HUNTING TOURS. 363 



red that the scent will lie. The effects of 

 the wind are very great, but the first verse 

 of the old song, " A southerly wind and a 

 cloudy sky," is simply a poetical illusion, for 

 there are more good scents when the wind 

 blows from the east. The best scenting 

 season within my recollection was that of 

 1852 and '53, when the earth was deluged 

 with rain, yet this year, up to the present 

 period, with an abundance of wet, scent has 

 not been good. To account for this we have 

 experienced much diversity of temperature. 

 The difference in the quantity of rainfall in 

 different parts of England is sufficient to 

 account for variations in the amount of scent 

 which may prevail in one country but not 

 in another, provided they are so situated 

 as to render that phenomenon characteristic ; 

 yet when that is not the case it most pro- 

 bably proceeds from the variations in the 

 quality of the soil. 



The first master of foxhounds in this 

 country, concerning whom there appears to 

 be anything known, was Major Bland; but 

 that gentleman's operations were principally 

 devoted to the southern and western bounda- 

 ries, including the vicinity of Corse Lawn, 



R 2 



