238 ENCOMBE. 



During my first visit, which was ne- 

 cessarily short, on account of my father's 

 business at home, I was introduced to 

 some of the elite of the town, which 

 was the means of my becoming ac- 

 quainted with a few respectable families 

 in the Isle of Purbeck, as that part of 

 Dorsetshire is called that extends from 

 the river Frome to the sea. Their 

 hospitality I frequently enjoyed, and in 

 the shooting season I was always a wel- 

 come visitor. 



I remember on one occasion shooting 

 with a gentleman whose land joined on 

 to the Encombe estate, the property of 

 the late Lord Chancellor Eldon, who 

 had then recently purchased it from 

 the family of Mr. Moreton Pitt, at 

 which retired spot he always spent the 

 summer vacation. Walking towards the 

 plantation that set bounds to my com- 

 panion's beat, I observed at a short 

 distance a portly-looking gentleman, with 



