Beeton's book of poultry and domestic animals - Thurman Lodge ...

wten there was not the least apprehension of any mischief,
went up to an old woman who was sitting attending a pot, in
which she was preparing a mess. The dog smeUed at it and
was troublesome ; this provoked her ; she took np a stick and
began to beat him, on which he seized her by the throat, which
te would not leave till his head was severed from his body by
his master."
THE STAGHOUND.
This now rare hound is said to derive its origin from the
bloodhound and the greyhound—a mixture resulting in the
most exquisite scent combined with great endurance. Of late
years the sport of stag-chasing has in a great measure given
place to fox-hunting; and even where the royal and ancient
sport is stUl followed, the dogs employed are generally a large
and powerful species of foxhound. These dogs, of which mention
will be found in another page, rank among the swift and
most enduring dogs in the world. They have been known to
maintain, without flagging, a stag-chase of fifty miles' duration,
and in old sporting chronicles may be found an account of a
hur>t of so protracted a nature that the whole pack of dcgs
excepting two fell off the traU, and that at last the huntsmen
came up to their game dead from sheer exhaustion, and the two
hounds within a short space dead too.
It is said, however, that the modern substitute, although
equal in fleetness and strength to the old English staghotmd,
is not its match for courage. It would seem at first sight
that no particular amount of bravery was requisite to face the