HUNTING TOURS. 3 



The Albrighton country is extensive and 

 somewhat singularly circumstanced. It ex- 

 tends more than thirty-five miles in length, 

 taking the vicinity of Newport as the extreme 

 northern point, nearly to Bromsgrove on the 

 south. The river Severn flows from Coal- 

 brook Dale to Bewdley, and forms the south- 

 western boundary, while on the east and 

 south-east of Wolverhampton a line of demar- 

 cation is emphatically determined by the 

 vast coal and iron fields from whence proceed 

 the enormous amount of hidden treasures 

 which render the neighbourhood so remark- 

 able for its wealth. Looking: at it with a 

 view to sport, it presents many difficulties 

 to hounds and their masters. There are not 

 any large holding woodlands, as in many 

 hunts, so useful for cub-hunting, where 

 hounds may be taken early in tlie autumn, 

 to perform their rehearsals ere they appear 

 before the scrutinising eyes of the public; 

 that preliminary proceeding must, therefore, 

 be procrastinated till after the harvest is 

 secured, and there is a great quantity of 

 riot to contend with. The most extensive 

 woodlands are those at Aerley, whence with 

 some intervening space there is a chain of 



B 2 



