HUNTING TOURS. 379 



with many more in the country, do not often 

 allow hounds to get away from them ; and 

 there are several others, including Mr. Walker 

 and the Messrs. Essex, who are equally good 

 sportsmen. 



The foxes in Worcestershire, though not 

 over numerous, are of a good wild sort, a 

 result of being constantly hunted, and they 

 are not very readily brought to hand. When 

 it is observed that foxes found in the vale 

 below Malvern not unfrequently lead the 

 pack over those formidable hills, the altitude 

 of w^hich is nearly 1,500 feet above the sea 

 level, it may be readily understood that 

 horses require a considerable amount of 

 ascending power. 



What a fine open Christmas, and what a 

 rare time for young aspirants to fame, who 

 are now revelling in the enjoyments of 

 the vacations, to become initiated in the 

 exhilarating delights of foxhunting ! There 

 is scarcely an event in life which strikes so 

 deeply, and with such intense pleasure, as 

 the first run with foxhounds. As an impres- 

 sive illustration, here is an extract from 

 a letter just received from an old friend, 

 in which his reminiscences are so graphically 



