The Earl of Radnor's, 207 



for tlie district its true forest type. But on Lord 

 Radnor's side^ it rises directly to down and wold, 

 where a loose liglit surface too often thwarts the 

 nose of a foxhound, and the sharp flints hinder, and 

 frequently gash, his feet. Thus all the Marten and 

 Whitchbury district — up to the town of Salisbury — 

 consists almost entirely of open hillsides, with scarcely 

 any fences to divide the fields ; while patches of gorse 

 grow here and there, and narrow valleys — often 

 owning a watermeadow or two — cut in between hill 

 and hill. Under this upper ground, from Breamore 

 downwards to Alderholt, &c., come the line of river- 

 side coverts. The White Parish district, again, 

 contains another similar range of high ground, 

 with the woodlands already alluded to bounding 

 it north and south : and a third area of the same 

 kind is found in the Buckholt and Houghton Hills, 

 which verge on the broad upland sweeps of the 

 Tedworth. 



As a matter of fact, the Salisbury neighbourhood is 

 not distinctively or exclusively a foxhunting one. A 

 certain small number of people come out hunting ; 

 and the squires and farmers support the sport, with 

 their countenance if not always with their presence. 

 Here and there shooting is thought of to a certain 

 extent, but seldom to a degree that is incompatible 

 with the preservation of foxes; for game rearing is 

 carried to no great excess in Wiltshire, nor is London 

 sufficiently near to tempt the itinerant pothunter to 

 bid for shooting here. Consequently the fox has, save 

 in occasional instances, few enemies; and his many 

 friends are enabled to maintain him in sufficient 



