HUNTING TOURS. 221 



and hollow pits. When the first note of the 

 hound implies danger, they fly to their accus- 

 tomed hiding-places, but the appearance of the 

 bonfires still burning, and guarded by a band 

 of colliers employed to light and manage them, 

 so astonishes and terrifies these wild denizens 

 of the stony chasms, that pointing their heads 

 to some distant woodland, with a fair scent, a 

 clipping run is often the result. 



During my visit, these hounds met one day 

 at Bitterley, a well-known place at the foot 

 of the hill, the hospitable residence of the 

 Rev. Charles Walcot, and it afforded me an 

 excellent opportunity, for the second time in 

 my life, of witnessing this truly wild, roman- 

 tic, and exciting scene. Several foxes were 

 found, each of which afforded hunting runs 

 varying in duration from thirty to forty-five 

 minutes, but wind and storms prevailed, and 

 it was a miserably bad scenting day. Every 

 check increased the difficulties, and the hounds 

 had no chance of tasting blood, nevertheless 

 it enabled me to form an opinion on the 

 pleasure of descending the hill at a steep 

 part, near to what is called the Giant's Chair, 

 where the huge masses of stone lie in the 

 most chaotic confusion ; and as in many 



