HUNTING IN IRELAND. 175 



proved to be most advantageous to the land- 

 owner. 



Being an enthusiastic follower of the Ward 

 Union stag-hounds, I am enabled to state 

 that I have galloped with them, in company 

 with at least two hundred other riders, across 

 the Ward Country and over the Fairyhouse 

 lands, which are — as is well known — of a 

 singularly wet and holding nature ; and this 

 not once, but many times throughout the 

 season. Yet, so early as April, at which date 

 the famous Fairyhouse races take place, no 

 track or footmark can be seen upon the 

 luxuriant grass. Again, when riding in 

 winter through Phoenix Park, I have been 

 struck by the state of mud to which it has 

 been reduced through the frequent galloping 

 of horses over ids surface ; yet, in summer 

 it grows the finest grass, and is as smooth as 

 a biUiard-table. One day in June, three years 

 ago, a grand Eeview was held there in 

 honour of the Queen's birthday. A terrible 

 shower came down — one of those mighty 

 floods which can, in a few moments, trans- 

 form a beauteous green sward into a hideous 



