A good pack of hounds starting him close would speedily run into him in the open.

The reason that the hunts last so long in some cases is because of the nature of the ground which favors the fox at the expense of the dogs, because of his having the advantage in the start, and because of his cunning in turning to account everything which will tell in his favor and against his pursuers.

In the same way I know plenty of English friends who speak with bated breath of fox-hunting but look down upon riding to drag-hounds.

Of course there is a difference in the two sports, and the fun of actually hunting the wild beast in the one case more than compensates for the fact that in the other the riding is apt to be harder and the jumping higher; but both sports are really artificial, and in their essentials alike.

To any man who has hunted big game in a wild country the stress laid on the differences between them seems a little absurd, in fact cockney.