192 COVERT-SIDE SKETCHES. 



of nature. No one will, I imagine, for one moment dispute the 

 beauties either of I^Torth Devon or the New Forest in Hampshire, 

 the only places in wdiich, for many years past, it has been possible 

 to see wild stag-hunting, and I feel morally certain that no one 

 Avho has traversed either of those tracts, and seen a deer un- 

 harboured or brought to bay, whose heart will not beat faster at 

 the remembrance, and he or she will feel a strange longing to 

 renew those associations and once more hear the tantivy sounded 

 or the mort blown. 



In my opinion the beauty of the scenery amongst -which this 

 chase is held is one of its great advantages. Whether it is a 

 reality or only a sham, of course I cannot say ; but, in the present 

 age more than any that has yet passed, we are all smitten wdth 

 the desire of visiting places of beauty, insomuch that between the 

 travelling British and the Americans, what were once real places 

 of retirement and enjoyment have become little better than 

 rural imitations of a huge London hotel. We have spread 

 ourselves over the continent, done the Alps, invaded Italy, and 

 every part that has achieved the least reputation for beauty, at 

 great expense, and left behind us nooks and corners in our own 

 land, which, although they may not have Alpine grandeur or 

 Italian skies, have a quiet beauty of their own, which, when seen 

 unexpectedly, as they occur to us in the chase, are almost more 

 than fairy-like. To see them as they should be seen, there are 

 but two w^ays : a w^alking tour with knapsack on back, or to hunt 

 in the country in which they occur. How incomparably superior 

 is the latter it is needless for me to point out to any sportsman. 

 Has not our own bard asked, — 



Where will the wandering chase 

 Lead us bewilder'd ? 



Animated by the pursuit, we penetrate glens, and come amidst 

 beauties which but for hound and horn would be passed un- 

 heeded by. The most industrious walker cannot see in a week 

 what the chase can show in a single day. The fisherman, per- 



