144 The Hunting Countries of England. 



week ; and it is only by railing the hounds to covert 

 that the woods and clay of the southern weald can be 

 utilised. 



A ridge of chalk and grassy down runs from 

 Guildford to Dorking, and round the eastern edge of 

 the country by Walton, Epsom and Banstead. With- 

 in this half circle, to the north, all is a rather cold- 

 scenting plough — lighter where the ground is higher, 

 but heavier in the valleys such as the neighbourhood 

 of Cobham, Wisley, and Ripley. South of the 

 Guildford and Dorking ridge you drop at once into 

 a deep clay, amid strong woods and a better scent. 

 There are some great coverts, too, in the north — 

 notably, the Princess Woods and St. George^s Hill. 

 The former belongs to the Crown : and is believed to 

 have received its name when the Prince de Joinville 

 and the Due d^Aumale resided at Claremont, and had 

 the sporting rights of the adjoining woods. At the 

 present day there is said to be a special clause in the 

 lease, making a condition of the holding that foxes 

 are always to be forthcoming to meet the require- 

 ments of the Surrey Union Hunt. No such condition 

 would be necessary with the present tenant; but it 

 is a satisfactory instance of foxhunting being still 

 held in high places as The Sport of Kings. Deep 

 and wide are the Princess Woods — and many a time 

 has the London sportsman been condemned to spend 

 the whole of his Saturday outing amid their holding 

 rides and vast extent. St. George's Hill, again, is 

 a rough stretch of heather and plantation, reaching 

 from Cobham nearly to Weybridge. Deer abound in 

 it — the story going that some years ago a German in 



