32 FOX-HOUND, FOREST, AND PRAIRIE. 



And to judge by appearances on this the last day of the week, 

 the Prince himself is likely to be the only survivor ; for while 

 others, to a man or woman look haggard and worn with their 

 round of dissipation, his countenance is as fresh and hearty as 

 if ten o'clock had nightly seen him commencing to sleep the 

 clock round. 



To seek the wily jackal the pack are first trotted off to what 

 is known as the " Old Covert," at the back of the Mount, and 

 the field follow after, looking more like a party of African 

 explorers on the march than a company such as the term field 

 would usually imply. A cheer from Squires, and some guttural 

 exclamations from his black whipper-in, proclaim a find almost 

 before stirrup-leathers are adjusted or hatstrings tied the 

 ungainly sun-hats requiring to be positively strapped on to 

 keep them in their places. Through the rough scrub and over 

 the gravelly flat beyond, even a jackal does not leave a burning 

 scent ; and by the time he has reached the paddy fields a mile 

 further, he has gained ground enough to double twice upon his 

 track amid the rich green growth, and our first experience of 

 riding over, or rather through, paddy commences. Please 

 accept paddy, English reader, as synonymous with rice, and you 

 will then need but little further explanation. Perhaps some 

 few, though, may have been lucky enough never to find occa- 

 sion for wandering far enough from their native land to be 

 initiated into the system of rice cultivation. For these I may 

 add that rice is grown, so to speak, under water, by means of 

 flooding the low ground from the tanks formed on a higher 

 level. Each little quarter-acre field is banked round, so as to 

 be more or less independent of its neighbours. Mud and water 

 keep the roots of the plant cool, while the stems grow to about 

 two feet in height. In this we are accustomed to wade about 

 after snipe, as long as our livers will allow us the charming 

 sport ; and now, forsooth, we are riding to hounds through it. 

 Kneedeep we flounder on ; but after all it is not as holding 

 as steam plough, and horses soon learn to stride through it at 



