DEVON AND SOMERSET. 25 



opinion as to the most suitable attire for the 

 occasion, and inasmuch as the Hunt uniform is 

 worn only by the master and two servants and 

 the honorary secretary and by Lord Ebrington 

 on certain days, all that has to be attained is a 

 garb sufficiently cool and at the same time 

 serviceable. Straw hats of any rigid shape are 

 undoubtedly a mistake, as they invariably blow 

 off directly business begins. Many ladies wear 

 light coats of white drill, and one enterprising 

 sportsman attired himself in a spotless suit of 

 duck not many summers ago, and was promptly 

 set down in the columns of the Spoiiiiig Times 

 as " one clad in white samite." A few khaki 

 garments were in evidence amongst the field in 

 the summer of 1900, and a certain number of 

 invalided troopers with uniform and cowboy hats 

 complete were to be seen. 



The assemblage on Cloutsham Ball sways to 

 and fro as interest centres now in one spot 

 around the paraded hounds, now in another as 

 the tufters are being drawn from the pack at 

 the kennel door, now from side to side of the 

 Ball as the progress of the tufting sets various 

 deer in motion, and anon surges in a crush 

 towards one or other of the gates of exit when 

 the day's chase begins. 



It is popularly supposed that a big run is not 

 intended by the powers that be on the opening 

 days, but that they sometimes take place and 



