MR. JOHN COUPLAND 59 



hills in haste to reach the sea. In their turbulent 

 haste the waters are continually washing away and 

 undermining the clay banks, so that what appears 

 to be an innocent-looking fence may hide an un- 

 jumpable gulf that would hold half a dozen horses. 

 Later in the day the field found themselves at 

 Welby Osierbeds, and the run that ensued was if 

 anything better than the first. To Scalford Wind- 

 mill hounds ran without a check, and again only a 

 select few were in the same field with them. I think 

 after that we must have changed foxes, and the 

 remainder of the run was rather twisty ; but hounds 

 were still hard at work when faiUng light and tired 

 horses made it necessary to turn for home. Those 

 who took a foremost part in either or both of these 

 two runs will, if alive, have a very distinct recollec- 

 tion of the chief incidents of the day, and I feel sure 

 that the Duke of Portland, who was going parti- 

 cularly well, will not have forgotten those exciting 

 moments. At one time we had crossed the Waltham 

 road, but the fox soon turned back again, and the 

 remainder of the run was enacted in the valley near 

 Melton Spinney. Stirring gallops still crowded one 

 another, and we never had a bad day. The run 

 that I can remember enjoying more than anything 

 in that season started at Thorpe Trussells and 

 finished at Burton. The morning had been most 

 uninteresting, and to all appearance there was very 

 little scent. Then matters did not improve much 

 when we first left the Trussells, but the ground had 

 been foiled, and the fox had got some distance ahead. 

 It was one of those moments when the field begin 

 to lose interest at the prospect of sport fading away 

 to nothing, and the talk is of the shortest way home. 



