HUNTING TOURS. 377 



events was on the card ; if there was a scent, 

 we were in for a clipper ; otherwise the fox 

 woukl soon be lost, for it was quite certain 

 he never intended to lino^er and allow hounds 

 to work up to him. The latter, however, 

 was the result, for the hounds, on being got 

 out of covert, could not hunt him a mile. 

 Ganna, sometimes called the Twelve Acres, 

 another splendid covert, was then drawn, and 

 with a quick find, the hounds getting away 

 with their fox on very fair terms, settled 

 down, and at a great pace ran to Little 

 Inkberrow, affording an aspiring field oppor- 

 tunities for display. At this point a check 

 occurred, the fox having contemplated a 

 resting-place in the farm buildings, but, 

 changing his tactics, he beat a retreat, and 

 was viewed as if homeward bound, when the 

 hounds being again laid on, bearing to the 

 right, ran him to Abbots Morton, where, on 

 the hill, a sheep foil brought them to a 

 slight check ; working through the difficulty, 

 however, with praiseworthy industry, their 

 hunting powers were still elicited by the 

 parched state of the ploughed land, the sur- 

 face of which, from the recent boisterous 

 north-west winds, was in a condition we are 



