The Bedale Hounds, 1832-1908 179 



line strewn with corpses. When it had 

 gone by, one bitch, 'Warfare,' only was 

 injured, she having about six inches of her 

 stern cut off, but she was soon hunting 

 again. I am inchned to think that the great 

 current of air caused by the speed of the 

 train, swept or frightened away from the 

 metals both those hounds which were just 

 over or just about to cross the set of rails on 

 which the train was travelling, and if the 

 train had been slowing down, or going at 

 a much lower rate of speed, there would 

 have been more casualties. It was, however, 

 a most providential escape, but a sickening 

 sight to witness. After this unforeseen check, 

 hounds soon picked up the line, and ran very 

 quickly past Dalton village to the road under 

 the railway bridge at Croft, where the fox 

 was seen only about fifty yards in front of 

 them. From this point nothing more could 

 be made of it, the road soon got blocked up 

 with steaming horses, and a ''cast" was a 

 farce. This was a very quick gallop of 

 twenty minutes, and it was unlucky not 

 getting hold of our fox. 



In the afternoon a fox was found in 

 Cowton Whin, which hounds hunted only 

 slowly, towards Uckerby, then right-handed 

 by Cramble Cross towards Dalton Whin ; 

 bearing right-handed he crossed the Hunt 

 boundary road, when we either changed 

 foxes, or scent improved in a most marvel- 

 lous fashion ; as from this point hounds ran 

 very fast along Pepper Arden Bottoms 



