and it is a circumstance well known to many
of the sporting world, that upon particular
occasions, some of the best pointers ever seen
have emerged from cellars in the Metropolis,
who, it might be imagined, had never seen a
bird in the field. The Duke in this instance
applied to that well-known character, old Mr.
Elwes, who recommended him to another
elderly sportsman of Berkshire (Captain
Halt), a courser of no small celebrity, who
produced a greyhound that, in a common
country, beat Lord Orford's Phenomenon.
This same kind of challenge was some few
years since given for Snowball, and was the
!".'.y challenge of similar import that has not
been accepted ; but it is requisite, at the same
time, to remark that the match was restricted
to be run only in such places where a fair and
decisive trial could be obtained. Those who
have seen great matches decided by short
courses, and bad hares (where chance fre-
quently intervenes), must know that such
trials are uncertain and deceptive, and that the
real superiority of either dog may still remain
unknown when the match is over. Perhaps,
even in the best country, should the contest
be for a large sum, and between two grey-
hounds of equal celebrity, the most equitable
mode of ascertaining the merit of each, would
be to run three courses, and adjudge the prize
to the winner of the main of the three ; it
being very unlikely that, in three courses,
run in an open country, the superiority of one
greyhound over the other should not be evi-
dently perceived.
The excellence of Snowball, whose breed
was Yorkshire on the side of the dam, and
Norfolk on that of the sire, was acknowledged
by the great numbers who had seen him run ;
and, perhaps, taken " for all in all,'* he was
the best greyhound that ever ran in England.
All countries were nearly alike to him, though
bred where fences seldom occur ; yet, when
taken into the strongest enclosures, he topped
hedges of any height, and in that respect
equalled, if not surpassed, every dog in his
own country. They who did not think his
speed so superior, all allowed, that for wind,
and for powers in running up long hills with-
out being distressed, they had never seen his
equsil.
On a public coursing-day given to the
township of Flixton, the continuance of his
speed was once reduced to a certainty
by the known distance, as well as the diffi-
culty of the ground. From the bottom of
Flixton Brow, where the village stands, to
the top of the hill where the wold begins, is a
measured mile, and very steep in ascent the
whole of the way. A hare was found mid-
way, and there was started with Snowball, a
sister of his, given to the Rev. Mr. Minithorpe,
and a young dog about twelve months old, of
another breed. The hare came immediately
up the hill, and after repeated turns upon the
wold, took down the hill again ; but finding
that in the sandy bottom she was less a matcfc
for the dogs, she returned, and in the middla
of the hill the whelp gave in, Snowball and
his sister being left with the hare ; reaching
the wold a second time, she was turned at
least fifty times, where forcibly feeling the
certainty of approaching death, she again
went down the hill, in descending which the
bitch dropped, and by immediate bleeding was
recovered ; Snowball afterwards ran the hare
into the village, where he killed her.
The length of this course, by the ascertained
distance, was full four miles, without ad-
verting to the turns which must have much
increased it ; this, with a hill a mile high,
twice ascended, are most indubitable proofs of
390
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
continuance which few dogs could have given,
and which few but Flixton hares could have
required. The people of Flixton talk of it to
this day, and, accustomed as they are to
courses of the richest description in the annals
of sporting, they reckon this amongst the most
famous they have seen.
Snowball, Major, his brother, and Sylvia,
were perhaps the three best and most perfect
greyhounds ever produced at one litter. They
never were beaten.
The shape, make, systematic uniformity,
and all the characteristics of high blood were
distinguishable in the three ; the colour of
Major and Sylvia were singularly brindled,
that of Snowball a jet black, and when in
good running condition was as fine as black
satin. Snowball won ten large pieces of silver
plate, and upwards of forty matches, having
accepted every challenge, from whatever dogs
of different countries were brought against
him. His descendants have been equally
successful : Venus, a brindled bitch ; Black-
smith, who died from extreme exertion in run-
ning up a steep hill ; and young Snowball,
have beat every dog that was ever brought
against them.
For several years Snowball covered at three
guineas, and the farmers in that and the
neighbouring districts, have sold crosses from
his breed at ten and fifteen guineas each.
