i84 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



country lane, and longer still before we discovered 

 a house. At last we got our bearings, and hounds 

 were well over twenty miles from kennels, and did not 

 get home until ten o'clock, while the rest of us reached 

 East Grinstead a little before eight, and leaving our 

 horses there for the night, went home by train. 



This was one of the best days we ever had with any 

 hounds, and we always regretted that most of the usual 

 Burstow field did not see it. The fact is that in those 

 days — we do not know how it may be now — few of the 

 followers of these hounds had a second horse out, and 

 that being the case two-thirds of the field had gone 

 home before this second run began, while many others 

 had fallen out of the ranks near the West Kent border, 

 being of opinion (and rightly too) that a single horse 

 had had quite enough for one day. Poor Mr. Hoare 

 never hunted again, and in point of fact only lived a 

 few weeks after the day we have been describing. He 

 was a rare sportsman, who carried the horn until he 

 was over seventy years of age, and he was fairly wor- 

 shipped by the farmers of his hunt. He did much 

 towards making the pack what it now is, as he hunted 

 them for twenty-nine seasons, being master also during 

 the last fifteen. He had a wonderful manner with 

 horses, and when he was getting too old to ride over 

 a big fence he would get off and lead over, if it was 

 possible. 



Brighton and Lewes are fairly central for the South- 

 down, as are Steyningand Hassocks, while Eastbourne 

 residents now have their own pack, and those who hunt 

 from Hastings can reach all the East Sussex country. 

 Chichester is a poor hunting centre, though the 

 southern meets of the Crawley and Horsham are avail- 

 able, as are — since he extended his country — some of 



