232 NIMROD'S HUNTING TOUR 



are handsome and of a good stamp ; but the dog hounds are, many 

 of them, past then- prime, and, as a pack, not so sightly as they 

 should be. A liberal draft is wanted, and a larger supply of three 

 and four year old hounds is necessary for the work Mr. Musters 

 gives them. 



Of condition I must not say much. The month of March was all 

 against it ; but it improved during the time I was with the hounds. 

 It was evident the season's work had been too hard for them, but 

 their huntsman never knows when to say "enough," so fond is he 

 of the sport. I should also observe, that some of Mr. Musters' 

 finest bitches were gone to his seat in Nottinghamshire (where he 

 has excellent walks) to whelp. His fii-st whipper-in I found to be 

 my old acquaintance, Tom Smith, who formerly whipped-in to, and 

 afterwards hunted, Lord Middleton's hounds. Smith is a good 

 sportsman ; and no doubt will soon be a very good one under such 

 a master. He greatly prefers Northamptonshire to Warwickshire 

 for hounds. The second whipper-in. Will Derry, is useful and civil, 

 and has been two years with Mr. Musters. 



Mr. Musters's kennel and stables are sufficiently good. His 

 horses are of a large stamp, which his strongly fenced country 

 requires. 



Of Mr. Musters as a rider little need be said. He has always been 

 considered not only a very elegant horseman, but capital over a 

 country, and he has the eye of a hawk. In his saddle he is fifteen 

 stone ; but he maintains, that weight, with horses equal to it, is an 

 advantage in Northamptonshire, and that no light man can go well 

 over it. I know indeed that the Tom Smith has been heard to say, 

 that he goes over Leicestershire, but through Northamptonshire — 

 alluding to the strength of the fences. 



Among the Northamptonshire riders, Vere Isham (brother to Sir 

 Justinian) stands first, and with a good or bad horse under him he 

 is a very clever felloiv. He is not like the parson who could only 

 preach out of his own book ; or like many of our fine riders who can 

 go well on fine horses ; but Vere Isham — although a grandfather — 

 can ride what others cannot ride ; and if he hears of a horse that is to 

 be sold because he will not make a hunter, he generally buys him — 

 having got a receipt in his stable that will soon make him one. 