Major, his brother, has displayed his powers
before the gentlemen of the south as already
described ; this, as a public exhibition of the
dog to a few sporting amateurs, might be
bearable, but could he have found a tongue,
when he beheld himself brought to run a hare
out of a box, in the month of March, upon
Epsom Downs, amidst whiskies, buggies, and
gingerbread carts, well might he have ex-
claimed,
" To this complexion am I come at last ! "
ON THE QUALITIES OF THE GREYHOUND.
Itappears (observes a well-known Sportsman
a few years since) from aWelsh proverb* that a
gentleman was known by his hawk, his horse,
and his greyhound; and Mr. Pennant f lias
observed by a law of Canute, a greyhound
was not to be kept by any person inferior to
a gentleman.
The different perfections of the greyhound,
it seems, have been comprised in the following
rude and barbarous rhymes :
The head like a snake :
The neck like a drake ;
The back like a beam ;
The side like a bream ;
The tail like a rat ;
The foot like a rat.
British Zoology, vol. i. p. 53.
Ludicrous as this poetical effort may be,
the description is still correct ; and these dif-
ferent qualities, when united, even now form
the model of perfection in the race. On the
superior breed of greyhounds there has been
a variety of opinions ; the blood of the late
Lord Orford's was allowed to stand very
high, if not the first, in the public estimation.
Perhaps there has not been any person who
took more pains to arrive at the utmost state
of perfection in his object; and it is a circum-
stance generally believed, that he even had
recourse to a cross with the English bull-dog,
in order to acquire a courage and resolution
till then unknown. After seven descents, it
is said, he obtained the object for which he
had been so solicitous, without any diminu-
tion of speed, or the beauties of shape and
symmetry. Lord Rivers's stock is now allow-
ed to be one of the first in England, and its
superiority may be owing to a judicious cross
of the Dorsetshire and Newmarket blood.
Mr. Gurney, of Norwich, has likewise for
some years been in possession of a breed in
considerable repute. It has the three great
requisites, blood, bone, and shape. Snow-
drop, a son of Snowball, won the Malton Cup
four successive years; and Fly, a grand-
daughter of Snowball, a yellow and white
bitch, the property of Major Topham, carried
it away also in the Malton Spring Meeting of
1810, though she had suffered previously by
very severe exercise. Scarcely a greyhound,
indeed, of any other blood now appears at the
Malton meeting, and it has been so celebrated
as to be introduced in almost every county in
the kingdom.
There was a circumstance respecting Snow-
ball, peculiar to him in the history of coursing.
He served greyhounds for years before his
death at three guineas each. The first year
had 10 ; the second 14 ; the third 11 ; and the
fourth 7. And amongst them two out of
Wales, two out of Scotland, one from the
Marquis of Townshend, out of Norfolk, and
the rest out of counties at some distance.
Fifty guineas were given for Young Snow-
ball, who was sold afterwards for one hun-
dred : and Mr. Mellish beat all Newmarket
with another son of Snowball.
In the South, Millar, belonging to Sir H.
B. Dudley, has been likewise very famous.
The sire of Millar was an Essex dog, Tulip,
by a blue Newmarket dog, and he was the
produce of a bitch by a Lancashire dog bred
by the late Mr. Bamber Gascoyne. Millar
was a large deep-chested dog, of a fawn-
colour, and whilst young did not discover any
pretension to his future reputation. He was
afterwards tried in the Essex Marshes, and in
a single day he beat no less than five of the
first and best dogs in the field. His superi-
ority continued for some years, and he won
upwards of seventy matches. His stock also
proved excellent runners, and Miss, one of
his daughters, received the Bradwell cup
from twelve opponents who had been run
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
down to a brace. Whatever, therefore, may
be thought by a few individuals on the sub-
ject, it is certain that blood has a very striking
superiority. Half-bred horses have been
sometimes known to exhibit great speed and
bottom ; but, in general, a thorough-bred
horse only can maintain and continue his velo-
city for miles in succession. The same ob-
servation may be made with respect to the
greyhound, and it forms the essential differ-
ence, which is not often properly attended to,
between the greyhound in an open and en-
closed country. The coarse, rough-haired
greyhound may discover some prowess in the
latter ; but in the former, and in long and
severe courses, BLOOD, which includes the
shape, sets all competition at defiance.
