EARLY HUNTING EXPERIENCES. 5 



was sent off on a rough pony with the fox in a 

 bag, which he was ordered to let out at a certain 

 spot, and then hounds were unkennelled and they 

 started in pursuit. A glorious spin over a fine 

 wild country followed, at the end of which the 

 fox made good his escape, and the two sportsmen 

 returned home in good time, as hounds had to 

 Innit the next day. From that time Mr Russell 

 and my father often met, both in Devon and in 

 Dorset. 



A remark of Mr Yeatman's, made in an after- 

 dinner speech, respecting the boundaries of the 

 Blackmore Vale Hunt in his days, is still remem- 

 bered in Dorset. The hunt extended, he said — 



" From the woods at the back of Stock 

 To the alpine heights of Mendip, 

 From the Pillar of renowned Hood 

 To the Tower of immortal Alfred," 



all of which are well-known landmarks in the 

 country. 



In an old hunting journal kept by Mr Yeatman 

 from the year 1826 to 1831, which has come to 

 me through my father, all the entries are signed 

 John Channing, and are written as if from his 

 pen. With regard to the difficulties that con- 

 fronted Mr Yeatman when he began to hunt the 

 country, he says, writing in the usual way in the 

 person of his huntsman, John Channing : " It 

 must not be forgotten — 1st, that a very consider- 

 able part of the country which their proprietor 

 established in 1826 had not been hunted at all 



