150 THE BROCK LESBY HOUNDS. [18!»0 



without pause for three hours, over the Ravendale, Thor- 

 ganby, Laceby, and Bradley countries, and only failing to 

 kill on account of the frequent changing of well-beaten 

 foxes for fresh ones. There was a steady stream of good 

 sport from start to finish of the season, and the one hundred 

 and nineteen days' hunting yielded no fewer than one 

 hundred and thirty-six noses for the kennel boards, besides 

 which twenty-five brace of foxes were marked to ground. 



The cub-hunting of 1890 began on August 22nd, and 

 proved a very satisfactory one. November 1st was the 

 last day of a good servant to Dale, the grey cob that had 

 carried him through six cub-hunting seasons and never 

 given him a fall. A most tiring and exacting day's work, 

 which this good little animal had gone through without 

 a grumble or falter, proved too much for one whose 

 heart was almost too big for its body. That winter was 

 the most severe for thirty years, and from December 13th, 

 1890, till January 26th, 1891, the frost king held high 

 carnival. On the 18th of that month twenty-three degrees 

 of frost were registered, and on the 19th twenty-nine 

 degrees. Well does the writer remember this winter, for 

 his first introduction to North Lincolnshire was on January 

 7th in a blinding snowstorm, with nine inches of snow on 

 the open country at the same time. 



No day of marked excellence stands out in this most 

 disappointing season, during which hounds were stopped 

 for three M^eeks by the dry weather in the autumn and 

 seven weeks by frost. But, in spite of this, they kept 

 their appointment on ninety-nine occasions, and accounted 

 for eighty-six foxes killed and twenty- one brace run to 

 ground, a great difl"erence on the previous season, truly ; 

 but it only goes to show that the best of hounds and 

 huntsmen cannot contend against adverse climatic con- 

 ditions. 



The following cub-hunting season began on September 

 2nd, and it finished with a grand burst of sport, hounds 

 killing thirteen foxes in the last week (four days and a 

 bye), and each after some capital fun and meritorious 



