INTRODUCTION xvii 



Messrs. Bumpus, of Oxford Street, and no master or 

 hunt servant should be without them. 



Having explained how hunting has been treated of 

 from the point of view of the hound and its work, we 

 may add that there are literally hundreds of books 

 which deal with the sport in one fashion or another, 

 but the above are the classics from the scientific point 

 of view. As regards foxhunting fiction Surtees stands 

 alone, although it is more than forty years since his 

 last book was published. It need hardly be stated here 

 that Surtees at times caricatured the sport, but he also 

 wrote descriptive matter in connection with it which 

 has never been excelled, and a careful reader can learn 

 more about hunting from Surtees' novels than he 

 can from the works of any other writer of novels. 

 Whyte Melville wrote graphic descriptions of runs in 

 the Shires, but these were fiction. The modern writer 

 par excellence of accounts of real hunting is Captain 

 Pennell Elmhirst, known all over the world as 

 **Brooksby," and whose letters have held a foremost 

 place in the pages of the Field for more than a genera- 

 tion. 



But matters have become greatly changed since 

 Surtees wrote, and there are people of either sex who 

 are constantly inquiring as to what line of conduct 

 they should pursue with a view to becoming foxhunters. 

 " I wish very much to go out with hounds. Can you 

 tell me how and where I can learn to hunt? " was the 

 beginning of one letter which came into our hands. 

 Another inquirer (quite recently) asked us for the 

 following particulars: '* Will you enumerate all the 

 subscription packs in the kingdom, stating amount of 



