io8 Recollections of the Vine Hunt. 



father and mother ; all, except one hound ; and let me 

 tell you that / would rather have tJiat one hound than 

 all the other fifty conple put together' 



It so happened that at about this time Mr. Villebois 

 actually did possess an unusual number of hounds 

 bred from the same father and mother, for in the 

 hunting pack of the season 1822-3 there were thirty- 

 one hounds bred from his favourite dog, ' Pontiff,' of 

 which seventeen had the same dam, ' Vengeance ; ' 

 and once, when he made a by-day for some masters 

 of hounds and amateurs of the sport, he took out a 

 family party, consisting of the sire, the dams, and their 

 produce ; and mustered, I think, the very sufficient 

 number of about seventeen couples. 



At Mr. Villebois' death, in 1837, these hounds 

 became the property of his brother Frederick. Mr. 

 F. Villebois had been for three or four years the 

 master of the Craven hounds, and had, in that short 

 time, got together a very clever and powerful pack, 

 from some of the best blood in England. The gen- 

 tlemen of the H.H. being left without hounds, pro- 

 cured these, so that the two packs were transferred 

 each into the other's country. There was, however, 

 a remarkable difference in their immediate success. 

 The younger pack had extraordinary sport in Hamp- 

 shire throughout their first season, under Forster, 

 who, though about to retire on a pension from his 

 former master, hunted them through that season. I 

 chanced to be hunting with them one day, and heard 

 this question put to two farmers of different ages, 

 ' How do you like the new pack 1 ' * Well,' replied 

 the older and heavier man, * we rather wish we had 

 the old ones back again.' * Aye,' rejoined the lighter 



