VARIETY IN HUNTING COUNTRIES 205 



Those who are conversant with the works of the 

 most famous authors who have written upon the 

 subject of hunting cannot fail to be struck with 

 the unaffected admiration for the picturesque which 

 constantly displays itself in the descriptions of the 

 chase. Charles Kingsley, in the opening chapter of 

 Yeast, and in many another page, Whyte-Melville 

 and Surtees in most of their works, give us delight- 

 ful glimpses of charming English scenery, and the 

 chapters in which these descriptions appear are, I 

 notice, beloved of hunting men. To quote again 

 from our enthusiastic " Early Victorian " : " How 

 delightfully fine the run along brook-intersected 

 vales, up steep hills, through woodlands, parks, and 

 villages, showing you in byways little Gothic churches, 

 ivy-covered cottages, and nooks of beauty you never 

 dreamed of, alive with startled cattle and hilarious 

 rustics." 



I once ventured to make comparison between fox- 

 hunting in Ireland and the sport as it is carried on 

 on the other side of St. George's Channel, and to set 

 forth the advantages claimed by Hibernian sports- 

 men for their native isle. It has lately been pointed 

 out to me by a lady, whose experience and knowledge 

 is unquestionable, that I omitted to claim for Ireland 

 one of the charms of fox-hunting on this side : to w^it, 

 the beauty of the scenery, and the picturesque variety 

 of country one rides over in many of the very best of 

 her hunting districts. " Whereas," says my correspon- 

 dent, " in England, when we come upon really beauti- 

 ful scenery in the hunting-field, the country generally 

 becomes unrideable, or nearly so." 



