THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



gate that he and Sir Charles Knightly — but no one else — 

 leaped, near Northampton, at the end of a twent}^ minutes' 

 burst. It appeared to me next to a miracle that he could have 

 cleared it, when I looked at its height, and thought of his 

 tremendous weight. The name of the horse that performed it 

 is Cock Robin (winged, I should imagine, like his namesake), 

 and he had refused 1000 guineas for him. 



' The frost is gone at last, and to our no small delight. 

 Indeed, the breaking-up of one always reminds me of the 

 inhabitants of those countries from which the sun absents 

 himself for half a year. Speaking poetically, when they see 

 the chariot of Diana, every man claps his hands for joy ; all 

 come forth from their caves, with dancing and songs, to welcome 

 the approach of that beautiful goddess. But you may wish to 

 know what I did with myself during the frost. I visited 

 London for a week, and afterwards ran down to Amstead, and 

 had a capital week's shooting, killing seventeen couples of 

 woodcocks, eleven and a half brace of pheasants, seven and a 

 half of snipes, and eleven of rabbits. I then ran down to 

 Quorn to see the hounds in kennel, and a great treat I had. 

 The master was from home, but I inspected the whole estab- 

 lishment, which, to use the low expression, " made my mouth 

 water," and I said to myself — when shall I be qualified to be 

 at the head of such an establishment as this ? I was answered 

 by the inner man, with a still low^er expression — " when you 

 have eaten a good deal more pudding." But I tell 3'ou, 

 honestly, Hargrave, I shall never consider myself completely 

 happy until I become a master of foxhounds. By the bye, 

 one piece of information gleaned at Quorn somewhat surprised 

 me, and this was, the comparatively small number of foxes 

 killed in the space of five seasons, during what may be called 

 the prime of Mr. Meynell's career. The account stands thus : 

 —From 16th of August, 1791, to April, 1792, thirty-four 

 brace. From 16th oi June, 1792, to 9th of April, 1793, 

 forty-one and a half brace. From 16th of June, 1793, to 

 2nd of April, 1794, forty-six and a half brace. From 23rd 

 of August, 1794, to 4th of April, 1795, twenty-six and a half 

 brace. From 26th of August, 1795, to 4th of April, 1796, 

 thirty-four and a half brace. This, you will perceive, averages 

 little more than thirty-six brace in the season, including 

 cub-huntino-, and that commencing more than usually early. 



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