HUNTING TOURS. 1 1 1 



the first rank, Captain Lloyd Evans was at 

 tlie place of meeting ; and Mr. Barton, who 

 has lost nothing in weight since he first 

 undertook the mastership of the staghoundSc 

 Mr. Dangerfield, who seems seldom disposed 

 to cherish infelicitous reflections, complained 

 grievously of the deep state of the country, 

 and indeed not without cause. Mr. Kobert 

 Chapman, mounted, as usual, on a select 

 specimen from his choice collection, carefully 

 calculated the chances of a cold bath in the 

 event of the hounds crossing with a blazing 

 scent the overflowing brook below Cleevely, 

 very judiciously suggesting a place where 

 some posts and rails on the taking offside 

 would indicate to his horse the propriety of 

 jumping ; although, as will be described here- 

 after, the hounds did cross, as they were not 

 running at any pace I do not think Mr. Chap- 

 man found it necessary to experimentalize, 

 Mr. Georcre Fletcher was lookino: not much 

 older than when I first knew him, nor much 

 changed in any respect — certainly not in his 

 enthusiasm for hunting, or his proverbial hos- 

 pitality; and he had two sons in the field, his 

 most worthy representatives. There were 

 also several other " Cotswolders," with whom 



