30 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



fox seldom quits grass ; and that further below, beyond 

 the stiff clay of Bramingham and Sundon, we have the 

 fine grass vale of Toddington, equalling the best part 

 of the best of countries, and formerly characterised by 

 Mr. Meynell himself as the " Elysian fields;" still, 

 I have said that a great variety exists ; and, as, in all 

 give-and-take, with the good will come the bad, so around 

 Kimpton, and a great part of the country between the 

 Welwyn and Harpenden roads, and occasionally in other 

 parts, fields are to be found bestrewed with flints, as thick 

 as leaves in Vallombrosa — very nearly equalhng those in 

 Hampshire. To encounter these, a hound must have a foot 

 like that of a cat in closeness, not exactly like that of a cat, 

 as I have found that a cat-foot, however beautiful to look 

 at, is liable to get what is termed a toe down sooner than 

 any other. The toes of the foot must be close as possible, 

 the whole foot round, yet flat enough for elasticity and 

 expansion in action. With as little of kennel lameness 

 as any, if not less, I will venture to say that, in no county, 

 are more hounds lamed in the course of a day's work. 

 I have drafted hounds which, from slight defects in their 

 feet, have been utterly incapacitated, but which have con- 

 tinued, in other and deeper country, perfectly effective. 

 Some contend that a hound should be perfectly straight 

 from his withers to his stern ; but I am myself fond of 

 what are called arched loins, or wheel backs, with an 

 inchnation to drooping quarters, with that development 



