152 The Hunting Countries of England. 



beyond. After the leaf is once dead, there is usually 

 quite as good a scent inside the woods as in the open. 

 Long runs are very frequent : and foxes get to run 

 certain lines, which a regular attendant and observer 

 may soon learn with some degree of certainty. Tom 

 Hills, the famous huntsman (whose son now carries 

 the horn) knew the run of the foxes so thoroughly that 

 he was constantly in the habit of making up for 

 deficiencies of scent by long forward casts, with, 

 apparently, only instinct to guide him. On the open 

 ground assistance is often forthcoming in the shape of 

 a holloa ; and, indeed, were it not for the frequent 

 coverts to obscure the view, a travelling fox might, in 

 the absence of hedgerows, be seen for miles. It should 

 be noted, by the way, that, owing to agricultural 

 depression, a good deal of land between the kennels 

 and Cudham has completely lapsed from cultivation, 

 rendering this district — naturally secluded and un- 

 populous, in spite of its vicinity to London — especially 

 wild. Scent varies very much " on the hills. ^^ More 

 often it has to be picked out than galloped to : but a 

 better scent is forthcoming on many occasions than 

 the appearance of the ground would warrant — and 

 this is notably the case under the dry east winds of 

 March. 



The Yale, again, or " below the hill,-*' is, as may be 

 supposed, quite a different class of ground. Running 

 along the southern border of th© country from Gatton 

 and Reigate to Chevening and Brasted, it merges into 

 Burstow territory about Crowhurst and Edenbridge — 

 the railway from Reigate to Tunbridge being the 

 boundary line between the two countries. Reigate is 



