3/0 LEAVES FROM A HUNTING DIARY 



Butler of Brentwood, till Monday. The newspapers may 

 fairly head their reports of the accident " Miraculous Preser- 

 vation." His arm continues much swollen, and will require 

 great care to heal the wounds, but fortunately not a joint or 

 bone is injured, and he is in the pure air and quiet of the 

 country, without the necessity, as in my case, of having to 

 hurry to town to attend to business, while still unwell and 

 quite unfit for it. He has a solace too in Charlotte, so near 

 a neighbour, so that having every chance and every induce- 

 ment to get well, he must soon be himself again. 



Wormald having advised me so earnestly to give my 

 shoulder every chance by avoiding a repetition of the disloca- 

 tion, in which case the rent in the capsule will never heal, I 

 put myself in his hands and kept my arm in a sling for six 

 weeks, and abstained from hunting, allowing the Rev. F. Fane 

 to ride "Wide-awake" and "Peep o' Day" regularly, and 

 " Carlow " once with the Blackmore Beagles. 



February 24th. Mr. Petre's Harriers at Writtle. This 

 being, I believe, the last day that Fane rode any of my horses, 

 I may record his opinion of them. He believes " Peep o' 

 Day " to be, without exception, the best horse he has ever 

 ridden, though he had ridden " Arbutus " the steeplechase 

 horse, &c., &c. 



Saturday, April 14th, 1849. As a wind-up to the season 

 a drag with the Blackmore Beagles came off to-day, starting in 

 the Priory Meadows and finishing up at Mr. Fane's house, 

 where he had provided a dinner. Fane rode his pony, his 

 brother in-law Ballard also rode. W. Kortwright, Livimore, 

 and one or two more were also mounted. " Carlow " was the 

 only horse that at all attempted to go with them, so that the 

 gallant old fellow being unmolested, enjoyed himself while 

 sailing away alongside the miniature pack. Fane, to do him 

 justice, would have ridden had he not spared his pony, and 

 knowing the line selected (which I had no previous notion of), 

 and availing himself of the roads and short cuts, got on very 

 well and charged the bush hurdles in Myless gallantly, but his 

 pony swerving right in front of "Carlow," I had some little 

 difficulty to avoid riding over him. 



Abraham Caton who officiated as Huntsman, went sur- 

 prisingly well, and would puzzle any one on two legs to ride 

 with him across country. The line of country selected was 

 about eight miles, embracing thirty-two jumps and the ground 

 was very heavy. The drag was carried by four men in 

 succession, two on foot and two on horseback, and the distance 



