RUNS. 371 



shortest way home, are things on which fox hunters never 

 agree. It is generally admitted that the usual speed of fox- 

 hounds in a fast run, is about eight miles an hour from point 

 to point. The quickest thing I ever saw was when the Lud- 

 low hounds did a 6 miles point in 27 minutes, and beat the 

 horses ^ mile. Of course this run was nearly straight. No 

 two opinions are alike in a discussion about the ground run 

 over. Few men know the country they hunt in, and still 

 fewer pay any heed to the direction in which they are going. 

 The next fence is good enough for them to think of. A stag 

 goes much straighter than a fox. In the season of 1898-9 

 we ran a 15 miles point in South Bucks with the Queen's in 

 I hour and 25 minutes, which was very fast. 



" Owing to the drier condition of the ground as a result of 

 increased draining, scent does not lie so well in Leicestershire 

 as formerly, and its foxes by no means run such good points 

 now as they did 20 years ago. Belvoir foxes on the Melton 

 side are not generally straight runners ; although I have known 

 many good things with them : for instance, a run of 10 miles 

 from Coston Gorse and killed at the Wheat Hills near Little 

 Dalby, and another of the same length, from Melton Spinney 

 to Cossington Gorse. The flying thing of the season in the 

 Melton District is almost always with the Belvoir. It is no 

 good asking the Master or Huntsman what is the distance the 

 hounds ran ; because they will give too full measure. 



" There is no rule about giving the brush, which may be 

 offered to any deserving party, as for instance, a lady who has 

 gone well, a distinguished stranger, or a promising boy. Some, 

 myself among the number, prefer the head as a memento." 



Bailys Hunting Directory gives an account of the Great- 

 wood run (Badminton, 1871) which lasted three hours and a 

 half, and was over a distance of twenty-eight miles as hounds 

 ran, with a point of fourteen miles. 



24* 



