86 The Hunting Countries of England. 



lavishly that they are often raked into heaps to clear 

 the ground for agriculture. 



The coverts of this upper country are fewer, less 

 extensive, and more concentrated than in the southern 

 division. Especially round Crawley and the Win- 

 chester Racecourse (where they get by sufferance from 

 the H.H.) have they had many merry gallops over 

 miles of smooth and open hillsides. 



The lower or "bottom country '^ is totally different 

 and difficult. It gradually merges into a close mass 

 of almost unbroken woodland. Round Baddesley is a 

 small round vale, fenced with bank-and-ditch, and 

 carrying, like much of the stiff clay of the lower 

 country, a fair — often a good — scent. Elsewhere there 

 occurs the occasional opportunity of crossing a few 

 strong-banked enclosures : and then a short-legged 

 clever horse is useful. But for the most part foxes 

 will run the coverts ; and horse and hound and man 

 must be of the stuff that is willing to persevere, and 

 stick to steady work. There are plenty of foxes, not 

 only in the south but all over the country — the supply 

 having increased largely in the last decade or so, 

 forming thus a practical tribute to the success of 

 Colonel NicolFs twelve years of Mastership. 



The days of hunting are Monday and Friday, with 

 an occasion bye : and Monday is for the lower country, 

 while Friday is reserved for the upper. Having com- 

 menced our notes by referring to the upper country, 

 we may continue to give precedence to the Friday 

 ground. The meets on that day command much the 

 largest attendance — a fixture near Stockbridge or 

 Ashley bringing considerable numbers over the border 



