The Essex Foxhounds. 171 



carry me, but rearing is the thing I object to. Time 

 was I could jump of and pull back the recalcitrant 

 animal, but the day for those acrobatic performances 

 is over, so I dismounted and attempted to lead that 

 unruly beast, at a respectful distance from the rest of 

 the " field," fearing he might lash out and injure some 

 man or horse. The brute was then, if possible, more 

 troublesome than ever, and vividly recalled to mind 

 the scene in Pickwick of the drive to Dingley Dell, 

 where that distinguished personage came to grief 

 with "that immense horse, displaying great sym- 

 metry of bone, warranted quiet, and which an infant 

 in arms might drive," as Mr. Pickwick was assured ; 

 a quiet animal that would not shy, " even if he met 

 a vaggin load of monkeys with their tails burnt off.'* 

 I, too, try to coax this wretched beast, and then, 

 losing all patience, I give him a double thonger, 

 which caused him to retaliate by striking at me with 

 his foreleg. *' It is like a dream," ejaculated Mr. Pick- 

 wick, "a hideous dream; the idea of a man's walking 

 about all day with a dreadful horse which he can't 

 get rid of." That was exactly my position ; my 

 pleasure was entirely spoilt by the vagaries of that 

 brute ; I toiled after the hounds from cover to cover, 

 through the wet grass and muddy gateways, think- 

 ing when the hounds went away I might venture to 

 remount and give him a burster, but no such luck was 

 mine. 



I believe a fox was found, and run for a short time 

 in Havering Park. If so I was entirely out of the 

 hunt, though I toiled after them, vainly as it proved; 

 and when I found that Dobson was going to trot 

 away to Cuttlemass Common, some considerable dis- 



