poet is perhaps describing a greyhound, 'chyned like a bream.' See
Stonehenge, pp. 21, 22. Xenophon's 'Castorians' were more like the
Welsh harrier in build, I presume.
[8] Or, 'neither soft and spongy nor unyielding.' See Stoneh., p. 23.
[9] 'Drawn up underneath it,' lit. 'tucked up.'
[10] Al. 'flank,' 'flanks themselves.'
[11] Or, as we should say, 'stern.' See Pollux, v. 59; Arrian, v. 9.
[12] See Stonehenge, p. 24 foll.
Hounds possessed of these points will be strong in build, and at the same time light and active; they will have symmetry at once and pace; a bright, beaming expression; and good mouths.
In following up scent,[13] see how they show their mettle by rapidly quitting beaten paths, keeping their heads sloping to the ground, smiling, as it were to greet the trail; see how they let their ears drop, how they keep moving their eyes to and fro quickly, flourishing their sterns.[14] Forwards they should go with many a circle towards the hare's form,[15] steadily guided by the line, all together. When they are close to the hare itself, they will make the fact plain to the huntsman by the quickened pace at which they run, as if they would let him know by their fury, by the motion of head and eyes, by rapid changes of gait and gesture,[16] now casting a glance back and now fixing their gaze steadily forward to the creature's hiding-place,[17] by twistings and turnings of the body, flinging themselves backwards, forwards, and sideways, and lastly, by the genuine exaltation of spirits, visible enough now, and the ecstasy of their pleasure, that they are close upon the quarry.
[13] Lit. 'Let them follow up the trail.'
[14] Lit. 'fawning and wagging their tails.'
[15] Lit. 'bed' or 'lair.'
[16] Or, 'by rapid shiftings of attitude, by looks now thrown backward
and now forwards to the . . .' Reading {kai apo ton anablemmaton
kai emblemmaton ton epi tas kathedras tou l.}, or if with L. D.,
{kai apo ton a. kai emblemmaton eis ton ulen kai anastremmaton ton
epi tas k.}, transl. 'now looking back at the huntsman and now
staring hard into the covert, and again right-about-face in the
direction of the hare's sitting-place.'
[17] Lit. 'form'; 'the place where puss is seated.'
Once she is off, the pack should pursue with vigour.[18] They must not relax their hold, but with yelp and bark full cry insist on keeping close and dogging puss at every turn. Twist for twist and turn for turn, they, too, must follow in a succession of swift and brilliant bursts, interrupted by frequent doublings; while ever and again they give tongue and yet again till the very welkin rings.[19] One thing they must not do, and that is, leave the scent and return crestfallen to the huntsman.[20]
[18] Lit. 'let them follow up the chase vigorously, and not relax,
with yelp and bark.'
[19] {dikaios}, Sturz, 'non temere'; 'and not without good reason.'
Al. 'a right good honest salvo of barks.'
[20] Lit. 'Let them not hark back to join the huntsman, and desert the
trail.'
Along with this build and method of working, hounds should possess four points. They should have pluck, sound feet, keen noses, and sleek coats. The spirited, plucky hound will prove his mettle by refusing to leave the chase, however stifling the weather; a good nose is shown by his capacity for scenting the hare on barren and dry ground exposed to the sun, and that when the orb is at the zenith;[21] soundness of foot in the fact that the dog may course over mountains during the same season, and yet his feet will not be torn to pieces; and a good coat means the possession of light, thick, soft, and silky hair.[22]
[21] i.e. 'at mid-day'; or, 'in the height of summer'; al. 'during the
dog-days'; 'at the rising of the dog-star.'
[22] See Pollux, ib. 59; Arrian, vi. 1.
As to the colour proper for a hound,[23] it should not be simply tawny, nor absolutely black or white, which is not a sign of breeding, but monotonous-a simplicity suggestive of the wild animal.[24] Accordingly the red dog should show a bloom of white hair about the muzzle, and so should the black, the white commonly showing red. On the top of the thigh the hair should be straight and thick, as also on the loins and on the lower portion of the stern, but of a moderate thickness only on the upper parts.
[23] See Stonehenge, p. 25; Darwin, op. cit. ii. 109.
[24] But see Pollux, ib. 65, who apparently read {gennaion touto to
aploun alla therides}; al. Arrian, vi. See Jaques de Fouilloux,
'La Venerie' (ap. E. Talbot, 'Oeuvres completes de Xenophon,'
traduction, ii. 318).
There is a good deal to be said for taking your hounds frequently into the mountains; not so much for taking them on to cultivated land.[25] And for this reason: the fells offer facilities for hunting and for following the quarry without interruption, while cultivated land, owing to the number of cross roads and beaten paths, presents opportunities for neither. Moreover, quite apart from finding a hare, it is an excellent thing to take your dogs on to rough ground. It is there they will become sound of foot, and in general the benefit to their physique in working over such ground will amply repay you.[26]
[25] Or, 'pretty often, and less frequently over.'
[26] Lit. 'they must be benefited in their bodies generally by working
over such ground.'
They should be taken out in summer till mid-day; in winter from sunrise to sundown; in autumn any time except mid-day; and in spring any time before evening. These times will hit the mean of temperature.[27]
[27] Or, 'You may count on a moderate temperature at these times.'
V
The tracks of hares are long in winter owing to the length of night, and short for the opposite reason during summer. In winter, however, their scent does not lie in early morning, when the rime is on the ground, or earth is frozen.[1] The fact is, hoar frost by its own inherent force absorbs its heat, whilst black frost freezes it.[2]
[1] Or, 'when there is hoar frost or black frost' (lit. 'ice').
[2] Or, 'the ice congeals them,' 'encases as it were in itself the
heat,' i.e. the warm scent; aliter, 'causes the tracks to freeze
at the top.'
The hounds, moreover, with their noses nipped by the cold,[3] cannot under these conditions[4] use their sense of smell, until the sun or the mere advance of day dissolves the scent. Then the noses of the hounds recover, and the scent of the trail begins to exhale itself perceptibly.[5]
[3] Reading {malkiosai}, Cobet, 'N. Lect.' 131. 'Mnem.' 3, 306;
Rutherford, 'N. Phry.' p. 135. = 'nipped, or numb with cold.' For
vulg. {malakiosai} = 'whose noses are tender,' see Lenz ad loc.
[4] Lit. 'when the tracks are in this case.'
[5] As it evaporates. Aliter, 'is perceptible to smell as it is wafted
by the breeze to greet them.'
Heavy dews also will obliterate scent by its depressing effect;[6] and rains occurring after long intervals, while bringing out odours from the earth,[7] will render the soil bad for scent until it dries again. Southerly winds will not improve scent-being moisture-laden they disperse it; whereas northerly winds, provided the scent has not been previously destroyed, tend to fix and preserve it. Rains will drown and wash it away, and so will drizzle; while the moon by her heat[8]- especially a full moon-will dull its edge; in fact the trail is rarest-most irregular[9]-at such times, for the hares in their joy at the light with frolic and gambol[10] literally throw themselves high into the air and set long intervals between one footfall and another. Or again, the trail will become confused and misleading when crossed by that of foxes.[11]
