Since the time of the gentleman who at one time wrote over the nom de guerre of "Snapshot," and who is better known to the present generation of doggy men as "Wildfowler," the Basset-hound has, in this country, attained to very considerable numerical strength. The fact that Mr. Everett Millais, when acting as judge at the show held at the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, in 1886, had 120 entries to deal with, shows that admirers of the breed have not been wanting; and that exhibition was in strong contrast to the time - not more than ten years before - when Lord Onslow and Mr. Everett Millais were the only exhibitors of these crook-legged, slow hounds, and had to show them in the omnium gatherum class, which may be described as the show committee's finest-mesh net, that secures all the fish and finance that escape the regulation nets.

Though it will be necessary to take a closer view of the Basset in England since his introduction into this country, yet the following remarks, contributed by "Wildfowler" to the original edition of this work, are so interesting that they merit reproduction.

"Snapshot" was a frequent contributor, under that signature, to the Country', and was also well known as "Wildfowler" of the Field; he was the author of numerous canine articles and works, including "General Sport at Home and Abroad," "Modern Wild-fowling," etc. His experience with Continental sporting dogs was considerable, which gives weight and value to his article on Bassets. He says: -

"Any hound which stands lower than 16 in. (no matter his 'provincial' breed) is called in France and in Belgium a Basset. The derivation of the expression Basset is clear: bas means low; and, therefore, Basset means low set, a very appropriate denomination as applied to these diminutive hounds.

The vast army of French and Belgian Bassets may be divided into three grand classes - viz. Bassets a jambes droites (straight-legged), ditto a jambes demi-torses (with fore legs half crooked), and ditto a jambes torses (fore legs fully crooked). And in each of these classes will be found three varieties of coats - viz. the Bassets a poil ras (smooth-coated), those a poil dur (rough-coated), and a class half rough, half smooth-coated, which is called half griffon.

The types vary for almost each province, but the general characteristics remain throughout pretty well the same. All well-bred Bassets have long, pendulous ears and hounds' heads; but the crooked-legged breeds show always better points in these respects than the straight-legged ones, simply because, when a man wishes to breed a good Basset a jambes torses, he is obliged to be very careful in selecting the stock to breed from, if he does not wish his experiment to end in failure, for, should there be the slightest admixture of foreign blood, the 'bar sinister' will be at once shown in the fore-legs. Hence the Bassets a jambes torses show, as a rule, far better properties than their congeners.

In build the Basset a jambes torses is long in the barrel, and is very low on his pins; so much so that, when hunting, he literally drags his long ears on the ground. He is the slowest of hounds, and his value as such cannot be overestimated. His style of hunting is peculiar, inasmuch that he will have his own way, and each one tries for himself; and if one of them finds, and 'says' so, the others will not blindly follow him and give tongue simply because he does (as some hounds, accustomed to work in packs, are apt to do); but, on the contrary, they are slow to acknowledge the alarm given, and will investigate the matter for themselves. Thus, under covert, Bassets a jambes torses following a scent go in Indian file, and each one speaks to the line according to his own sentiments on the point, irrespective of what the others may think about it. In this manner, it is not uncommon to see the little hounds, when following a mazy track, crossing each other's route without paying any attention to one another; and, in short, each of them works as if he were alone. This style I attribute to their slowness, to their extremely delicate powers of scent, and to their innate stubborn confidence in their own powers. Nevertheless, it is a fashion which has its drawbacks; for, should the individual hounds hit on separate tracks of different animals, unless at once stopped, and put together on the same one, each will follow its own find, and let the shooter or shooters do his or their best. That is why a shooter who is fond of that sort of sport rarely owns more than one or two of these hounds. One is enough, two may be handy in difficult cases, but more would certainly entail confusion, precisely because each one of them will rely only on the evidence of his own senses.

I have now several clever Bassets a jambes torses in my mind's eye, and their general description would be about as follows: Height, between loin, and 15m. at shoulder; longish barrels; very crooked fore legs, with little more than an inch or two of daylight between the knees ; stout thighs; gay sterns; conical heads; long faces; ears long enough to overlap each other by an inch or two (and more sometimes) when both were drawn over the nose; heavy-headed rather, with square muzzles; plenty of flews and dewlap; eyes deep set, under heavy wrinkles; fore paws wide, and well turned out; markings, hare-pied and white, black tan and white, tan and white, black with tan eyebrows, and tan legs and belly, etc. - in short, all the varieties of hound markings will be found among them. They have excellent tongues for their size, and when in good training and good condition they will hunt every day, and seem to thrive on it. They are very fond of the gun, and many are cunning enough to 'ring' the game, if missed when breaking covert, back again to the guns until it is shot. Some of these Bassets are so highly prized that no amount of money will buy them; and, as a breed, it may safely be asserted that it is probably the purest now in existence in France. They hunt readily deer, roebuck, wild boars, wolves, foxes, hares, rabbits, etc., but if entered exclusively to one species of quarry, and kept to it, they never leave it to run riot after anything else. I have seen one, when hunting a? hare in a park, running through fifty rabbits and never noticing them. They go slowly, and give you plenty of time to take your station for a shot - hence their great value in the estimation of shooters. They are chiefly used for smallish woods, furze fields, and the like, because, if uncoupled in a forest, they do not drive their game fast enough; and though eventually they are bound to bring it out, yet the long time they would take in so doing would tell against the sport. Moreover, large forests are cut about by ditches, and here and there streamlets, boulders, and rocks intervene, which difficulty the short, crooked-legged hound would be slow in surmounting. He is, therefore, not so often used there as for smaller coverts, where his voice can throughout the hunt be heard, and thereby direct the shooters which post of vantage to take.