174 THE BROCKLESBY HOUNDS. [1898 



At Asliby Cottagers' Plats I was just in time to see a brace 

 of fresh foxes go away unniolested, and then to see the 

 pack come out close on the back of a third, leaving the 

 hunted animal in covert. But they went with such drive 

 and dash in pursuit of their fresh fox that, after sending 

 him over Grainsby, with the park on the right, they ran 

 into him before he could reach Hell Furze. There was 

 some more " devarsion " during the day, but this was the 

 piece de resistance. 



The last good day of the season came four days later 

 from Great Coates Station. The first item was a thirty- 

 five minutes' burst down the marshes from Sutton Thorns 

 to the manure works just outside Grimsby, and part of 

 the way back, till hounds caught their fox near some 

 cottages. We then had a quick thing from Stallingborough 

 Scrubbs to Battery Marsh, where hounds went away on a 

 stale line that came to nothing ; and then from Reeds 

 Mere ran to Little London, thence to Roxton Wood and 

 Foxholes, and so back to Little London, where the fox 

 shook off his pursuers. 



The season died a reluctant death on April 21st; it 

 was a good one on the whole, in spite of short-running 

 foxes and a somewhat moderate scent up to February. 

 After that scent improved and the foxes ran straighter. 

 Hounds were out sixty-eight times, killing forty-two 

 brace of foxes and running fourteen and a half brace to 

 ground. 



The cub-hunting season of 1898 began on August 29th, 

 the dog pack taking the field first at Thomas's wood, 

 where they killed a cub, and followed this up by taking 

 toll of the litter in Rough Pastures. Smith then went 

 home with the dog pack and brought the bitches out, 

 making a beginning at Rough Pastures, and killing a 

 cub after twenty-five minutes around Brocklesby village. 

 Twenty minutes in Milner's wood brought a cub to hand, 

 and having got all the family to go away, hounds returned 

 to kennels, with two brace registered for the first day. 



Operations were suspended between September 7th 



