HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS. 65 



and away we go past the Mansion for the Rev. 

 B. Cotton's grove. Not entering this, however, 

 he pointed for the Scrubs, leaving Primrose 

 Wood on his right ; through the Scrubs he goes 

 for Dark Wood, and so on to Hockley Bull 

 Wood. Now came a serious time, hounds run- 

 ning in all directions, foxes too — a trying time 

 for a Master's temper just as his fox is done. 

 It cannot be helped, however, and to make a 

 long story short we changed foxes. " How 

 about the customer you started with.^^" says a 

 lady. " Oh, never mind him now," for the 

 Master is off and away with a fresh fox, and 

 only eleven and a half couple of hounds pointing 

 to Mr. Wendon's farm, and on good terms with 

 his fox. Then, turning to Noble's Green, the 

 fox took us (at a fair hunting pace) over the 

 Eastwood, Rayleigh road for Pound Wood. 

 Running through this we found ourselves in the 

 Hadleigh coverts, hunting inch by inch over 

 the dead leaves. He was viewed away in front 

 of the hounds for Eastwood, passing to the left 

 of Mr. Skilton's, over the road to Nobles Green, 

 and so on to Scrub Wood, which he did not 

 enter, but ran up the side of, then to the right, 

 and to the ground in Primrose Wood in a rabbit 

 hole, from which the hounds with a little assist- 

 ance drew him. " There's another fox in," says 

 somebody. " All right," says the Master, " let 

 him alone, and we'll have a run after it." Too 

 late, however, for " Royal " had drawn him 

 alone, and so two foxes are broken up at the 

 same time. As to the other hounds left in the 

 Bull Wood, they appear to have had a good 



