The caitiff vile, redeems the captive prey:

So exquisitely delicate his sense!

Should some more curious sportsman here inquire Whence this sagacity, this wondrous pow'r

Of traci g step by step or man or brute?

What guide invisible points out their way

O'er the dank marsh, bleak hill, and sandy plain ? 340

The courteous Muse shall the dark cause reveal.
The blood that from the heart incessant rolls
In many a crimson tide, then here and there
In smaller rills disparted, as it flows
Propell'd, the serous particles evade

350

Thro' th' open pores, and with the ambient air
Entangling mix. As fuming vapours rise,
And hang upon the gently-purling brook,
There by th' incumbent atmosphere compress'd,
The panting Chase grows warmer as he flies,
And thro' the net-work of the skin perspires,
Leaves a long-streaming trail behind, which, by
The cooler air condens'd, remains, unless
By some rude storm dispers'd, or rarefy'd
By the meridian sun's intenser heat.
To ev'ry shrub the warm effluvia cling,
Hang on the grass, impregnate earth and skies.
With nostrils op'ning wide, o'er hill, o'er dale,
The vig'rous hounds pursue, with ev'ry breath
Inhale the grateful steam, quick pleasures sting 365
Their tingling nerves, while they their thanks repay,

And in triumphant melody confess

The titillating joy. Thus on the air

Depend the hunter's hopes. When ruddy streaks
At eve forebode a blust'ring stormy day,

Or low'ring clouds blacken the mountain's brow,
When nipping frosts, and the keen-biting blasts
Of the dry-parching east, menace the trees,
With tender blossoms teeming, kindly spare
Thy sleeping pack, in their warm beds of straw
Low-sinking at their ease; listless, they shrink
Into some dark recess, nor hear thy voice,
Tho' oft invok'd; or haply if thy call

370

Rouse up thy slumb'ring tribe, with heavy eyes,
Glaz'd, lifeless, dull, downward they drop their tails
Inverted; high on their bent backs erect

Their pointed bristles stare, or 'mong the tufts
Of ranker weeds each stomach-healing plant
Curious they crop, sick, spiritless, forlorn.
These inauspicious days on other cares
Employ thy precious hours; th' improving friend
With open arms embrace, and from his lips
Glean science, season'd with good-natur'd wit:
But if th' inclement skies and angry Jove
Forbid the pleasing intercourse, thy books
Invite thy ready hand, each sacred page
Rich with the wise remarks of heroes old.
Converse familiar with th' illustrious dead;
With great examples of old Greece or Rome

380

Enlarge thy free-born heart, and bless kind Heav'n 390
That Britain yet enjoys dear Liberty,

That balm of life, that sweetest blessing, cheap
Tho' purchas'd with our blood. Well bred, polite,
Credit thy calling. See! how mean, how low,
The bookless sauntering youth, proud of the skut
That dignifies his cap, his flourish'd belt,
And rusty couples jingling by his side!
Be thou of other mould; and know that such
Transporting pleasures were by Heav'n ordain'd
Wisdom's relief, and Virtue's great reward.

400

THE CHASE.

BOOK II.

THE ARGUMENT.

Of the power of instinct in brutes. Two remarkable instances in the hunting of the roebuck, and in the hare going to seat in the morning Of the variety of seats or forms of the hare, according to the change of the season, weather, or wind. Description of the hare-hunting in all its parts, interspersed with rules to be observed by those who follow that Chase. Transition to the Asiatic way of hunting, particularly the magnificent manner of the great Mogul, and other Tartarian princes, taken from Monsieur Bernier and the history of Gengiskan the Great. Concludes with a short reproof of tyrants and oppressors of mankind.

NOR will it less delight th' attentive sage
T'observe that instinct which unerring guides
The brutal race, which mimics reason's lore,
And oft transcends. Heav'n-taught, the roebuck swift
Loiters at ease before the driving pack,

And mocks their vain pursuit, nor far he flies,
But checks his ardour, till the steaming scent
That freshens on the blade provokes their rage.
Urg'd to their speed, his weak deluded foes
Soon flag fatigu’d; strain'd to excess each nerve,
Each slacken'd sinew fails: they pant, they foam :
Then o'er the lawn he bounds, o'er the high hills

Stretches secure, and leaves the scatter'd crowd

To puzzle in the distant vale below.

'Tis instinct that directs the jealous hare

To choose her soft abode. With step revers'd
She forms the doubling maze; then, ere the Morn
Peeps thro' the clouds, leaps to her close recess.

20

As wand'ring shepherds on th' Arabian plains No settled residence observe, but shift Their moving camp, now on some cooler hill, With cedars crown'd, court the refreshing breeze, And then below, where trickling streams distil From some penurious source, their thirst allay, And feed their fainting flocks: so the wise hares Oft quit their seats, lest some more curious eye Should mark their haunts, and by dark treach'rous wiles Plot their destruction, or perchance, in hopes Of plenteous forage, near the ranker mead Or matted blade wary and close they sit. When spring shines forth, season of love and joy, In the moist marsh, 'mong beds of rushes hid, They cool their boiling blood. When summer suns Bake the cleft earth, to thick wide-waving fields Of corn full-grown they lead their helpless young: But when autumnal torrents and fierce rains Deluge the vale, in the dry crumbling bank Their forms they delve, and cautiously avoid The dripping covert yet when winter's cold Their limbs benumbs, thither with speed return'd, 40

30