i68 FOX-HUNTING FROM SHIRE TO SHIRE 



bottle of port and an extra cigar. The virtues of 

 a good gallop with hounds are unquestionable, 

 quickening the pulse and brightening the eye of 

 many to whom hunting means drinking in fresh 

 energies, to successfully grapple with the more 

 arduous duties and responsibilities of life. It 

 was one of many instances when the Belvoir were 

 seen at the top of their form at the end of the 

 day, coming out with that dash so characteristic of 

 the thoroughbred blood. The stamina and condi- 

 tion of a fox-hound, aided by his high courage, stamps 

 him as one of the marvels of selection and breeding, 

 his endurance being equal to that of three horses. As 

 the Belvoir pack turned homewards in the twilight^ — 

 after eating their fox — they trotted along with sterns 

 up as gaily as they left kennels in the morning, 

 though some of the horses were left for the night 

 at the nearest farm house. 



