FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS ^^ 



as that again/' We found another fox in the after- 

 noon at Hasley, but the scent had changed since 

 the morning, and we lost him at Broomy Lodge. 



At the end of this season I gave up the country 

 and sold my hounds ; the bitch pack went to my 

 successor, Mr. George Meyrick of Hint on Admiral ; 

 the doghounds went partly to Lord Spencer, 

 who was Master of the Pytchley, and partly to 

 Lord Howth, who then kept the hounds at Pau. 



In looking back to those times I should be 

 inclined to say that if a man only *' hunts to 

 ride,'' he had better never go near the New 

 Forest, but if, on the contrary, he '' rides to hunt," 

 then there is no limit to his enjoyment. 



I have never seen any country where at 

 times hounds ran harder than in the Forest : 

 this was by no means an e very-day occurrence. 

 In the autumn the scent is often very moderate, 

 and especially so when the leaf is falling ; but 

 when that is quite over, matters begin to improve, 

 and from January to May — sometimes when 

 the country is almost under water, or sometimes 

 when the ground is as hard as iron — I have seen 

 many days on which hounds can race from 

 morning till night, especially with a straight fox 

 who runs the rides in the enclosures and the 

 tracks on the open heath. Those are the days 

 to ascertain whether your hounds have got 



