HUNTERS 83 



can do in a deep plough country, and what he can do in 

 one of the most famous Irish countries ; and now let me 

 give an instance of what one can do in a rough moorland 

 run. On this occasion the pack hunted by Captain, Hon. 

 Francis Johnstone, near Scarborough, met at Ayton, and 

 found a fox almost immediately, at the very beginning of 

 Forge Valley. From the commencement the hounds settled 

 down to run with a breast-high scent, crossed the River 

 Derwent, and went up the hill and over the farm of the late 

 Mr. Thomas Darrell. I was on a young mare, Chariberta, 

 by Charibert out of Tita, who had won twenty-two races on 

 the flat for the late Mr. Harry Hall. At first the hounds 

 had the best of it, for we had to follow as best we could 

 through the wood on the side of a steep hill, then ford 

 a rocky stream, and afterwards clamber up a steep ascent ; 

 but when I got to the top I just saw the tail hounds jump 

 a fence about two fields off, and therefore knew in which 

 direction to gallop, instead of losing time in finding out 

 where they had gone. From time to time I saw a hound 

 here, and another there, and when after a little time we 

 swung past the end of a plantation the whole pack was in 

 sight, racing at top speed over the open moor. Gradually 

 Chariberta gained upon them, and at length got up to them, 

 the fox keeping either to a sheep track, or sometimes a 

 cart-way, as they almost always do in a prolonged moorland 

 run. Thus we skirted the head of the Crosscliff Valley, 

 leaving it to our right, and held on for Saltersgate, but 

 before reaching i^the descent the fox found his strength 

 failing, and, coming round to the right, endeavoured to get 

 back to the shelter of the Crosscliff woods. I now got a 

 view of him, and soon afterwards the hounds did also, 

 finally running into him on the moor, about a quarter of 

 a mile above the Crosscliff shooting lodge. The distance 

 the hounds had traversed was measured on the map to be 

 about twelve miles, and there had scarcely been a check 

 the whole way, though hounds do not travel so fast over 

 heather, as they do when running over level grass fields. 

 This was far the best moorland run I have ever seen in any 

 country, but it needed a good thoroughbred horse to carry 



