcles in the twinkling of an eye, which requires an hour or a day to operate on bodies of greater bulk and ſubſtance; as the fame fire, or aqua-fortis, will diſſolve the filings of ſteel in an inſtant though a pound lump of that ſame metal is ſo long able to reſiſt their violence. That theſe particles of ſcent are of an equal (exactly equal) ſpecific gravity with the particles of the air, is demonftrated by the falling and riſing of them in juſt proportion to it. I have often ſmiled at haſty Huntſmen, to hear them rating and curſing their dogs (that yeſterday were the beſt in England) for galloping and ſtaring, with their noſes in the air, as if their game was flown; for often does it happen that it is in vain for them to ſeek after the ſcent in any other place, the increaſing weight of that fluid element having wafted it over their heads. Though, even at fuch a ſeaſon, after the firſt mettle and fury of the cry is ſomething abated, the more ſteady Beagles may make a ſhift to pick it out by the particles left by the bruſh of her feet, efpecially if there be not a ſtrong, drying, exhaling wind to hurry theſe away after the reſt. This often happens in a calm, gentle, ſteady froſt, when, as I conceive, the purity, coldneſs, or, perhaps, the nitre of the air, ſerves to fix and preſerve the few remaining particles, that they do not eaſily corrupt. At ther ſeaſon, when the air is light, or growing lighter, the ſcent muſt proportionably be falling or ſinking, and then every Dog, though, in the height of his courage, he puſhes forwards, yet is forced to come back again and again, and cannot make any ſure advances, but with his noſe in the ground. When circumſtances are thus, (if there be not a ſtorm of thunder impending to corrupt the ſcent, as I ſaid before,) you may expect the moſt curious and laſting ſport; Puſs having then a fair opportunity to ſhew her wiles, and every old or ſlow Dog to come in for his ſhare, to diſplay his experience, the ſubtilty of his judgment, and the tenderneſs of his noſtrils. The moſt terrible day for the Hare is, when the air is in its mean gravity, or equilibrio, tolerable moiſt, but inclining to grow drier, and fanned with the gentle breezes of the zephyrs: the moderate gravity buoys up the ſcent as high as the Dog's breaſt; the veſicles of moiſture ſerve as ſo many canals, or vehicles, to carry the effluvia into their noſes; and the gentle fannings help, in ſuch wiſe, to ſpread and diſſipate them, that every Hound, even at eight or ten paces diſtant, eſpecially on the windy ſide, may have his portion.

I adviſe all Gentlemen who delight in hunting, to provide themſelves with a barometer, or weather-glaſs. I am ſorry to ſay, that this inſtrument, though a fine invention, is ſtill imperfectly underſtood by the Philoſopher as well as the Farmer; and the index generally annexed to it, of rain, fair, ſettled fair, &c. are impertinent and deluſive. If the gravity of the air is the cauſe of drought, the latter ſhould be in proportionate degrees with the former; and yet we fee the ſudden, or extraordinary riſing of the mercury a ſure prognoſtick of an approaching change; we ſee it often continue to fall after the rain is over, and we may generally obſerve the moſt ſettled fair and the greateſt rains, both happen when it is in a moderate height. By the accounts I have kept, the mercury is commonly at the higheſt marks in dull cloudy weather, yet does it often fall a great deal faſter before a few drops or a dry miſt, than an impetuous rain; and even continue to do ſo after a hard rain is over: and what is more common than to ſee it deſcend many days together, to the terror of the Huſbandman, in hay or corn harveſt; when the conſequence, at laſt, is only a few drops, weighty enough to deſcend, though the air was in its utmoſt degree of gravity, and the mercury at thirty-one inches. The vulgar ſolutions of theſe difficulties are inſufficient and puzzling, and very inconſiſtent with avowed principles: and, in my humble opinion, there will never appear a certain and ſatisfactory account of theſe perplexing phænomena, till ſome sage Naturaliſt ſhall give himſelf the trouble of a more full and complete Diary, than as yet has been publiſhed; where, together with the degrees of the barometer, thermometer, and hygrometer, ſhall be taken in, in diſtinct columns, the time of the year, the length of the days, the age of the moon, the ſituation of the wind, with, its degrees of roughneſs, the colours of the clouds at ſun riſing and ſetting, the manner of flying, chattering, or flocking of birds, and divers other concurring tokens and ſymptoms, which may be of great uſe, in conjunction with the ſaid inſtruments, to ſettle and confirm our prognoſtication. In the mean time it muſt be confeſſed, that this ingenious machine is of great uſe to the obſervant Huntſman; and when he riſes in the morning, and finds the air moiſt and temperate, the quickſilver in his glaſs moderately high, or gently convex, he has a fair invitation to prepare for his exerciſe. I know it is a cuſtom with our juvenile Sportſmen to fix the time two or three days before hand to meet a friend, or to hunt in ſuch or ſuch a quarter. But appointed matches of this kind are my averſion and abhorrence: he that will enjoy the pleaſures of the chace, muſt aſk leave of the Heavens. Hunting is a trade that is not to be forced, nor can the beſt Cry that ever was coupled, make any thing of it, unleſs the air be in tune.

