Hunt Chtbs. 203 



try, with timber fenced fields, small enough to 

 check the rush of a big field of hunters. The 

 Club has fifteen lady members, with an average 

 of five in the saddle, being twenty-five per cent 

 of the total. The annual race meet of this club, 

 held at Wilmington, Del., consists of mile races 

 on the flat and two and a half mile steeplechases 

 across country. The events fill well and good 

 sport is furnished the large, fashionable crowds 

 in attendance. Professionalism, so frequently in- 

 festing similar meets, is conspicuous by its ab- 

 sence. 



The Myopia Hunt Club, Boston, was founded 

 in 1879, though it was not until 1881 they se- 

 cured a regular pack, which was brought from 

 Montreal and hunted, with Mr. Hugh A. Allen 

 as Master. While the club has a membership of 

 over one hundred, the "fields" only average about 

 twenty, a goodly percentage being ladies. When 

 the conditions are considered, the small fields are 

 not to be wondered at. The hunting is in Essex 

 County, about an hour's train ride from Boston. 

 It is, therefore, necessary for the horses and 

 hounds to "lay out" over night preceding the 

 "meets." In addition to the small inclosures and 

 the natural rockiness of the country, there are 

 many salt marshes, while directly through the 

 center of the hunting ground is a river hedged 

 by an extensive swamp, adjoining an almost im- 

 penetrable scrub woodland. To add to the mis- 



