THE COLLEGE HUNT. 19 



great Pomponius Hego and Scrutator, known as having long 

 held a proud position in the first flight of the E.C.H., leaving 

 the ' Shires ' favoured the provinces with their presence. 

 Thackeray and Moore brought down a hare from Oxford, which 

 Pound turned out at Queen Anne's Spring." 



The sport, however, on this occasion was not good, *' every 

 inch of scent being trodden out by gentlemen who seemed to 

 have discovered the secret of perpetual motion." This season 

 ended after rather unsatisfactory sport. In Lewis's case ' the 

 spirit was willing but the flesh was weak,' and he frankly owned 

 that his running powers did not enable him to prove a capable 

 huntsman. Ichabod, Ichabod. 



But Pound got together a much better pack. His season 

 has already been so well described by Mr. R. V. Somers-Smith 

 that it is unnecessary for me to add anything. Pound seemed 

 in all his accounts to have been completely dissatisfied with the 

 world in general, for he scarcely ever praises anything in his 

 records, and he speaks of almost ever3i:hing in embittered 

 terms. 



On one occasion a hare was put up at 10.45, i.e. a quarter 

 of an hour before school. The huntsman and whips returned to 

 school while the hounds went on by themselves and killed their 

 hare, which was stolen by and afterwards recovered from a 

 sweep. This was only the third occasion on which a wild hare 

 had ever been killed by these hounds. 



One day the hounds joined with the Prince's Harriers, and 

 the Prince and his retinue passed close by and inspected the little 

 pack, ^' no doubt with an admiring eye! " The unlevelness of 

 the pack may be shown by the measurements taken on March 

 25th, 1865: 



This was by far the most successful season the E.C.H. had 

 ever seen. 



So much for the College Beagles. It is to be wondered at 

 that at this time there should have been two packs of beagles in 

 the school, but it was about then that the differences between 

 the Collegers and the Oppidans were one by one abolished. The 

 amalgamation of the Beagles was almost the last of these 



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