Braes of Derwent, 395 



of tliese streams (the Derwent) in itself rises to tlie 

 dignity of a river ; and, working along the south and 

 east of the country through a deep and scarcely 

 broken chain of woodland, practically hems the country 

 in between itself and the main river. (This Derwent 

 is not to be confused with the other stream of that 

 name, which, rising close to Scarboro', runs fantasti- 

 cally inland into the heart of Yorkshire.) The rivers, 

 brooks and burus, with their wooded banks, form a 

 perfect labyrinth over a great part of the Braes 

 of Derwent country ; and foxes often run from one to 

 the other in the same natural and persistent fashion 

 that they are prone to adopt among the valleys and 

 coombes of Devon. They would seem to have a pro- 

 nounced dislike to the best of the open hills, where 

 there is little or nothing to hide them from the keen 

 vision of a huntsman. As it is, the latter may often 

 score a point by keeping an eye forward, getting a 

 view across a wide valley, and making the best of an 

 advantage that is legitimate enough on a bad scenting 

 day. To lift hounds frequently amid the braes of 

 Derwent would be quite as impossible as impolitic ; 

 for, a great part of their time the pack is working 

 through covert alone and out of reach. Under such 

 circumstances tongue is quite one of the most 

 important attributes of the hound — and, indeed, he is 

 worse than useless without it. Impressed by the 

 obvious need of a more than ordinary cry in such a 

 country, the present Master, Colonel Cowen of Blaydon 

 Burn, has long made extensive use of the bloodhound 

 strain for his pack. At home he keeps a certain 

 number of bloodhounds of a very old and pure breed. 



