THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 109 



for Hunt servants, and I never forget this at Christmas 

 lime. In unusually wet weather, too, mackintoshes 

 are useful to keep the uniforms dry going to cover, but 

 I find them, as a rule, unhealthy garments and very apt 

 to give their wearers cold. 



Flcsii Account. — A certain amount of horseflesh and 

 cowflesh must of necessity be consumed in every 

 kennel, but this diet should be limited as much as 

 possible in summer time. The hounds do not want 

 much flesh in hot weather. Too much of it makes 

 them what the men call "humoury." Naturally, the 

 slaughterer who provides the flesh endeavours to sell as 

 much as possible, but it is useless to have a lot of it 

 hanging up and going bad. Personally, I always had 

 a strong preference for the alternative of purchasing 

 the animals alive, letting them graze and fatten in 

 summer, and killing them as required. 



I always gave my huntsman strict orders that the 

 flesh bill was to be kept within ;^5 a month, and this 

 limit was rarely exceeded. Such economy entailed not 

 unexpected disagreement with the purveyor, that 

 person intimating that if we declined to take what he 

 brought, we might be left when we wanted fresh 

 supplies. A little firmness, however, had the desirable 

 result of bringing him to his bearings. He soon 

 discovered that he could not dispose of his wares so 

 advantageously anywhere else in the neighbourhood, 

 so he ceased from pressing me beyond my require- 

 ments. 



And here I want to make a passing comment on a 

 practice for which I have nothing but condemnation. 



