98 HUNTING TOURS. 



menades, where invalids, real and imaginary, 

 did homage to Hjgeia, and drank the waters, 

 then rising in fame, to overcome dyspepsia, 

 dispel hypochondriasis, and create appetites for 

 their breakfasts. These orgies, however, were 

 confined to the summer months, and during 

 the winter season Cheltenham was but a 

 deserted village. The celebrity of Colonel 

 Berkeley's hounds soon began to spread, and 

 drawing the coverts successfully in the sur- 

 rounding country, Cheltenham simultaneously 

 drew company within its precincts. That 

 which was only a place of fashionable resort 

 in summer, presented attractions during the 

 winter, and sporting fathers of families esti- 

 mating the enjoyments of society, preferred 

 taking a house in the rising town to a hunt- 

 ing-box in a secluded neighbourhood, or 

 perchance residing at the paternal mansion in 

 a provincial district ; the opportunities, too, 

 of introducing aspiring sons and daughters 

 fair were matters of no sliglit importance. 

 One of the most attractive features of fox- 

 hunting is the social character with which it 

 is so charmingly connected, and this is the 

 more striking since it has become the fashion 

 for ladies to grace the hunting-field with their 



