10 NIMROD'S HUNTING TOUR 



with him into the next field, and not have a mark on his legs. 

 Horses which have been accustomed only to the hills ^e often 

 unsafe fencers in any other country, as they are apt to leap high, 

 but not to extend themselves sufficiently to clear a wide ditch. 



However easy it may appear to a man coming out of a stiff hndsing 

 country to ride over these hills, he will find it is not so easy to his 

 horse, and all his judgment will be required to make the best of his 

 ground. In the first place, although the ground cannot generally 

 be said to be deep, yet it must be recollected it is for the most part 

 ploughed, so that it is often very heavy and greasy. In the second 

 place, the pace is quick, from there being nothing to stop the hounds 

 or horses, and the up-and-down-hill that so often occurs is very 

 trying to horses which carry weight. Many a hunter would cut a 

 bad figure in a burst of thirty minutes with the Duke's hounds over 

 these hills, though he might make a very respectable one over a deep 

 vale ; and, on the other hand, the little spirting thorough-bred horse 

 that would " do the trick here " would leave one of his legs behind 

 him in some of the sloughs in Sir Thomas Mostyn's country. 



There is a very peculiar circumstance attending these hills which 

 has often been a matter of observation ; and that is, whenever a fox 

 has reached them, after a run over a loiocr country, the scent has 

 generally failed on running over them. This must be attributed 

 partly to atmospheric causes, and partly to the difference in the mean 

 temperature of the earth. 



Having given a description of the Oxfordshire i/z'Ws, I shall proceed 

 to the pack which hunts them. 



The Duke of Beaufort's hounds are of long standing in the county 

 of Oxford. They were kept many years by the late Duke ; and 

 nothing can exceed the respectability of the establishment. Their 

 present kennel is at Heythorp, the magnificent seat of the Earl of 

 Shrewsbury, which the Duke has rented these last three seasons 

 (1819-22). The house has all the conveniences requisite for his 

 Grace's establishment ; and the noble park affords most excellent 

 exercise-ground for hounds and horses. The situation is rather on 

 the outside of the country, which is an inconvenience ; Jnit it is not 

 of so much consequence in this instance, as it might be in many 

 others, owing to the travelling for hounds being so good, and so 



