234 Hunting Countries of England. 



THE EAST KENT.* 



Kent is scarcely the county a liunting-man would of 

 his own free will select as the most delectable sphere 

 for his pursuit — unless_, indeed, he be wedded to 

 change,, and^ having experienced the smooth side of 

 foxhunting in one quarter^ should suddenly find 

 himself bitten with a desire to try the rough else- 

 where. Kent is eminently available from London; 

 and it has three packs of hounds to choose from. 

 But the '^ Garden of England '' is laid out in a 

 manner scarcely compatible with foxhunting in its 

 most successful form. It would be as fair to expect 

 that a high-class cricket match could come off on a 

 lawn — though bat and ball have been wielded there 

 by most of us at one time of our lives. But if the 

 nomade foxhunter is not likely, voluntarily, to pitch 

 his camp in Kent, he only after all represents a small 

 section of the hunting field — except in some few of 

 the most fashionable resorts — where men gather 

 yearly from every quarter and corner of the kingdom. 

 Her Majesty, if you serve her, is graciously pleased 

 that you should hunt, and gives you every encourage- 

 ment towards doing so — except as regards assisting 



* Vide *' Stanford's Large Scale Map," Sheet 23 ; also, 

 "Hobson's FoxhuntiDO' Atlas." 



