THE RULE OF Mr. GEORGE LANE FOX. 163 



killed their foxes well, and towards the end of the month 

 there were a few really good days, of which I give a couple : — 



' February 23rd. Monk Fryston. Found in Gateforth Common. 

 ' Ran hard down the covert, crossed the canal, ran below 

 ' Burn, turned back, ran past Haddlesey, Birkin Spring 

 ' and Byram, and killed on the Hillam side. Good hunting- 

 ' run. Two hours.' 



It may be remarked that Smith makes the time of this 

 run two hours and twenty minutes, and adds that ' we went 

 'over a lot of country.' This shows how difficult it is, even 

 for the most accurate, to time a hunting- run correctly. No 

 man knew more about hunting than Mr. Fox, or was more 

 careful over minute detail than he was, and the same may 

 with justice be said of his huntsman, yet in this run we find 

 a discrepancy in the time of twenty minutes. Of course the 

 huntsman would, in a large covert like Gateforth, see when 

 hounds had a line much sooner than anyone who was 

 standing outside the covert, and this may, in some measure, 

 account for the difference in the time. 



' February 25th. Plompton Bar. Found in Bilton Banks. Ran 

 ' into a drain near Starbeck. A hound was missing. 

 ' AVhen we moved off, the hound and the fox came out. 

 ' Ran up to Harrogate, and lost in some buildings. Found 

 ' and killed in Bleach Ground Whin. Tried Spacey House 

 ' Whin and Rudding Park — blank. A fox jumped up in 

 ' some whins near Herbert's larches, and they ran him hard 

 ' past Parkin's Wood, left the Cocked Hat on the left, 

 ' passed the walls, across the Punch Bowl to Swindon 

 • Wood. Eighteen minutes ; no check. Through the wood, 

 ' but he dared not go up wind ; turned, and ran to 

 ' ground close to Kirkby Overblow. Thirty minutes. A i.' 



The weather was wild in the beginning of March, but 

 sport was fairly good, and on the sixth they had one of the 

 best days of the season ; — 



