112 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS 



the bitch and some 3'oung hounds the huntsman 

 had with him, soon rolled him over. The terrier 

 which had been nearl}' smothered in the earth, 

 died the day after, despite all that could be done 

 for it. 



In December, 1919, the Coniston Hounds had a 

 very' fast hunt from a covert above iStaveley 

 village. Hounds finally drove their fox to the 

 head of the Longsleddale valley, where it " benked " 

 on a ledge on Goatscar. It had been a late find, 

 and when the huntsman arrived on the scene, 

 darkness was fast dramng in. The fox was at last 

 made to vacate his dangerous resting-place, and 

 he scrambled down a precipitous chimney on the 

 face of the towering crag. Then ensued a wild 

 and exciting scene, such as can only be experienced 

 on the fells. The chimney was a dangerous place 

 for hounds, with a fox dodging his way through 

 them. Tmce they had hold of him, but he 

 A\Tenched free, and got clear at the chimney's foot, 

 where he soon outdistanced them across the rough 

 scree-bed. One of the hounds fell a matter of 

 fifty feet, but beyond being temporarily shaken 

 appeared little the worse, and quickly resumed the 

 chase. ^Sno^\' was lying thickl\- on the tops, and 

 it was just sufficiently light to see the fox climbing 

 out for the summit of the crag again, w here he ran 

 through the roughest of the ground near the fell 

 head, and finalh disappeared on the wide top of 



