SANDY^S STORY 111 



and Northumberland are as fine country as can be 

 desired, and, unfortunately for us, as good scenting 

 as any in the kingdom. 



It is supposed that when people can fly thither 

 by steam, it will become the Melton of the North ; 

 but I hope the idea will end, as it began, in smoke. 

 You, my southern friends, appear to think that we 

 do not go the very fast pace that you do, and that 

 the hounds by which we are hunted are not equally 

 as good as those in your country ; but in this, too, 

 you are much mistaken. So good is the scent 

 there that, if it were not for the drains, which are 

 now so general in the cultivated parts, the hounds, 

 at the awful pace they go, would in a very short 

 time kill nearly every one of us. Then the hunts- 

 men are not to be despised ; on the contrary, we 

 have to contend with one who, with the following 

 quahfications, is near perfection, — the eye of an 

 eagle, fine temper, boldness, enterprise, coolness, 

 perseverance, intelligence, and, above all, decision. 

 This is the rare man with whom, and with whose 

 pack, we have to contend. I am proud to say that 

 I have been hunted by, and escaped from him, on a 

 good scenting day too, by taking refuge in the 

 crevice of a rock, after one of the fastest runs 

 possible for five miles. It began thus : — One 



