And therefore a pack, 16 inches, having been hunted year by year together, and got fit and properly kept, will go far faster than a pack straying for 50 yards or so, with a hound 20 yards or so ahead of the rest, etc., of 18, 17, 16, 15 and 14 inch hounds. These heights are no exaggeration, one year there being two hounds 19½ and two 12 inches. And if “walk” continues, these heights must be varied like this, as it is impossible to get a level pack in January. Now we will suppose that the hounds are kept in their kennels always throughout the summer; then the new Master can be with his hounds all the summer and good blood can be got in the pack by sending bitches to well-known beagle packs, and in time a very good strain could be got. All the puppies would be sent out to walk till they are twelve months old and fit to join the pack. I don’t think there would be any difficulty in finding either boys or farmers to walk the puppies, and a small challenge cup could be given, as in other packs, for the hound best walked. Thus a good entry could be made, and the old hounds drafted. Of course, to get a good and well-bred pack would take about twelve years; but we all hope at some future time or other to see the E.C.H. entered in the stud book, and to see the first prize at Peterborough won by a hound belonging to the E.C.H. There is no reason why all this should not take place, provided a good kennelman is kept, and the Master devotes heart and soul to his hounds, and is careful to get good fresh blood in the pack. If all this be taken into consideration, I am sure you will find that as good sport is shown by the smaller and level pack, and as many hares killed. Beckford says: “You will find nothing so essential to your sport as that your hounds should run well together; nor can this end be better attained than by confining yourself, as near as you can, to those of the same sort, viz. size and shape. A great excellence in a pack of hounds is the head they carry; and that pack be said to go the fastest that can run 10 miles with the fewest checks. As a good level pack at a check should spread like a rocket, what can be finer than a pack like the horses of the sun, ‘all abreast’?” I hope you will excuse me, Mr. Editor, for trespassing on your valuable space at such a length, but these are only suggestions on my part, and I hope the matter will be thoroughly sifted and discussed; and let us hope that some authority on the subject will put forth his views. Let your hounds be “Facies non omnibus una, Nec diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sonorum.” APPENDIX IV. LETTER FROM A MASTER OF HOUNDS OF FORTY YEARS’ EXPERIENCE. _Behaviour and Control of Field._