On the propriety of breeding akin, in the
sportsman's phrase, or from the same blood,
there have been various opinions ; but it ap-
pears to be a practice neither to be desired
nor pursued with advantage. If continued
for some litters, a manifest inferiority of size,
and a deficiency of bone, will soon be visible,
as well as a want of courage and bottom;
though the beauty of the form, with the ex-
ception of the size, may not be diminished.
If we are to believe Varro, there has been an
instance, even in the brute creation, of a
repugnance to such conjunctions. By a judi-
cious choice, and an attention to the shape,
blood, and bone of another stock, a cross may
always be procured, which will in general
meet the sportsman's wishes ; being attended
with every advantage, without any of the con-
sequences to be feared from a contrary prac-
tice, there can be little hesitation in adoptingit.
The most favorable season for the produc-
tion of .the young brood, in the opinion of the
ancients, was that of the warm months. If
dogs are bred in the summer months, they will
also be of the fittest age to be brought into the
field the following year.
It is rather singular that no alterations
have been made in the " Rules and Laws of
Coursing" since the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
when the Regulations which are usually still in
force received the fiat of Thomas, Duke of
Norfolk, and are as follows :
THE LAWS OF THE LEASH, OR COURSING;
.is they were commanded, allowed, and subscribed,
by Thomas, late Duke of NORFOLK, in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth-
First, Therefore it was ordered, that he which was
chosen fewterer, or letter-loose of the greyhounds,
should receive the greyhounds match to run together
into his leash as soon as he came into the field, and to
follow next to the hare-finder till he came unto the
form ; and no horseman or footman, on pain of dis-
grace, to go before them, or on either side, but di-
rectly behind, the space of forty yards or thereabouts.
Item. That not above one brace of greyhounds do
course a hare at one instant.
Item. That the hare-finder should give the hare
three So-hows before he put her from her lear, to
make the greyhounds gaze and attend her rising.
Item. That dog that giveth first turn, if, after the
turn be given, there be neither coat, slip, nor wrench,
extraordinary, then he which gave the first turn
shall be held to wiii the wager.
Item. If one dog give the first turn, and the other
bear the hare, then he which bore the hare shall win.
Item. If one dog give both the first turn, and last
turn and no other advantage between them, that odd
turn shall win the wager.
Item. That a ccat shall be more than two turns, and
a go-by, or the bearing of the hare, equal with two
turns.
Item. If neither dog turn the hare, then he which
leadeth last at the covert, shall be held to win the
wager.
Item. If one dog turn the hare, serve himself, and
turn her again, those two turns shall be as much as a
coat.
Item. If all the course be equal, then he only
which bears the hare shall win ; and if she be not
borne, then the course must be adjudged dead.
Item. If any dog shall take a fall in the course, and
yet perform his part, he shall challenge advantage if
a turn more than he giveth.
Item. If one dog turn the hare, serve himself, and
give divers coats, yet in the end stand still in the
field, the other dog without turn giving, running home
to the covert, that dog which stood still in the field
shall be then adjudged to lose the wager.
Item. If any man shall ride over a dog, and over
throw him in his course (though the dog were the
wont dog in opinion), yet the party for the offence
shall either receive the disgrace of the field, or pay
the wager, for between the parties it shall be adjudged
to course.
Item. Those who are chosen judges of the leash,
shall give their judgments presently before they de-
part from the field, or else he, in whose default it
lieth, shall pay the wager by a general voice and
sentence.
The substance of the above rules, it seems, has been
adhered to in most of the sporting counties ; but the
dogs are now loosed out of a double spring-slip, which
renders it impossible for either to have the advantage
of the start. In Wiltshire, however, some judicious
deviations have been introduced ; and the dog that
hath the best of the course, whether he kills the hare
or not, is there declared to be the winner. The pro-
priety of such a decision is apparent, for the best and
speediest dog may turn the hare directly on his oppo-
nent, who may have no other merit than that of laying
hold of his game when forced full upon him.
