t 



390 REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN. 



of hounds died away with the opposition which he 

 had encountered.* The question then comes, Can 

 Mr. Drax assign away this portion of the Vale country 

 to any man who wishes to succeed him in hunting 

 those acres? I say decidedly not. It is only to the 

 head of the Drax family that the country of right 

 belongs, as stated in the agreement, and Mr. Drax 

 cannot hand down the right which he, by virtue of a 

 first a2:2:ression, has obtained in the Vale to a stranger; 

 and if he yields the Charborough country, or ceases 

 to hunt it himself, he is hound by that cleed^ and 

 in courtesy, to surrender it to the former possessor, 

 Mr. Farquharson^ so long as he continues to keep his 

 howids. When Mr. Farquharson resigns his hounds 

 — and Heaven grant that that hour is far off — 

 then if Mr. Drax survives him, or indeed whoever 

 is the owner of Charborough Park, and the represent- 

 ative of that family, he can insist on the unfettered 

 restoration of the Charborough country, and of 

 right to hunt it, or assign it to whomsoever he pleases. 

 Till that time, Mr. Drax himself ceasing to hunt it, 

 Mr. Farquharson, to all intents and purposes, is in 

 just possession. Mr. Farquharson is perfectly right 

 in an idea I have known him promulgate, that in 

 holding the hunting country he looked on himself as 

 a sort of steward in possession, unable of himself to 

 forego any portion of it. So far he is right, but this 

 view of the matter does not prevent a temporary 

 disposition of a part of his country under specific 

 agreement, that a portion of it is so leased or con- 

 ceded for a time, to be reclaimed again on due notice. 

 On the contrary, viewing the matter in the light of a 

 steward, a steward does well who makes the most of 



* Although the Charborough hounds have been repeatedly 

 advertised for sale, I believe they yet continue with Mr. Di'ax. 



