122 CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 



In 1847, when Mr Fellowes resigned, he was 

 succeeded by the present Sir Arthur Chichester, 

 who hunted the pack for one year, the present 

 huntsman of the staghounds, John Babbage, hold- 

 ing the horn. In 1849 we resorted, for the 

 first time, to a ' foreigner ' for assistance, and 

 were aided in our hour of need by Mr Theobald, 

 who, upon request of the subscribers, brought 

 into the field a fine pack of hounds accustomed 

 to hunt the ' carted ' deer in the Cheltenham 

 country. Mr Theobald entertained the not un- 

 common notion, that a wild deer would fall an 

 easy victim to hounds that were able to run up a 

 stall-fed 'calf ; but he soon recanted his errors, and 

 after a sojourn of two months in the country, only 

 succeeded in taking three deer. 



In 1850, Mr George Luxton of Winkleigh agreed 

 to provide for the subscribers a pack of hounds for 

 the autumn hunting, almost at an hour's notice. 

 Those who know Mr Luxton will anticipate the 

 remark I am about to make, that he did all that an 

 able, persevering, and scientific huntsman could do 

 to show sport ; and considering the great dis- 

 advantages under which he laboured, he certainly 

 had his share of success, though it must be owned 

 that his hounds were not adapted to the laborious 



