48 HUNTING IN MANY COUNTRIES. 



go well into North Durham country five or six times in a 

 season, and the longest point I ever saw with the North 

 Durham took hounds right across the Braes of Derwent country 

 into the Hay don country beyond. Of course, there may 

 have been many incursions on the part of one pack or the 

 other when I was not present, or which I have forgotten ; but 

 the Braes of Derwent now hunt the western end of the 

 Derwent valley much more frequently than they did in 

 Colonel Cow en's time, and as most of the incursions begin in 

 the Sneep district I have little doubt but that their increased 

 number is greatly due to the fact that the chances of such 

 incursions have been more than doubled owing to the greater 

 number of westerly meets. These incursions of either pack ax^e 

 very popular, though five people out of every six who may be 

 hunting when they take place are just as much at home in 

 the invaded country as in the country left. 



The Braes of Derwent country as regards its physical condi- 

 tions is in many respects very different from its neighbour. 

 It is perhaps in the lie of the land that the chief difference 

 is to be found, for whereas all the best part, of the North 

 Durham is a high-lying semi-plateau, with innumerable small 

 folds in the ground, the Braes of Derwent country is inter- 

 sected by a backbone or ridge of hill, from which the ground 

 slopes gradually to the Derwent on the south and to the Tyne 

 on the north side. This ridge is about twenty miles in length, 

 rising abruptly some four miles west of Newcastle-on-Tyne, 

 just where the Derwent joins the Tyne, and continuing west- 

 wards until it is lost in the moorlands. The rise in the 

 height of the ridge is very gradual, but in the centre of the 

 country it reaches 1000 ft., and hereabouts the rivers are five 

 and six miles away from the ridge, the intervening country 

 consisting for the most part of pasture land, all on a gentle 

 slope, and which is excellent scenting ground. Mr. Priest- 

 man's kennels are at Tinkler Hill, half a mile from Shotley 

 Bridge, on the Durham side of the Derwent; but about 

 nine-tenths of the hunting takes place in Northumber- 

 land, and yet the kennels are fairly well placed, no meet 

 being more than about ten miles away. The fact is, the 

 country is long in proportion to its width, for the hunting 

 area has been gradually changed, and now hounds seldom 



