THE OOTACAMUND HOUNDS. 167 



and more than one killed), and two miles of hillside already 

 searched. A mongoose was then holloaed by Mr. Phantom (one 

 of our staunchest supporters) as he caught a glimpse of a brown 

 form slinking over a brow ; but the mistake was rectified by 

 his wife before mischief was done (for the steadiest of hounds 

 will go mad over a mongoose). Jack Phantom, I may here 

 remark, was one of the most successful steeplechase riders in 

 India, till matrimony gave him a lady who can ride up to hounds 

 as hard as he can, since which, like many another man, he has 

 had to renounce the flagged course. The man on the brown 

 horse I may call Mr. Thomas : he is also a planter, and, in my 

 humble opinion, the best man to hounds on the Neilgherries ; 

 while the horse he is bestriding is quite equal to the task of 

 carrying him. To see the two in the wake of hounds, driving- 

 down the mountainous hillsides, or flying in unchecked career 

 over ground bestrewn with loose rocks and hidden with ferns, 

 is in itself terrific ; and no run is ever too severe or too intricate 

 to choke him off. Two other people there are I must introduce 

 you to, as most intimately connected with Ooty's Hunt. They 

 are Col. G. Clerk, of the Rifles, and Mrs. Clerk. They have 

 learned their love of hunting in England, and are prominent 

 among the minority who keep it thriving under an Eastern 

 sun. They both possess the gift of living with hounds under 

 all circumstances ; and Mrs. Clerk has an unequalled talent for 

 counting them out of covert. Mr. Ricardo, the first whip, is all 

 there, you will observe. Mr. Butler, the second, is there too ; 

 but is reduced to a pony to-day. 



So on past a village, with a view to some scrub-covered hills 

 beyond. Old Dalesman has stopped with wavering stern across 

 the path of the huntsman's horse. Now he gives a single 

 anxious whimper ; the old hounds crowd round him and work 

 their noses as if to draw a scent from the ground by the main 

 force of the inspiration ; while the youngsters of the pack 

 circle rapidly and excitedly round the busy group. Hecuba, 

 eager to distinguish herself, is making a cast of her own a 

 hundred yards ahead, Ricardo rides round her, and once more 



