HUNTING LOCALITIES 185 



Lord Leconfield's. At Winchester plenty of hunting 

 is obtainable, with the Hursley, Hambledon, and 

 H.H., but Portsmouth is not well placed, except for 

 the southern portion of the Hambledon Hunt. 



By train, however, the New Forest can be reached 

 from Portsmouth, and much of it from Southampton by 

 road. Here there are both foxhounds and staghounds, 

 the staghounds hunting on Monday and Friday, and 

 the foxhounds on Thursday and Saturday. Brocken- 

 hurst and Lyndhurst are the most popular centres, but 

 hunting men are scattered all over the Forest, and in 

 the spring of the year many visitors arrive to secure the 

 benefit of hunting — with both packs — right through 

 the month of April. The hunting is, from a riding 

 point of view, quite unique, but it has, like that of 

 Devon and Somerset, a charm and fascination of its 

 own, and nowhere in the kingdom can the real lover of 

 hound-work see more to please him. 



Farther down the south coast most of the hunting is 

 confined to the local population until the Blackmore 

 Vale and Cattistock countries are reached. Both of 

 these packs have first-rate country, and show sport that 

 is good enough to attract strangers, and, for the 

 Blackmore Vale, Sherborne is undoubtedly the most 

 popular centre, though Yeovil is fairly handy. Maiden 

 Newton is the most central town in the Cattistock 

 country, and certain meets of the pack are within reach 

 of Dorchester and Weymouth. 



As for Devonshire, a wonderful hunting country, 

 and yet, except in one corner of it, extremely local as 

 regards the following, it is difficult to mention any 

 town or district where good sport cannot be enjoyed, 

 though the hills are almost everywhere, and the riding 

 lines quite different from those which are to be found in 



