Pox-htmting Past and Present 



Melton Mowbray is, of course, the cardinal 

 point of this famous hunting-ground, though not 

 the central one. There hounds are comparatively 

 close at hand every day in the week. It rarely 

 happens that a ride of ten miles at most will not 

 find them, and a ride to covert in Leicestershire 

 has been declared by an enthusiast to be better 

 than a run anywhere else in the world. From 

 this little paradise, isled in a sea of grass, you get 

 the Quorn on Mondays and Fridays ; on Tuesdays, 

 the Cottesmore ; on Wednesday, the Belvoir ; on 

 Thursday comes either a by-day with the Quorn 

 or one of Sir Bache Cunard's northern meets ; on 

 Saturday, the Belvoir and the Cottesmore are al- 

 ternately at your door. To take all the goods thus 

 lavishly provided a large stud is a necessity. True, 

 as " Brooksby " says, six thoroughly well-seasoned 

 nags, with the inevitable cast-iron hack (who must 

 both jump and gallop more than a bit) will carry 

 you through the season if you have luck, and here 

 and there a timely frost comes to help. Some 

 men can certainly get more out of one horse than 

 many can out of two. But even the cleverest and 

 most saving rider must lose much of the fun if he 

 makes Melton his headquarters with only six 

 hunters in his stable. 



The best sport in this country comes generally 



in the afternoon, when the coffee-housers have 



gone home, and hounds have a chance. But 



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