The Swaffham Coursing Society was esta-
blished in the year 1770, by the late Earl of
Orford, confining the number of members to
the number of letters in the alphabet, and
when any member died, or wished to retire,
his place was always tilled up by ballot, con-
formable to the rules of the Society, On the
decease of the founder, the members of this
Society unanimously agreed to purchase a
Silver Cup, value twenty-five guineas, to be
run for annually ; and it was then intended to
pass on from one to another like the Whip at
Newmarket; but, before starting for it in the
year 1792, it was agreed that the winner of
the Cup should keep it ; and that a new Cup
should annually be purchased by the Society
to be run for in November. An opinion was
entertained by the Members of the Swaffham
Club, that it would best diffuse that respect
they wished to show to the memory of their
founder, by gracing the side-board of the dif-
ferent winners in the different parts of the
kingdom. The winner of the first Cup was
remarkable for having stood foremost in the
breed of greyhounds from the foundation of
the Society.
COURSING is kept up with great spirit during
the season, by the various Clubs for gold and
silver Cups, and other prizes at Newmarket
392
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
Chatsworth, Drayton, Barton, Malton, High-
dore,Cardington, Andoversford, near Chelten-
ham, Caistor, East Ilsey, Burton-upon-Trent,
Morfe Coursing meeting at Sir J. Piggott's
Park, Louth, Chesterfield, Cannet, Ashdown,
Derbyshire, West Ilsey, Deptford Union,
Wilts, Barton, Southport, &c.
CORIOUS COURSING ANECDOTE.
A good deal has been said of the sagacity
of the dog, and his natural fondness for the
sport to which he has been trained ; the fol-
lowing circumstance will go a good way to
prove that the horse also rejoiceth in the
chase, even when unurged by spur undi-
rected by rein. A party of gentlemen were
recently enjoying the sport of coursing over a
preserve of the Earl of Pembroke's, near Wei-
ton Abbey, Wilts., when, towards the conclu-
sion of a killing-day, one of them dismounted
to beat a small gorse-patch (generally consi-
dered safe to hold a hare), giving his horse to
a boy to restrain in the meanwhile. Mr. S e
was not disappointed : puss soon broke, and
a jolly " halloo" followed, and away went
madam, with the " long dogs" at. her scent,
and the field in as good order as Uieir nags
would let them ; away, too, bolted our beater's
nag ; for no sooner did the generous animal
hear the " well-remembered, long prolonged"
shout, than he broke from the puny grip that
but too faintly held him, and galloped, wild
and ardent as the steed of Mazeppa, or as
that now old, but ever-famous horse, Euphrates
(well does the writer remember seeing him,
when a colt, come starting up the hill just pre-
vious to the run-in on the Salisbury Race-
course), in the consciousness of irrestrainable
might. Instead, however, of breaking without
order over the field, Mr. S/s horse, to the
astonishment of all, followed the track of the
run, doubling, as well as a larger animal
could be imagined to do, with the greyhounds,
without running over them, and stopping only
(being first in from a saddle only being up) at
the death ! The generous animal then per-
mitted itself to be captured, and was restored
to its master snorting delight. About twelve
years since we saw a similar proof of sagacity
in a coursing nag, which we in part accounted
for from the mare having been exercised con-
stantly with the brace of greyhounds he fol-
lowed, and taught by a clever groom to stop
as they stopped, and invariably at the loss or
the kill.
THE RATIONAL APES.
The following interesting account of the
Pongos, or rational Apes, (is to be met with in
the Altnve Tales}, from Mr. W. Mitchell, a
Settler at the Cape of Good Hope, to his
friend in England, dated October 1, 1826:
" In my last I related to you all the circum-
stances of our settlement here, and the pros-
pect that we had of a peaceful and pleasant
habitation. In truth, it is a fine country, and
inhabited by a fine race of people ; for the
Kousies, as far as I have seen of them, are a
simple and ingenious race ; and Captain John-
stone having secured the friendship and pro-
tection of their chief, we lived in the most
perfect harmony with them, trafficing with
them for oxen, for which we gave them iron
and copper in exchange, the former being held
in high estimation by them. But, alas ! sir,
such a fate has befallen to me since I wrote
you last, as I am sure never fell to the lot of
a human being. And I am now going to re-
late to you one of those stories which, were it
to occur in a romance, would be reckoned
quite out of nature, and beyond all bounds of
probability ; so true is it, that there are many
things in heaven and earth that are not dream-
ed of in our philosophy.
You knew my Agnes from our childhood :
you were at our wedding at Beattock, and
cannot but remember what an amiable and
lovely girl she then was. I thought so, and
so did you, at least you said you never had
as bonny a bride on your knee. But you
will hardly believe that her beauty was then
nothing in comparison with what it became
afterwards ; and when she was going about
our new settlement with our little boy in her
arms, I have often fancied that I never saw
so lovely a human being.
