18 REMINISCENCES OF 



were rarely seen. Another quality for which Mr. 

 Craven was remarkable was his punctuality, a virtue 

 in which he was very deficient. Whatever the distance 

 might be, or however bad the weather, Mr. Craven 

 always attended, and was always at his time. Mr. 

 Craven took the hounds under trying circumstances, 

 and he was glad to bear his testimony to the manner 

 in which he had hunted them. He had shown several 

 days' good sport, and, with a little more experience, 

 he felt sure Mr. Craven would get to the head of his 

 profession. These were troublous times for fox- 

 hunting, for they had heard of places where coverts 

 had been burnt and a pack of hounds had been 

 poisoned on account of a personal quarrel with the 

 master. Now personal quarrels ought never to be 

 introduced into the hunting-field. Other places were 

 worse than they were, but even in the Pytchley they 

 were not quite free from reproach. They had heard 

 of places where there were no foxes where there ought 

 to have been, and they had heard of dead foxes where 

 live ones ought to be. He would beg them earnestly 

 to get rid of those evils and to give their cordial 

 support to their master, and if they did that, he had 

 no doubt the master would do his duty to them. He 

 wished Mr. Craven every success, and could not 

 conclude without expressing the hope that Mr. Craven 

 would keep the hounds as many years as he had 

 done, and be surrounded with as many kind friends 

 and good sportsmen as he saw around him then. 



" Mr. Craven, in returning thanks, said it was 

 no easy task for him to follow in the footsteps of 



