210 Hunting Countries of England, 



Oxford or from the Duke of Beaufort^ s^ and from the 

 Vale of White Horse, there is seldom anything 

 approaching to a large field : and hounds have such a 

 chance as they do not often get elsewhere. With 

 almost a plethora of foxes it is not astonishing that 

 many of them lie out in the open throughout the 

 winter. Thus it never does to be coflTeehousing or 

 loitering behind when the old Berkshire hounds are 

 on the move, even between covert and covert. For at 

 anv moment information may be brought of an out- 

 lying fox; the pack are laid on at his brush, and may 

 be fields away in a minute. Of late years foxes in these 

 parts have shown a wonderful partiality for ivy-covered 

 trees ; and many good gallops have begun by Reynard 

 being whipped out of his perch, to descend like a 

 meteor on to terra firma. And a fox is no less 

 extraordinary than a cat in his power of leaping from a 

 great height without harm to himself. 



Of Hunting Quarters for the Old Berkshire, Oxford 

 is of course the handiest with regard to London (being 

 distant but one hour and three-quarters by Great 

 Western) ; and has, as noticed under the head of the 

 Heythrop and the Bicester, the advantage of touching 

 also those two packs, as well as the South Oxfordshire. 

 At the same time Oxford stands a little wide of the 

 best meets of at least the three first-named ; and, 

 though you may hunt most days of the week from the 

 city in question with one pack or another, you must 

 make up your mind to many miles of roadwork in the 

 attainment. Fariugdon and Abingdon, though in 

 point of time much further from London (Paddington 

 Station) — the delay contingent on branch lines nearly 



