HUNTING TOURS. 387 



whipper-in to the Grove Hounds, and was 

 at one time in the service of Capt. Percy 

 Williams, in the RufFord country. He was 

 likewise six or seven years at Lord Yar- 

 borough's, from whence he came to under- 

 take the arduous duty with these hounds. 

 He is a light weight, and a steady good 

 horseman, gets well to his hounds without 

 presuming to ride for riding sake, an error not 

 unfrequently committed by young beginners. 

 On the two occasions when I saw him in the 

 field he did his work quite satisfactorily; and 

 the appearance of the hounds does him great 

 credit. They are remarkably clean in their 

 coats, and full of muscle ; in fact, when I saw 

 them in kennel I thought them too high, an 

 opinion I should have brought to a conclusion 

 had I not seen them in their work, which I 

 did in the Bradon country, when they had a 

 most punishing day. At times the pace was 

 very great, but they showed no symptoms of 

 distress, and I never saw hounds come home 

 fresher than they did after so much work, a 

 certain test of condition, 



Mr. Croome experienced a serious loss in 

 his stud under singular circumstances. Early 

 in the month of December his favourite 



S 2 



