FOXHUNTING
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As a result, presumably, of my letter to you last month I have received a package from the President of the Vulpician Fraternity of Nevada, U.S.A., enclosing first of all a draft on the Vulpician Bank, Inc., for $250 and, secondly, a long letter written in a language which may be described, I trust without offence, as idiomatic American. I at once submitted this document to my friend, Mr. Hogben L. Blueberry, a Rhodes Scholar now resident in Oxford, for translation.
After praising my feeble efforts on behalf of the Fox Tribes and intimating that I had been appointed European Repre- sentative at a salary of 25o American dollars yearly, payable in advance (hence draft referred to above), the letter goes on to press for the continuing existence of wild foxes. It would be unreasonable to expect you, Sir, to print a verbatim transla- tion of my esteemed President's remarks, but I hope that, if only to justify my retention of the post of European Repre- sentative of the Vulpician Fraternity (and also, I frankly admit, the 25o dollar draft), you may be able to find room for a few of his more important observations, which I have tried to compress to the barest minimum.
The President complains bitterly—indeed his language would distress your editorial ears—of the unrelenting persecu- tion which foxes have to endure in the U.S.A. and Canada from guns, snares, traps, poison, &c. " Over here," he says, " we are facing early extinction if nothing is done to present our case fairly to the general public."
" Every fox on this Continent," the translation proceeds, " envies the lot of his brethren in England with their carefully preserved homes in woods, copses, gorse, &c., and appetising meals provided by or largely paid for by the Hunts. More- over, our British confreres are practically exempt from guns, traps and poison while on their lawful occasions."
" It is true," he concludes, " that they have to put up with a hunt now and then, but as gentlemen—and every fox is a gentleman—they are prepared to risk that. We are Hunters ourselves and know the rules. In any case we Foxes normally don't worry about the future but live happily- from day to day, thank God ! "
With apologies for the length of this somewhat unusual
Oxford. . Nevada, U.S.A.
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