Hunting, 1 5 



of the East, and soon drag hunts were had near 

 many of the Eastern cities. Thus a desire for 

 cross-country riding was created which has de- 

 veloped into the successful hunt clubs of the East. 

 It has never been popular in any other section of 

 the country, and is absolutely unknown in the 

 South. A Southern hunter would as soon think 

 of gratifying his sporting ambition by tossing up 

 a dead bird bought in the market and shooting 

 at it, as in running a drag, and the devotee of 

 drag-hunting considers many of the fox-hunting 

 customs of the South and West equally as absurd 

 and amusing. 



Hunting in certain portions of New England 

 is certainly unique. There is none of the form, 

 ceremony, glamour, and glitter of the uniformed 

 hunters, and sleek, beautifully caparisoned thor- 

 oughbreds of the Eastern clubs, nor the reckless, 

 dare-devil, noisy riding that characterizes the 

 Kentucky and Southern hunter. Clubs are formed 

 for the purpose of shooting foxes. They go to 

 covert in large ''barges," each hunter with his 

 trusty shot-gun across his knees. They take posi- 

 tions on a runway or stand, until the coverts 

 resemble the business end of a battleship; the 

 hounds are thrown in a swamp, and as they bring 

 out Brer Fox a bombardment opens up resem- 

 bling a Port Arthur attack and repulse. They 

 are as proud of trophies obtained in this way as 

 a schoolboy is of his first pair of red boots, it 



