Besbeton Smttb 97 



a great deal of moisture was found collected underneath, 

 although there was no land-spring near. This convinced 

 the squire that Virgil was right, and from that time 

 the yards of the kennels were laid with hard clay or 

 chalk. The hounds were strangers to shoulder-lameness 

 ever afterwards. Their sleeping apartments were raised 

 four feet from the ground, each hound, like his master, 

 going upstairs to bed. They were thatched with reeds, 

 for the sake of warmth in winter and coolness in summer, 

 each loding-house being made to hold twenty couple 

 of hounds. The yards annexed to the respective kennels 

 were raised in the centre, with gutter-bricks all round, 

 so that the water which was laid on by pipes with taps 

 to them, was instantaneously carried off, there being no 

 underground drain to catch and detain the moisture. 

 Close by was the huntsman's house, so that all riot and 

 disturbance might be quelled immediately on any out- 

 break. The old cart-shed was retained for young hounds 

 and as a place of litter for puppies. Adjoining the kennels 

 was a spacious paddock enclosed with a lofty wall, in 

 which the hounds could run at large when inspected by 

 the huntsman or by strangers. Built into the wall, 

 about the centre of it, was a pavilion with a raised 

 platform, and having a door of admission only on the 

 outside, for the accommodation of ladies coming to see 

 the hounds. 



The stables were equally admirable, affording accom- 

 modation for fifty hunters, hacks and carriage horses, 

 every one of which, with its name painted up over its 

 box, was in perfect condition, and would follow the 

 master about like a lamb; for Assheton Smith had a 

 most extraordinary power of fascination over both horses 

 and hounds. The great Rarey himself was not a better 



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