12 2 Hark A way, 



arrived at a time of life when people usually relin- 

 quish such sports, and are content to sit in their easy 

 chairs and " fight o'er in prattle all their former wars;" 

 talks an immense amount of twaddle about falling 

 into " the sere and yellow leaf," and winds up by 

 directing my attention to a line in one of Johnson's 

 works, suggesting that it was highly applicable to 

 my case : " Superfluous lags the veteran on the 

 stage." True it is that I have indulged in this 

 manliest of all amusements for more than half-a- 

 century; but I laugh to scorn such maudlin re- 

 marks, and evince a stronger determination than 

 before to prove " that there is life in the old dog 

 yet." Hence my visit to Dulverton, which is reached 

 by a delightful run through a lovely line of country, 

 at a rapid speed, ^\dth the utmost punctuality and 

 despatch. 



Travelling over the South- Western Railway, vid 

 Basingstoke and Salisbury, where the beanty of the 

 journey commences, watching the flocks of plovers, 

 — following their eccentric course as they wheel 

 around ere they settle on the barren down ; away 

 by Tisby, noting as I pass the beautiful seat of Mr. 

 Fane Bennett ; through Semley, Gillingham, Temple 

 Combe, Yeovil Junction, and Chard — quitting the line 

 at this point, the train proceeding via the Vale of 

 Honiton to Exeter, then on to Dulverton station ; 

 there I find a carriage in readiness, which rapidly 

 whirls me to the Lion, where a pleasant welcome 

 awaits me, and I learn that the Devon and Somerset 

 Hounds will meet three times during the week in the 

 immediate vicinity of Dulverton, that Squire Froude 

 Bellew's foxhounds will be within easy reach, and 



