FOX-HUNTING AND MELTON 5 



dents who send their reflections and impressions 

 of the sport to one of the weeklies ; but, with the 

 exception of " Brooksby," I am afraid we are rather 

 a moderate lot. Descriptions of runs are never 

 satisfactory, they either leave too much to the 

 imagination, or else go to the other extreme and 

 attempt details that become tedious. However, 

 it is easy to criticize, but it is by no means a light 

 task to write a readable account of a run. In the 

 first place, the man ought to have been in a position 

 to have watched hounds from find to finish before 

 he sits down to write his account. Then he must 

 remember that accuracy of the main features is 

 absolutely essential, and yet a mere statement of 

 bare facts without a leaven of imagination is but 

 dull reading. Though no two runs are the least 

 alike, even with the same fox and over the same 

 country, there must always be a repetition of phrase 

 and expression which is wearying to the writer as 

 it is to the reader. Truly the lot of the hunting 

 correspondent is not altogether happy, but he has 

 many things to be thankful for. 



Whyte Melville stands alone amongst writers 

 of hunting fiction, and we can read his works to-day 

 with as much pleasure as we did twenty years ago. 

 They are interesting to read and they leave no 

 nasty taste in the mouth, which is more than can 

 be said for many writers of a later date. We are 

 told Surtees is vulgar and Whyte Melville prosy, 

 but in default of these matters we are fed on stuff 

 that has either no meaning or is questionable 

 morality and thinly veiled indecency. This class 

 of book may be popular for the time, but they are 

 brilliant annuals that will die and be forgotten at 



