THE BEST RUN I HAVE EVER HAD 67 



up. They changed and we ran on past Cahermoyle 

 past Rathkeale, where I left them ; horses were 

 then absolutely beaten, and they hunted on slowly 

 to under Ballingary Hill when they were stopped 

 in the dark. 



It was quite twenty-two miles, a record, I 

 believe, for that year's fox hunting in the United 

 Kingdom, Personally I think a long hunt is 

 greatly over-rated. It constantly means a change 

 of foxes, horses lose their keenness and their 

 spring even if they do not actually tire out, hounds 

 are not untirable and so often in these long hunts 

 do not kill. It is of course very pleasant to get to 

 the end of one if one has not really got to the end 

 of one's horse. 



The other very long hunt which I have known 

 here, I did not finish. It was seventeen miles, one 

 fox, with a kill. We found at Boskill Bog close to 

 Caherconlish, and at first as we hunted slower over 

 the hills towards Inch St. Laurence, scent was 

 poor and catchy. I saw our fox there sloping 

 leisurely down a very steep hill, a grey old cus- 

 tomer. He must have lain down in the bottom of 

 one of the very thick hedges there, for suddenly 

 they fairly raced away running for six miles 

 without the semblance of a check across hills 

 and deep holding bottoms straight to Cahermary 

 gorse, where there was a welcome breather on the 

 road. Here he never went into the gorse but ran 

 on, fortunately, more slowly now to Roxboro, 



