St. Mary's beacon., 1853-04-28

sds4 had an ample suficiency Of work,
in he riders of excitement, in the death
brace of flying foxes, in couple oi
II Aoft and decisive bursts, with d
49, se.end Of each. Of forty rninuit.ss'
- srstissss ssx6tS.
IN ne days Of oldssix or Seven SEVEN
hours Slow tracking or trailing, bv which
the fox was fairly wearied and worn out.
and badgcEed to death, was the order Of
the day. The length of time occupied
was .Ien the test of good run; staunch-
nesAand endurance the crowuins praise
ofaLack: and the prize of sportmanship
belonged to the man who, after trotting
about lanes and bye-ways. nickiny the
turns of the chase, and cutting Off cor
ners, withCnt perhaps crossing one field
in company with the hounds. or leapino
a single fence, came in al The death after
all
The nun.5erof miles run in minimum
OF time, burst without a check, and a
MI II the o3cn, are noU the grand de-
sidcrata: extreme icctnces, superaddtd
to hl-h seeming qualities. Is the chief
meri, of hounds and the best ridcri is h.
who hres. rs it is gno>ticallv termed
from The beginning to the end of the run,
Ill the same field with the pack, riding
nearly abreast, and taking every fence in
iilS stroke, as it occurs, without cranino
or taltering.
In the Northern and Eastern states of
this country, foA-hunting is not pursued
generally as sport, but rather as meth
cd OF destroying noxious animal. and
the gun l. for the most part called in aid
OF brace or two of slow, old-fashioncd
Southern hounds.
In the Southern states. however Ma
ryland, Virginia, both the Carolinas and
GcAla, fox-huntins is pur-ued with as
-cTnoss and delight. if with less
~ regular packs of hounds are kept
b jjAT,dividual gentlemen in these states.
and scarcely any planter is without his |
well blooded hunter whcreor to join the .
chase.
Ia the less thickIy settled states of
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and MissiS
sippi, the favoritc sport is deerhunting; .
and in any of these it is scarcely possible /
to travel day ride, without hearing the
iocund chorus of the hounds, and the
merry shout Of the hunter rc-cchoing
through the forest.
4 yet more general method is the for
nation Of subscription packs, each gen
tlcmqn in a neighborhood keeping two
or more couple Of hounds at walk, which
readily rally to the bugle blown at head
quarters on hunting mornings: and in the
wild woodland countries, which consti-
tute the greater surface of the hunting
grounds, do their work as satisfactorily
as more regularly constituted packs:
whern, from the nature Of the land,
equality Of speed, size and symmetry are
less necdful-sincc it Is rare that hoNnds
can run abreast-than in the clear and
cultivated chamPains Of old England.
To this cause, moreover, it is to be as
cribeds that here, as in England of the
olden day, staunchness and endurance
are qualities more demanded than eX-
treme 1aeed; for the character Of The
country and nature of the soil gives the
fox every opportunity of dodging, run
ming his own back-trail. and otherwise
battling the hounds, while the great exz
tent ofvWoodlands, and the extraordinarJN
severity of the dense, tangled, and
thorny coverts, prevent the sportsmen
from riding up to the hounds, and make
it nec Asary for them to follow often by
hearing rather than by view.
OF all sports there is none SO fascina-
ting ,Aaone so madly exciting, as fox
hunting, with a full cry of hounds ma
king the sere woods crash with the mel
ody Of their woodland chorus-hounds,
horses, men alike rejoicing and exulting
in the hot chase, and, the full develop
ment it calls into existence of their pow
er and pride. Long life to it wherever
it exists, and health and happiness to all
who honor ii