The earth alſo hath no ſmall influence on this delicious paſtime; for, though it ſometimes happens (according to the obſervation above) that the ſcent is floating, ſo that you may run down a Hare through water and mire, eſpecially if you keep pretty cloſe after her, without the trouble of ſtooping; yet, at ſuch a ſeaſon, the firſt fault is the loſs of your Game; the perſpirations of her body being waſted over head by the gravity of the air, and thoſe of her feet being left on elements that abſorb or confound them. This laft caſe very often happens at the going off of a froſt; the mercury is then commonly falling, and by conſequence the ſcent ſinking to the ground. The earth is naturally on ſuch occaſion fermenting, diſſolving, ſtinking, exhaling, and very porous, ſo that it is impoſſible but moſt of the particles muſt then be corrupted, buried, or overcome by ſtronger vapours. It is common to hear the vulgar ſay, ſhe carries dirt in her heels; but that is not all, it being very plain, by what has been obſerved, that it is not only by the ſcent of the foot ſhe is ſo eagerly purſued. The mention of froſt puts me in mind of a particular obſervation of my own making, that may be uſeful or diverting to my Brethren of the Chace: You all make it a great part of your pleaſure to hunt out the walk of a Hare to her ſeat, and doubtleſs you have often been ſurprizingly diſappointed on ſuch occaſions. You have many times been able to hunt the ſame walk in one part of the fields and not in another; you have hunted the ſame walk at ten or eleven, which gave the leaſt ſcent at ſeven in the morning; and, which is moſt provoking and perplexing of all, you have often been able to hunt it only at the wrong end, or backwards: after many hours wonder and expectation, cheriſhing your Dogs, and curſing your fortune, you are in truth never ſo far from your Game as when your hunt is warmeſt. All theſe accidents are only the effect of the hoar-froſt, or very groſs dew, (for they never happen otherwiſe,) and from thence muſt the miracle be accounted for [1].

I have already proved that a thaw tends to corrupt the particles, and have as good reaſon to maintain that the froſt fixes, covers, and preſerves them. Whether this is done by intercepting their aſcent, and precipitating them to the ground by the groſs particles of frozen dew, or whether by ſheathing them and protecting them from the penetrating air, (as the good Wives preſerve their potted meats and pickles,) I leave to the Learned; but the facts are certain, and confirmed by experience. We have, therefore, only to take notice, by the way, that the hoar-froſt is very often of ſhort continuance, changeable, and uncertain, both as to its time and place of failing; and hence all theſe difficulties are eaſily reſolved. Let the Huntſman, as foon as he is out of bed, examine but the glaſs windows, which commonly diſcover whether any hoar-froſt has fallen, what time it came, and in what condition of continuance, or going off, it is for the preſent. If it appears to have fallen at two, three, or four in the morning, (ſuppoſe in the month of October, and other times of the year muſt be judged of by proportion,) and to be going off about break of day, it may then be expected that there will be a great difficulty, or impoſſibility, of trailing to her feat, becauſe her morning retreat being on the top of the frozen dew, the ſcent is either diſſolved, or corrupted, or diſſipated, and exhaled. It is true, after ſuch a night, the Dogs will find work in every field, and often hunt in full cry, but it will be generally backward, and always in vain; her midnight ramblings, which were covered by the froſt, being now open, freſh, and fragrant. If the ſaid froſt begins later in the morning, after Puſs is ſeated, there is nothing to be done till that is gone off, and this is the reaſon that we often ſee the whole pack picking out a walk at nine or ten in the ſame path where Sweet-lips herſelf could not touch at ſeven. Again, if the froſt began early enough, and continues ſteadily till you are gotten into the fields, you may then make it good to her ſeat, as well as at other times on naked ground, though you muſt expect to run a good riſque at the going off of the froſt, according to the obſervations already laid down.

It is alſo to be remembered, that there is no ſmall accidental difference in the very particles of ſcent; I mean that they are ſtonger, ſweeter, or more diſtinguiſhable at one time than at another, and that this difference is found not only in divers, but often in the ſame individual creature, according to the changes of the air, or the ſoil, as well as of her own motions or conditions. That there is a different ſcent in other animals of the ſame ſpecies, is evident from the draught Hounds, which were formerly made uſe of for tracing and purſuing Thieves and Deer-ſtealers, or rather from any common Cur or Spaniel, which will hunt out their maſter, or their maſter's horſe diſtinctly from all others: and that it is the ſame with the Hare is no leſs viſible from the old Beagles, which will not readily change for a freſh one, unleſs ſhe ſtarts in view, or unleſs a fault happens that puts them in confuſon, and inclines them in deſpair to take up with the next they can come by.

