The East Essex. 15 



THE EAST ESSEX.* 



The East Essex can scarcely be termed a '^ fashion- 

 able country '^ ; but it can lay claim to being a fairly 

 open and a very rideable one. It has plenty of nice 

 coverts : and under the management of the late 

 master (Col. Jelf Sharp) the stock of foxes has yearly 

 improved. It is not so deep a country as its neigh- 

 bours the Essex or the Essex Union. On the other 

 hand it does not carry as good a scent as either. 

 Like all the county of Essex^ its entire surface is 

 under tillage. But the steamplough is much less in 

 use here; and its soil is naturally of a much lighter 

 description. Light, often sandy, plough is its main 

 characteristic ; and though the crops often flourish 

 as on a garden bed, a burning scent is a very 

 rare phenomenon indeed. In a dry autumn or hot 

 spring there is scarcely any scent at all; and only 

 when the ground is completely saturated, and mud 

 and water splash up at every stride, can hounds 

 really run with vigour. Last season (1880 — 81), when 

 soaking rain followed a long cleansing frost, the East 

 Essex had several long and fast runs — notably in 



* Vide Stanford's ''Hunting Map," Sheet 17. and Hobson's 

 Foxbnntino: Atlas. 



