6 The Hunting Countries of England. 



convey you down to dinner over-niglit, ratlier tlian as 

 a covert liack in the morning. 



The Belvoir hounds are quite one of the oldest 

 packs in the kingdom — their kennel books dating 

 back as far as 1756 — and certainly they are at the 

 present time the most striking pack in England at 

 the covertside. Their beautiful uniformity of colour- 

 ing, their high class_, and their wonderful evenness in 

 appearance are quite unapproached elsewhere. It 

 might be thought that these qualities could not have 

 been brought to such a pitch of excellence, without 

 sacrifice of other more practical attributes, did we not 

 know that nearly a century and a half has been 

 expended in reaching this standard, and that each 

 year as many as a hundred couple of puppies 

 (occasionally even more) are sent out to walk. With 

 such a choice of new material there can be little 

 difficulty in filling up the gaps — or even to maintain 

 a standard so unyielding. It puzzles an outsider to 

 imagine how the kennel men ever learn their hounds 

 by name — so extraordinarily similar are they in mark- 

 ing and contour. Every hound has the black " saddle- 

 mark^^ on his back; every hound has his "Belvoir 

 tan^^ head ; while the groundwork of each skin is 

 purest white. To draw them hj name, when standing 

 with their heads all in one direction, would indeed 

 seem an almost hopeless feat. On their pedigrees 

 and history we do not propose to enter here. These 

 have been discussed at length in the columns of 

 The Field ; and have no immediate connection with 

 our present purpose. But we. say it with emphasis, 

 "Who has not seen the Belvoir at the covertside 



