THE PROVINCES. 229 



" It began to get very interesting, I was near enough to 

 watch each hound doing his work, eighteen couple, all 

 dogs, three and four season hunters, for I hadn't a single 

 puppy out. I wish you had been there, my boy. It 

 was a real lesson in hunting, and I'll tell you what I 



thought of them, one by . Hulloh ! Yes. You'd 



better ring for coffee Hanged if I don't believe you've 

 been fast asleep all the time ! " 



But such runs as these, though wearisome to a listener, 

 are most enjoyable for those who can appreciate the 

 steadiness and sagacity of the hound, no less than the 

 craft and courage of the animal it pursues. There is 

 an indescribable charm too, in what I may call the 

 romance of hunting, the remote scenes we should perhaps 

 never visit for their own sake, the broken sunlight glint- 

 ing through copse and gleaming on fern, the woodland 

 sights, the woodland sounds, the balmy odours of nature, 

 and all the treats she provides for her votaries, tasted 

 and enjoyed, with every faculty roused, every sense 

 sharpened in the excitement of our pursuit. These 

 delights are .better known in the provinces than the 

 shires, and to descend from flights of fancy to practical 

 matters of s. d., we can hunt in the former at com- 

 paratively trifling expense. 



In the first place, particularly if good horsemen, we 



