178 HUNTING IN MANY COUNTRIES. 



from almost every point of view, that both, are, indeed, excep- 

 tionally good ; but, because they are not in the least like each 

 other, they — somewhat naturally, perhaps — rather invite com- 

 parison. As regards the preponderance of grass over arable 

 land, the Tynedale has much the best of it, and except in 

 the south-east corner of the country, or in the Tyne valley, 

 you may hunt for a month without crossing a ploughed field. 

 The Zetland, on the other hand, has a considerable amount of 

 plough in all the eastern side of the country, but I am inclined 

 to think that even where there is most mixed farming the grass 

 is in the ascendant. In the western part of the hunt this is 

 certainly the case, and it must be remembered that the valley 

 of the Tees is one of the most valuable grazing grounds in the 

 kingdom. It is a part of the original home of the Short- 

 horn, and very much of it is sound old pasture of the very 

 best kind. As regards the fences, you can jump from field to 

 field almost all over the Zetland country, but the stone wall is 

 by no means unknown in the higher-lying part of the hunt. 

 Fly fences are everywhere on the east side of the country, 

 whereas in the Tynedale the obstacles are for the most part 

 " banks," which the clever hunter does in on and off fashion, 

 or stone walls — often with a sheep rail on the top, or in later 

 days a strand of wire. The invitation fence is now a common 

 object in the Tynedale hunt, and I am inclined to think that 

 in the last-named country there are fewer coverts, and those 

 farther apart than in the Zetland. Both hunts maintain not 

 only a high standard of sport, but an equally high standard 

 of management. Every detail in v;hat may be called the art 

 of maintaining and hunting a country is most carefully con- 

 sidered, and, in fact, both hunts are strictly orthodox models 

 of what a high-class hunt should be. 



As regards running on to the moors it appears to be the 

 fact that in some of those great runs with the Tynedale the 

 moors were reached, but these were undoubtedly exceptional 

 oases, probably due to the fact that hounds were hunting a 

 travelling fox who had been found far away from his moorland 

 home. Personally, in all my visits to the Tynedale, I have 

 never seen hounds on the heather, but with the North Durham 

 a.nd the Braes of Derwent I have known many foxes go 

 to the moors, especially in the month of Janudnry, and I have 



