66 In Scarlet and Silk 



alack and alas, in these prosaic times, the 

 Great Western Eailway for the winged heels 

 of Mercury — and, by the borders of the 

 Severn sea, pursue the timid hind or her 

 antlered lord across the heather and the moor. 

 That the beauty of the scene has much 

 to do with the charm of the sport here, 

 goes without saying. The lovely Devonshire 

 coombes, the vales of Somerset, the magni- 

 ficent moorland, with its wealth of purple 

 heather, the wild beauty of the Quantocks, 

 and the picturesque "setting" of the Bristol 

 Channel, cannot fail to inspire the naturalist 

 side of us with joy, even at the moment that 

 the "sportsman half" is looking askance at 

 the terrible roughness of the country that 

 must be ridden over in order to see anything 

 of the chase itself. The rocky ground, the 

 uncompromising hills, the long distances to 

 be covered, and, withal, the pace that will 

 enable you to be " in front," must all be 

 borne in mind when selecting a horse for 

 this work. He must be thoroughly stout 

 and clever, have feet as hard as the nether 



