The Belvoir. 7 



has missed a siglit sucli as no other pack can 

 afford/^ 



With sixty to sixty-five couple of hounds in kennel, 

 they hunt five days a week — which is quite as much 

 as a huntsman can do without over-taxing his strength 

 or destroying his energy. Indeed^ in such open 

 seasons as the two last the strain upon the huntsman^s 

 physical powers must have been immense — bearing in 

 mind that two months of cubhunting (itself a tiring 

 experience) precede November^ and that a huntsman 

 must ever be the last man home. 



No country presents a greater variety in itself than 

 the Belvoir. Within its confines you may ride over 

 small grass meadows^ broad grazing grounds, light 

 heath and heavy plough. Thus it is impossible to 

 sum up its characteristics in a sentence or two ; but 

 they must rather be left to make themselves apparent 

 as we go on to classify the different sections of His 

 Grace^s kingdom. 



On Mondays and alternate Saturdays the meets are 

 fixed for the neighbourhood of the Castle — and these 

 are Belvoir (for the home woods), Three Queens 

 (whence a gallop over the light plough and easy 

 fences of what they term their *''' heath country" may 

 generally be looked for), Denton Hall and Harlaxton 

 Hall — the two latter being about midway between 

 Grantham and the kennels. This portion of the 

 country you may well choose for schooling your 

 young horse or for trying your last purchase. But 

 when you get into the Belvoir Vale — a part of which 

 is also comprised in the Monday-and-alternate-Satur- 

 day district — you must take out a hunter not only 



