DEVON AND SOMERSET. i8i 



to gallop and stay over many a weary mile, 

 bold and straight-necked to a degree, not 

 over-fat or heavy. 



It was a bumper meet at Hawkcombe Head, 

 Lynton, Porlock and Minehead making it their 

 opening day, the first meet of that season 

 having been held at Haddon instead of Clouts- 

 ham, on account of the demise of Sir Thomas 

 Acland, which had occurred only shortly before, 

 and the distances between the two extreme 

 sides of the country proving almost impossible. 



Tufting was begun without delay, and Met- 

 combe was soon covered with foot people to 

 watch operations. The sandy dust in the road 

 between Culbone and Hawkcombe Head will 

 not soon be forgotten, so blinding and thick did 

 it rise, especially when the pack was brought 

 from kennel to the lay on. While the long 

 string of vehicles filed in close order along the 

 road, the mounted field mostly betook themselves 

 to the hunting rides on Culbone Hill or jogged 

 along through the heath on the Metcombe side, 

 but broken glass and rusty coils of broken fence 

 wire made the latter course very unsafe. It 

 may, perhaps, not be out of place to repeat here 

 the well-worn caution to visitors to the wild 

 West Country, as to the cruelty of throwing 

 broken glass and bottles away in the heather or 

 in the moorland or woodland streams. Whether 

 they are riding on a coach top, or enjoying a 



