BREEDING OF HUNTERS. 303 



in the very heart of that tangled grove of pollard and 

 holly bushes, Brookwood Stumps, near Woking, and 

 was the owner of the roan mare Miss Craven, bought 

 a white Arab mare, which had formerly carried a 

 trumpeter, on his return with a dragoon regiment 

 from India. Luckily, he decided to send her to 

 Grey Skim, who then stood at Petworth, and Mr. 

 Davis's never-to-be-forgotten grey was the result. 

 That gentleman bought Hermit at six years old, in 

 1832, for 150 guineas, after he had led gallops for 

 Mr. Gates' s racers, and rode him for nine seasons. 

 He then unfortunately broke down, after making a 

 deep drop into a lane, with hounds, and it was ascer- 

 tained that he had broken a small piece of the coffin 

 bone of the near front foot. 



As regards leaping, one of the cleverest things we 

 remember, was done some years since by a Belzoni- 

 bred hunter who had never been known to refuse a 

 fence before. A lad of about fifteen was riding him 

 as straight as an arrow to hounds, and put him at an 

 apparently easy bank and rails, when he suddenly 

 closed up in his stride about twenty yards from it, 

 and refused to face it. On examination, there proved 

 to be an old stone quarry on the other side ; the lad 

 thought it a good joke, but the horse lost all his 

 jumping nerve from that hour. One of the handiest 

 animals we know of, at present, is an old bay horse of 

 Lord Galway's, who seems to have the power of a cat in 

 crawling down or up any bank, and leaping any fence, 

 however crabbed, with or without his rider. In fact, 

 he may almost take rank with Captain Evans' noted 

 retriever, " Sam/' who could act either as huntsman 

 or valet as well as any Christian, with the exception 

 of shaving his master, "a point on which Wychwood 

 authorities still differ respecting him. An immense 

 deal of talk was made about King of the Valley, a 

 sixteen-two grey by Usquebaugh, and with bone 

 like a dray-horse, clearing thirty-three feet with Dick 

 Christian on his back over the Billesdon Brook, 



