Page:Xenophon by Alexander Grant.djvu/176

166 der, Forceful, Shield-hasp, Æther, Sunbeam, Wanton, Bright-eyes, Marker).

The sport begins in the early morning, while the scent still lies on the track made by the hares in returning to their forms. Xenophon prefers a northerly wind for scent,— bethinks the moisture contained in the south wind to be a disadvantage; and he says that the full moon by its warmth dulls the scent—added to which the light makes the hares skip, so that their steps are at longer intervals, which is unfavourable to scenting. Truly the moon is made to answer for a great many things in this world! The spring and the autumn Xenophon considers the best seasons of the year for scent; but he would have sympathised with that modern sportsman who talked about "stinking violets," for he says that in spring, "when the ground is covered with flowers, it inconveniences the dogs by mingling the odour of the flowers with that of the hare." It is clear that he was accustomed to hunt the hare all the year round, regardless of breeding-times, and to follow her by her tracks in the snow—in short, to kill with dogs and nets whenever the chance occurred. This total want of the idea of game-preserving makes it easy to understand the apparent scarcity of hares in Xenophon's country. He seems to have considered that to kill a single hare was a fair day's sport.

His description of the hare is excellent, and he draws a most graphic picture of puss lying in her form. "When she is awake she winks with her eyelids, but when she is asleep, the eyelids are raised and fixed,