CHAPTER XIV. 



HUNTING IN DEVON AND SOMERSET. 



URING a fortnight spent in Dulverton and 

 the neighbourhood, fortune favoured me 

 greatly. I know of no two counties in 

 which there is such a decided tendency 

 to hospitahty and good fellowship as in Devon and 

 Somerset, and consequently, when I received an in- 

 vitation from the Master of the Dulverton Foxhounds 

 to spend a day or two with him at Rhyll, a short 

 distance from Dulverton, I right gladly availed my- 

 self of the hospitable offer. 



Leaving the Lion at five o'clock, I drove in a dog- 

 cart up as steep a hill as one usually meets with in 

 any Highland district, and arrived at Rhyll in time 

 for dinner. The Master of the Dulverton Foxhounds 

 is Squire Froud Bellew, a member of one of the oldest 

 Devonshire families, and a type of the true English 

 squire, one of the olden time. Since the establish- 

 ment of the railway system, country life has been 

 revolutionised ; and fashion and formahty are too 

 often found in the place of the hearty hospitality of 



