The Monmouthshire. 411 



cliffs, over whicli hounds have more than once rushed 

 to their destruction in the heat of chase. But else- 

 where the hills are not only climbable but rideable. 

 Men hesitate to leave the top till quite assured that 

 hounds are away from the range on which they stand : 

 then they will race down its face at a speed that will 

 terrify a new comer from the plains. Horses seldom, 

 if ever, fall when urged downhill at this ^' breakneck '' 

 pace — which furnishes the best proof of the safety of 

 the practice. Coming up again is a toilsome and 

 somewhat prosy process. Hounds never seem to be 

 going so fast as when they are streaming gaily away 

 from you over a brow that you are slowly plodding 

 to reach. But to climb a lofty hill directly to its 

 summit seldom pays ; and is certainly seldom under- 

 taken by those who know the country, its coverts, and 

 the run of its foxes. The latter know they can look 

 to no Jacobus Ladder to aid them on the extreme 

 upper height ; but are sure to bend round the hillside 

 right or left for some ultimate and more tangible 

 point. To decide the direction accurately, is the test 

 put upon men who hunt here — and experience and 

 instinct do marvels in aiding the practised sportsmen 

 of the country. A ride along the sides of the hills, or 

 even across the milder undulations, is pleasant and 

 easy enough. The ground is seldom holding, and 

 a fair proportion of it is laid down in grass ; while 

 the fences stop nothing, that will stoop to tread over 

 them — an Irishism meant to convey that care rather 

 than flippancy is becoming to a Monmouthshire 

 hunter. The hedges are low banked, and, where 

 weakest, often times wattled about girth high. Ditches 



