THE FIRE AT HOLBROOK S 453 



School and Sheds at Holbrook's burnt down, ' Saladin ' and 

 one cart horse burnt to death. Thought to be set on tire. 

 Discovered about 3 p.m. to-day." 



Of course I travelled up as soon as practicable, viz., by 

 mail train the following evening, and found the disaster even 

 worse than I was led to suppose ; for the whole of the farm 

 buildings, boxes, sheds, yards, &c., with nearly all my agricul- 

 tural implements, poultry, &c., were utterly destroyed, and a 

 more melancholy scene than the still-smouldering remains and 

 the charred trunks of the poor horses, without legs and heads, 

 I never saw, I could scarcely refrain from tears, at the sicken- 

 ing sight of all that remained of the gallant, handsome 

 "Saladin," the "pet of the stable," as well as my best and 

 favourite hunter, bred, reared, and made by myself, and esteemed 

 all the more from the unusual trouble he had given to be made 

 into a hunter, and the difficulty of riding him over a country. 

 "Wideawake" and "Hematite," who were in the two small 

 yards, were released with the greatest difficulty, and the other 

 farming horse and young Freddy Beckington, had a narrow 

 escape at Thoby Priory, just at the same time, by the blowing- 

 down of one of the lime trees. 



There were, however, two crumbs of comfort, (i) that the 

 poor horses could scarcely have suffered, being suffocated in 

 less than three minutes by the black stifling smoke ; (2) that 

 the cause of the fire was satisfactorily proved to have been 

 lightning, which struck the summer-house sheds at the back, or 

 moorland side, and the hurricane made the fire rage so furiously 

 that everything was destroyed in half-an-hour. A field of ripe 

 standing wheat in the Six x\cres was saved with difficulty. 



Notes, 1869-70. 



Weather. November, fine and dry ; foliage singularly late 

 on trees. December, one half wild, wet and stormy ; other 

 half, frost and snow. January, uncertain and tetchy, occasional 

 frosts. February, wretchedly bad. frost and boisterous N.E. 

 winds. March, cold and inclement ; bitter east winds, deep 

 snow on 26th. April, fine, bright and dry, cold and warm 

 winds alternating. Cold dry winter, decidedly bad weather for 

 hunting and very uncertain. 



Foxhounds. Loftus Arkwright not strong enough to appear 

 in the field, Frederick Petre acted as field-master on Ongar 

 side and Edwin Eyre on Dunmow side. Not a good season, 

 but in this respect only like the generality of countries. John 

 Offin succeeded to Scratton's countrv and so far as a liberal 



