Capt. Hon, F. Johnstone's. 211 



hill, aud moorland shortly present themselves, sug- 

 gestive of grouse shooting, and summer excursion, 

 but telling little of the chase of the fox, as in reality 

 carried on. 



But, taking advantage of all ground within reach 

 that is at all practicable for his purpose, Capt. John- 

 stone keeps a good little pack of foxhounds in the 

 neighbourhood of Scarborough, and hunts the fox 

 over vale and heather wherever he can. He com- 

 mences just north of Lord Middleton (the river 

 Derwent being the boundary between them) with a 

 strip of low country, set down on the map as The Vale 

 of Pickering, but more often known as the Derwent 

 Vale. Above this the land rises quickly to moor and 

 heather, strong hills and deep glens ; where only one 

 who has thoroughly learned the ground can keep a 

 hold upon the pack. The hills are generally fair 

 riding, to man and horse accustomed to brush quickly 

 over the heather ; but the glens and dales, like the 

 coombs of North Devon, are only to be crossed by 

 well-known paths — probably mere cattle or sheep 

 tracks. A bright green patch in a valley may often 

 mean the one spot to be avoided. On the heather you 

 are safe ; but the tempting grass may cover a deep 

 unpleasant bog. Such pitfalls, however, are nothing 

 like as common as on Exmoor ; and, though '' Stony 

 Moor,^^ or Raindale, is freely scattered over with 

 boulders, there are no such tracts of stone and shingle 

 as are to be found on the rugged slopes round 

 Diinkery. The Dales again, though steep and wooded, 

 have little of the depth or severity of the Devonshire 

 coombs. With these modifications the moorland half 



