126 THE ESSEX FOXHOUNDS. 



cise, combined with amusement, and knowing that I should 

 find a little of the first, and much of the latter, with my 

 friends of ' the Essex,' I determined to show them the way, 

 on Thursday, the i ith instant, from Kelvedon Common. 



" Well, sir, 10.45 was the hour, and the hounds trotted 

 up, full of fettle, and metal, and fire, and brimstone. There 

 were twenty-four couples, well adapted to all classes and 

 ranks ; the fast and the slow : the light and the heavy, the 

 dasher and dweller, racer and galloper, 'Jowler and Tow- 

 ler.' 



"Then followed the field, in all its variety; black, pink, 

 and the never-to-be-forgotten green. Masters ot hounds 

 were there in number four, and a caustic huntsman with 

 piercing eye and vicious mien (1 like not thy looks, Abra- 

 ham !), and ladies, too, graced the scene with charms not to 

 be ' winked at.' 



"From a furze plant hard by I viewed it all (for Dr. 

 Wizzel had warned me not to be caught asleep) and .saw the 

 interesting cavalcade move off to a neighbouring wood, 

 leaving me, to my surprise, unmolested. But I was not to 

 be cheated of the healthful amusement recommended by 

 my professional friend. I therefore cantered hastily to 

 Church Wood, Doddinghurst, in the direction of 'the 

 draw,' and showing myself to a screaming clodhopper, soon 