Be that as it may, the chief Karoo came to
me one day, with his interpreter, whom he
caused to make a long palaver about his
power, and dominion, and virtues, and his
great desire to do much good. The language of
this fellow being a mixture of Kaffre, High
Dutch, and English, was peculiarly ludicrous,
and most of all so when he concluded with
expressing his lord's desire to have my wife
to be his own, and to give me in exchange for
her four oxen, the best that I could choose
from his herd !
" As he made the proposal in presence of
my wife, she was so much tickled with the
absurdity of the proposed barter, and the
manner in which it was expressed, that she
laughed immoderately. Karoo, thinking she
was delighted with it, eyed her with a look
that surpasses all description, and then caused
his interpreter to make another palaver to
her concerning all the good things she was to
en J ov ) one of which was that she was to ride
upon an ox whose horns were tipped with
gold. I thanked the great Karoo for his kind
intentions, but declared my incapability to
part with my wife, for that we were one flesh
and blood, and nothing could separate us but
death. He could comprehend no such tie as
this. All men sold their wives and daughters
as they listed, I was told for that the women
were the sole property of the men. He had
bought many women from the Tambookies
that were virgins, and had never given above
two cows for any of them ; and because he
desired to have my wife, he had offered me as
much for her as would purchase four of the
PIERCE EGAN'S 13OOK OF SPORTS.
393
best wives in all the two countries, and that
therefore I was bound to give her up to him.
And when I told him, finally, that nothing on
earth could induce me to part with her, he
seemed offended, bit his thumb, knitted his
brows, and studied long in silence, always
casting glances at Agnes, of great pathos and
languishment, which were perfectly irresist-
ible, and ultimately he stuck his spear's head
in the ground, and offered me ten cows and a
bull for my wife, and a choice virgin to boot,
when this proffer was likewise declined, he
smiled in derision, telling me I was the son
of foolishness, and that he foretold I should
repent it. Three times he went over this, and
then went away in high dudgeon. Will you,
Sir, believe, or will any person alive believe,
that it was possible I could live to repent this ?
My William was at this time about eleven
months old, but was still at the breast, as I
could never prevail on his lovely mother to
wean him, and, at the very time of which I
am speaking, our little settlement was invaded
one night by a tribe of those large baboons
called ourang-outangs, pongos, or wild men
of the woods, who did great mischief to our
fruits, yams, and carrots. From that time we
kept a great number of guns loaded, and set
a watch ; and at length the depredators wero
aguin discovered. We sallied out upon them
in a body, not without alarm, for they are
powerful and vindictive animals, and our guns
were only loaded with common shot. They
fled at the first sight of us, and that with such
swiftness that we might as well have tried to
catch deer ; but we got one close fire at them,
and doubtless wounded a number of them, as
their course was traced with blood. We pur-
sued them as far as the Keys river, whicli
they swam, and we lost them.
Among all the depredators, there was none
fell but one youngling, which I lifted in my
arms, when it looked so pitifully, and cried
so like a child, that my heart bled for it. A
large monster, more than six feet high, per-
ceiving that he had lost his cub, returned,
brandishing a huge club, and grinning at me.
I wanted to restore the abominable brat, for I
could not bear the thought of killing it, it
was so like a human creature ; but before I
could do this, several shots had been fired by
my companions, at the hideous monster, which
caused him once more to take to his heels ;
but, turning oft as he fled, he made threaten-
ing gestures at me. A Kousi servant that we
had finished the cub, and I caused it to be
buried.
The very morning but one after, Agnes and
her black maid were milking our few cows
upon the green ; I was in the garden, and
William was toddling about pulling flowers,
when, all at once, the women were alarmed
by the sight of a tremendous ourang-outang
issuing from our house, which they had just
left. They seem to have been struck dumb
and senseless with amazement, for not one of
them uttered a sound, until the monster,
springing forward, in one moment snatched
up the child and made off with him. Instead
of coming to me, the women pursued the ani-
mal with the child, not knowing, I believe,
what they were doing. The fearful shrieks
which they uttered alarmed me, and I ran to
the milking-green, thinking the cows had