CHAPTER XII. 

 The East Essex and the Puckeridge. 



The East Essex. 



As already mentioned, quite a number of packs of 

 hounds hunted over the face of the county of Essex 

 while hunting geography was yet one of the inexact 

 sciences. Boundaries, if they existed, are difficult to 

 trace ; hunts appear to have overlapped in the most 

 wonderful manner, while packs were started and disap- 

 peared one after another. Captain Wilson, Captain 

 Saich, Mr. Canning, and Mr. Harding Newman wan- 

 dered into parts of what is now the East Essex country. 

 The two first-named hunted both hare and fox ; but the 

 two others, together with Mr. Tufnell, who also went 

 into East Essex on occasions, confined themselves to fox 

 exclusively. 



The honour of founding the East Essex country, how- 

 ever, may perhaps, with perfect propriety, be assigned to 



