HUNTING IN A HURRICANE. 131 



through the Long Walk, I reached the open part 

 of the park, and went sailing merrily over the grass ; 

 then away by Fern Hill until the racecourse was 

 reached, then on by the Kennels, arriving at the 

 Eoyal Hotel just after Goodall had started with the 

 hounds and small " field " who had ventured upon a 

 ride on this unpromising mornin'g. 



The Earl of Cork, the Master of the Buckhounds, 

 was not present, though his son (Lord Dungarvan) put 

 in an appearance. The hounds were trotted off to a 

 spot contiguous to South Lodge, the residence of 

 Sir W. Hayter, a distance of some three miles or 

 more, where the deer Edgerly had been uncarted, and 

 the hounds being laid on at once, went away at a 

 rattling pace through the hurly-burly of the storm, 

 making for Easthampstead Park, the seat of the 

 Marquis of Downshire. All the while the wind howled 

 and raged furiously, sturdy oaks creaked and groaned 

 as their limbs were riven, or remorselessly torn off, 

 whilst fine beeches and other trees, the growth of 

 many years, were torn up by the roots, one actually 

 falling between the pack and their huntsman, fortu- 

 nately without doing damage to either. Leaving 

 Easthampstead Park behind, the hounds ran for 

 Caesar's Camp, then away by Gravel Hill, then on by 

 Swinley Paddocks, through the forest, where the deer, 

 being pressed hard, jumped the fence into Windsor 

 Park, where he was left. The pack were soon trotted 

 back to the kennels, with only one hound missing, 

 notwithstanding the wildness of the weather. It was 

 almost impossible to ride to hounds on such a day as 

 this ; neither the cry of the pack nor the shrill note 

 of the huntsman's horn could be heard, and if you 



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