The Essex and Suffolk, 39 



hunted it no less than fifty-two years; after which 

 his father kept it for about ten seasons. The hounds 

 were given to the country by Mr. Nunn when he 

 resigned in 1870^ and are kennelled at Stratford St. 

 Mary, seven miles from Colchester. In the better 

 part of the country, the scent is, as a rule, decidedly 

 good ; and it is only in the light soil of the west 

 that hounds often have any difficulty in making 

 their way. 



As a country to ride over, the Essex and Suffolk is, 

 of course, like its neighbours, very '^ ploughy.''^ But 

 there are no hills to distress horses or to give hounds 

 the advantage. The fences are quite of the better 

 Essex type — low hedges and broad ditches. Thus 

 your view of hounds is seldom interrupted by ground 

 or growth ; and, if you are fairly mounted, you may 

 ride as near the pack as your conscience, or the 

 Master, will let you. The term " fairly mounted ^Ms 

 meant to apply to the requirements of the ground in 

 question — and those requirements are substantial if 

 not very ambitious. Short legs and strong ones, 

 good heart and good wind, with a marked adapta- 

 bility for a long day and a good supper afterwards, 

 are by no means the least prominent requisites. 

 Sufficient stride and jumping power to enable him to 

 cover a wide ditch at short notice are all essential for 

 a horse here ; for the measurement of an Essex ditch 

 is frequently only to be obtained at the last moment. 

 And, though a horse is not every day called upon to 

 overhurry himself, he always has a strong day^s work 

 to perform before he gets back to his stable. A weed 

 will soon wear himself to a thread; and a rash 



