42 COVERT-SIDE SKETCHES. 



contain the ' plain mivarnislied tale.' And I am sure the 

 writer will pardon the liberty I take with hini in transcribing it, 

 for the information of the sporting world, on a subject heretofore 

 strange to them : — 



" ' Dear — — , — I despatch this by a messenger, as I think 

 it advisable to be with you by half-past four to-morrow morning, 

 so as to avoid the heat of the day. 



" ' Our last chase proved a severe one. "VYe went out late, 

 owing to rain, and thinking to do but little. We struck a hunt 

 at a quarter to twelve o'clock at the top of the (Bala) lake, above 

 Llangower. Went up the hills in the direction of Arran ; came 

 down, and ran the mosses above the lake. Again turned up, 

 and, running to the hills, leaving Arran on our left, went within 

 six miles of Dolgelly, where we crossed the high-road to the right, 

 ran through the cover, and for two hours up into the mountains, 

 our extreme point being Llanfareth. 



" ' At half-past six o'clock I stopped the hounds, scent being 

 very low, owing to the severe and continued rains, and they 

 reached their kennel by twelve o'clock at night. Having, how- 

 ever, had two days' rest, they will be fit to face the Mont- 

 gomeryshire foumart to-morrow, weather permitting.' 



" I^ow, I know enough of this country to say that from point 

 to point of this run could not have been under the distance of 

 fourteen miles, and over a rough country. Captain Hopwood 

 hunts the pack himself, assisted by a whipper-in. 



" The following letter from a gentleman who joins the captain 

 in this novel diversion will more fully explain the system pur- 

 sued in the field and elsewhere : — 



" * You once asked me to give you a description of Captain 

 Hopwood's foumart-hounds, and having now (July 10th, 1841) 

 come to the end of what may truly be called a splendid season, 

 I have much pleasure in doing so to the best of my ability, as I 

 think you will be interested by an account of a kind of sport 

 not much known in the south of England. 



" ' The kennel consists of from seventeen to twenty couples of 



