gS Hark Away, 



tallyho ! yoi ! have at him there ! " but some con- 

 siderable time elapsed ere we came across a hind ; 

 at length a view-halloo is heard on the hill, and I 

 saw what I thought was a hind going well away 

 from the end of the combe, mounting a tremen- 

 dously steep hill, running through a small cover, 

 pointing for a capital line of country. Now, I 

 thought, we are in for a good thing ; over the gate 

 goes the beautiful animal, hotly pursued by the 

 tufters ; when suddenly a cracking of whips and 

 rating of hounds is heard, for we find it is a young 

 stag we are pursuing, and stags are out of season. 

 So the hounds are stopped, and Arthur proceeds to 

 draw for another. The afternoon was wet, cold, 

 and windy ; there was not a particle of scent, and 

 though we found again we did not succeed in 

 driving out a hind ; and thus ended my first day. 



Our next meet was at Hele Bridge, a lovely spot 

 close to Dulverton. This day I was mounted on a 

 clever grey, whose performances subsequently aston- 

 ished my weak mind ; climbing up, and what is 

 more, coming down hills which are nearly perpen- 

 dicular as cleverly as a cat in a dairy, picking his way 

 through heather hock deep, travelhng over rolling 

 stones and fallen trees, never once putting his foot 

 wrong. I subsequently rode him down one of the 

 steepest hills on the road home with the reins on his 

 neck, feeling perfectly certain that he knew how to do 

 it better than I ; and my confidence in his safety was 

 not misplaced, for he carefully picked his way amongst 

 the rolling stones, as we came at a sling trot down 

 the steepest part. Starting in good time, I over- 

 take Mr. S. H. Warren, the honorary secretary of 