That the ſame Hare will, at divers times, emit finer or groſſer particles, is equally manifeſt to every one who ſhall obſerve the frequent changes in one ſingle chace, the alterations that enſue on any different motion, and on her degrees of ſinking. The courſing of a Cur Dog, or the fright from an obvious paſſenger, is often the occaſion of an unexpected fault; and, after ſuch an accident, the Dogs muſt be cheriſhed, and be put upon it again and again, before they will take it and acknowledge it for their game. The reaſon is, as I conceive, the change of the motion cauſes a change in the perſpiring particles, and as the ſpirits of the Dogs are all engaged and attached to particles of ſuch or ſuch a figure, it is with difficulty they come to be ſenſible of, or attentive to, thoſe of a different reliſh. You will pardon the expreſſion, if I compare old Jouler, in this caſe, to a Mathematician, who is ſo intent on the long perplexing ambages of the problem before him, that he hears not the clock or bell that ſummons him to a new employment. The alterations in a yielding Hare are leſs frequently the occaſion of faults, becauſe they are more gradual, and, like the ſame rope, inſenſibly tapering and growing ſmaller. But that alterations there are every Dog-boy knows by the old Hounds, which ſtill purfue with greater earneſtneſs, as ſhe is nearer her end.

I take motion to be the chief cauſe of ſhedding or diſcharging theſe ſcenting particles, becauſe ſhe is very ſeldom perceived whilſt quiet in her form, though the Dogs are never ſo near, though they leap over her, or, as I have often ſeen, even tread upon her. Indeed, it ſometimes happens that ſhe is, as we ſay, winded where ſhe ſits. But this may be the effect of that train of ſcent ſhe left behind her in going to her chair, or more probably the conſequence of her own curioſity, in moving, and riſing up, (as I have alſo ſeen,) to peep after and watch the proceedings of her adverſaries. However, we muſt grant that theſe particles of fcent, though the effect of motion, are not more groſs and copious in proportion to the increaſing ſwiftneſs of the animal, any more than in a watering-pot, which the ſwifter it paſſes, the leſs of the falling water it beſtows on the ſubjacent plants.

It is very plain, the ſlower the Hare moves, the ſtronger and groſſer, ceteris peribus, are theſe particles ſhe leaves behind her, which I take to be one reaſon (beſides the cloathing and ſhielding of them from the penetrating air by the deſcending froſt or dew) that the morning walk will give ſcent [2] ſo much longer than the flight in hunting. However, it is as remarkable, that theſe odorous particles gradually decay and end with her life [3], becauſe it requires the most curious noſes to lead the cry when ſhe is near her laſt; becauſe ſhe is fo often entirely loſt at the laſt ſquat, and becauſe, if you knock her on the head before them, there is hardly one in the Pack that will ſtop or take any notice of her.

The greateſt art and curioſity is diſcovered in hunting the ſoil, eſpecially if ſhe immediately ſteal back behind the Dogs the ſame path ſhe came for it muſt require the utmoſt ſkill to diſtinguiſh well the new ſcent from the old, when both are mixed, obſcured, and confounded with the ſtrong perſpirations of ſo many Dogs and Horſes. Yet this we have often ſeen performed by ready and expert Hunters. However, if the Dogs be not maſters of their buſineſs, or if the air be not in due balance, the difficulty will be the greater.

The Reader will obferve, that the remarks I have made are generally on the Hare, which, I have faid, is of all others most worthy of our ſpeculation and enquiry. By analogy the hunting the Deer or Fox will be eaſily underſtood; for, though the ſcent of theſe is generally higher, more obvious to the noſes of the Dogs, and in greater plenty whilſt the particles laſt, yet, for that very reaſon (floating in the air), they are ſooner diſſipated, and require a more vigorous, though leſs ſubtile, Huntſman, as well as ſwifter Beagles.


  1. "In the winter there is no ſcent early in the morning when there is either an hoar-froſt or a hard froſt; the hoar-froſt, by its force, contracts and contains all the warm particles in itſelf, and the harder froſt congeals them. In theſe caſes, the Dogs with the moſt tender noſes cannot touch before the ſun diſpels them, and the day is advanced; then the Dogs can fmell, and the trail yields a ſcent as it evaporates." Xenophon.
  2. "The ſcent of the trail of the Hare going to her ſeat laſts longer than that of her courſe when purſued: when ſhe goes to her ſeat ſhe goes ſlowly, often ſtanding ſtill; but her courſe, when purſued, is performed running; therefore the ground is ſaturated with one, and not filled with the other." Xenophon.
  3. This obſervation, which my own experience convinces me is juſt, the Reader will find directly contradicted in the ſubſequent letters. See Letter VI.