220 HUNTING TOURS. 



the hounds meet in some of the very roughest 

 parts of the country. 



Where the love of hunting prevails among 

 all classes so extensively as it does in this 

 neighbourhood, the preservation of foxes fol- 

 lows as a matter of course, and this coun- 

 try possesses certain peculiarities essentially 

 favourable to the vulpine family which do not 

 exist, that I am aware of, in any other. The 

 most remarkable of these is the Titterstone 

 Clee Hill, a conspicuous elevation visible from 

 a considerable distance, a mountainous tract, 

 on parts of which huge masses of granite, 

 varying in size, are distributed in all directions, 

 some firmly embedded in the soil and others 

 loose. Among these the foxes have their 

 earths, or more emphatically their fortifica- 

 tions, for it is impossible to stop them out or 

 bolt them, as they can work their way under 

 the rocks and stones to a very considerable dis- 

 tance. The custom adopted when the hounds 

 draw the surrounding country is to guard 

 these entrances with a long range of fires, lit 

 before break of day, when the foxes are sup- 

 posed to be abroad on their nocturnal rambles. 

 On the following day they are found in all 

 directions in the surrounding coverts, dingles, 



