Athletics and Football (extract)

,CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNIJVG 379 clear, most ·of the hounds rushing to the conclusion that he is trying to take them in, and that it is very unlikely that he ·would, when the scents bifurcate, give a good one on the real track. One hare will often take a false straight up a ploughed field over the brow of a hill, so that it is impossible for the hounds to see its cessation without following it to the bitter end. Then they have to retrace it carefully till one, more sharp-sighted than the others, will see a tiny handful behind a tree, and the real scent will be traceable, probably up a dry ditch or on the further side of a hedgerow. It is hardly necessary to say that unless one hare is a vastly better runner than the other (in which case he takes all the falses, thereby giving his slower companion welcome rests) the hares lay the falses alternately, the layer, when he ceases his deception, cutting across to join the real cent at the most convenient angle. In very long runs, two bags of scent will not suffice, and spare bags are sent on by trap or otherwise. The law given varies from ten minutes to a quarter of an hour. ·when the country is fairly enclosed even less will be enough, but in an open country in which the hares can be seen afar off at least ten minutes should be given, for if the hounds run the hares to sight the recognised rule is that they need no longer keep to the trail. \Vbcn the hares have got rid of all their s ent they should lay their empty bags at the end of the trail and make for home the be t way they can, the bounds being at liberty to do the same .wh n they reach and pick up the bags. ometimes all the pack is not sent off at one time, it being divided into slow and fast divisions started five or ten minutes apart. There are, however, several objections to this, for the slow pack has to puzzle out the falscs and do all the hunting for perhaps half the journey, and in the great majority of cases are then caught by the fast pack, who have simply been running them to sight . 'The real sport of slow paper-cha ing used to be th bunting and jumping, but it would be safe to say that ther is not a single paek (not even ex epting the oldest club) that knows how to hunt in the systcmati ' way of nearly