THE BLOODHOUND. 233 



come up with him. Of late years I have seen little of them. 

 They were exceedingly difficult to rear, and peculiarly liable to 

 distemper, which has at times nearly cleared the kennel, so that 

 Mr. Nevill, just as he had got the pack up to his wishes, has 

 suddenly found himself with all the work to do over again. 

 This was especially the case when he exhibited them at the 

 Agricultural Hall, from which his kennel was almost cleared, and 

 he had only the cup he won to console him for his empty benches. 

 During the Second Empire he sent some over as a present to 

 Prince l^apoleon at Meudon, and they were there much appre- 

 ciated. 



Another pack of bloodhounds that has come under my notice 

 is Lord Wolverton's, with which he hunts turned-out deer at 

 Banston, in Dorsetshire ; and, although some say that these have 

 a fox-hound cross in them, they come quite up to the old-esta- 

 blished type of bloodhound, and are like Mr. ISTevill's when he 

 first got them from the forest. I shall not pretend to determine 

 whether they are pure bred or not ; all I can say is that their 

 appearance, as well as their style of hunting, would lead one to 

 suppose that they are. 



The following letter, written by their former master, and given 

 me for publication through, the kindness of a friend, appeared in 

 the Sporting Gazette of May 2nd, 1874, and I think bears out 

 the impression I have formed that they are pure bred, unless 

 they have been crossed since in his lordship's possession. 



" The hounds now in the possession of Lord Wolverton were 

 bred by me — at least eight couple were. Some of them are hunt- 

 ing still. I saw them last summer at his place. I obtained the 

 breed from the late Mr. Jennings, in Yorkshire, and Mr. Conan 

 of Bladun Burn, near Newcastle. I then began my pack by 

 keeping them as low as I could, but not less than twenty-six 

 inches. Their weight at two years old should be about seventy 

 to eighty pounds. They do not come to maturity until three 

 years. They are very delicate until they are eight or ten months 

 old, and require unskimmed milk and lots of room ; in fact, they 



