Hunting in Devon and Somerset. 105 



usually pleasant inauguration of the season. A fox 

 was soon found in the cover adjacent, and went 

 straight away, affording a merry little spin, which 

 seemed to give great satisfaction to the large " field" 

 which attended on this occasion. A second run was 

 considerably longer, and, for an opening day, the 

 sport shown was decidedly satisfactory. 



Enjoyable as this pleasant day was, I had still 

 greater pleasure in store, and went cub hunting with 

 Squire Bellew on Hawkridge Common. The country 

 through which I rode was simply lovely. *' The morn, 

 in russet mantle clad, walks o'er the dew of yon high 

 eastward hill," and the country seen at this period 

 of the year is far grander to the view, when the 

 frost has touched the heather and brackens, even 

 if not as beautiful as when the purple heather is in 

 full bloom. That the Master of the Dulverton Fox- 

 hounds, now in the prime of life, is a man of experi- 

 ence, may be judged from the circumstance of his 

 having had a pack of hounds of his own at the early 

 age of fourteen. No wonder, then, when I looked at 

 his pack I found them a very crack lot, all in bloom- 

 ing condition, and fit to do the hard work before 

 them. 



" I like hounds," said the master, " to be long, low, 

 and lusty," which I think is as concise a criticism as 

 I have ever heard. Soon I see them at work, and 

 find ample proof of their excellence. Quickly a fox 

 is found in a patch of gorse on a steep hill side, and 

 they very shortly make the place too hot to hold 

 him, and he breaks away within a few yards of me, 

 — a fine fellow he was, and we went away at a 

 rattling pace over hill, dale, and moorland, until 



