48 THE BEL VOIR HUNT: 



pressed. He showed great sagacity, too, as 

 he was seen to rub the mud off his sides 

 against a stack. The excellence of the 

 hounds was admirably displayed, and it 

 shows unmistakably what a well-bred pack 

 will do without their huntsman's assistance, 

 when unmolested by crowds of horsemen. 

 Much has been expressed as to the superior 

 hunting qualifications of hounds in olden 

 times, but it is an opinion with which I 

 cannot concur. I have searched the diary 

 kept by Mr Meynell's whipper-in, but it 

 contains nothing to the effect that hounds 

 ran faster, or that foxes were stouter, in 

 those times than more recently. 



Then there was the wonderful day's work 

 with Mr Chaplin's hounds on the 5th of 

 February 1867, when they met at Hack- 

 thorn, found a fox at 1 1 . 30, several others 

 in quick succession, and at dark running 

 away from the horsemen, were out all 

 night. 



