HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS. 31 



either, as most of those who had ridden the line 

 had bellows to mend, and the macadamites ob- 

 tained a lucky opportunity of nicking in. For 

 a little time the hounds could make nothing of 

 him; but, with moderate luck, our Master is a 

 bad one to beat (and, I may add, a rum one to 

 follow). A cast back had our fox on the move 

 again, and scarcely had the hounds spoken to 

 him, when he was viewed stealing away from the 

 north side of the covert. Though the scent was 

 now simply wretched, so admirably were the 

 hounds handled that they ran into their fox fair 

 and square within a couple of hundred yards of 

 the King William Inn, after one hour and fifty 

 minutes' pursuit. As I am a stranger in that 

 part of the country, I cannot give the exact 

 points ; but this much I do know, that the first 

 or brilliant part of the run, namely, from Rook 

 to Skreens Wood, occupied as nearly as possible 

 an hour, and that we were all going as fast as 

 we could. The casualties were the reverse of 

 " angels' visits," one brook receiving no less 

 than four men and horses into its chilling 

 embrace. All the same the following gentle- 

 men saw most of the fun : — Messrs. Saunders, 

 Colley, Tabor (2), Bourne, Hilton, Garrstt, 

 Lawrence (2), Barker, Horton, Usbourne, 

 Ridley, Sir L. Graham, and a few others whose 

 names I cannot remember, or do not know, 

 notably a man with a bandage round his thigh. 

 Miss Tawke, on her grey, occupied a prominent 

 position in the first flight throughout. 



[The mask of this fox hangs in our hall. 

 This is the best run ever known with the Essex 



