196 THE NEW FOREST 



preservation of foxes, &c. } rested, should assert 

 itself, and settle disputes once for all. 



This power had not happened in the Forest 

 since ninety years previously, but at that date 

 it brought peace, and so it did when it was again 

 invoked in 1883. 



Accordingly, a conference was held, and the 

 master of the Foxhounds, as the senior pack, 

 hunting three days a week, was asked to name 

 the days for which he desired permission. He 

 chose without discussion to adhere to his exist- 

 ing days, viz. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 

 each with a particular section of the Forest at- 

 tached to it. The Buckhounds had Monday 

 and Friday allotted to them, each also with a 

 section of the country assigned to it, so planned 

 that there should be only a remote possibility 

 of their disturbing country to which the Fox- 

 hounds were coming the next day. So long as 

 these regulations were strictly observed, there 

 was, as in 1789, hardly a possibility of the sport 

 of either pack clashing with the other. 



As a matter of fact, the scheme worked ad- 

 mirably. I doubt if there is a hunting man in 

 the Forest who could point to a day within his 

 memory when the sport of one pack interfered 

 with that of any other. 



And, indeed, the oddest thing about the whole 



