258 HUNTING IN MANY COUNTRIES. 



and he takes high rank among amateur huntsmen of the 

 present day, for he has very great knowledge of the sport, 

 and knpws all that it is possible to know ahout every hound 

 in his pack. He has, too, a fine eye for country, and for 

 viewing a fox, and he is quick to maike up hisi mind; indeed, 

 he invariably shows sport when he is hunting hounds, and he 

 is always with th.em. In covert — and some of his coverts are 

 the thickest I ever saw — he is a wonderfiil worker, never hesi- 

 tating to go in on foot when it is too thick — sometimes it is 

 impossible — to go in on horseback, and having a really mar- 

 vellovis knack of sending his horse to meet him at the right 

 place. 



The country is a huge one in area,, and if one adds the United 

 country to his own domain it means that Major Davies is 

 attending to a distcrict which extends from Craven Arms in 

 Shropshire to the eastern slopes of Plynlimmon, some sixty 

 miles at least. In such a large district, as will be readily 

 understood, there is every sort of co'untry which is in any 

 degree possible for foxhunting, and it is a frequent occurrence 

 for Major Daviesi' own pack to meet at Old Hall on a Monday 

 and in the Weilshpool district on a Wednesday, the countries 

 which hounds go into from either meet being not far short of 

 forty miles' apart. Perhaps from a riding point of view the 

 country in the Severn Valley between Newtown and Welsh- 

 pool is the best. There is a good deal of wire, but otherwise 

 this district is a highly cultivated vale with many undulations, 

 but hounds frequently hunt all day long without reaching the 

 mountains. Higher up the valley, west of Llandinam, the vale 

 land is narrow and the mountains close at hand, and west of 

 the old borough of Llanidloes there are good coverts on the 

 hill sides, but nearly all the hunting takes place among the 

 mountains, and it is really wonderful how the field, which 

 hereabouts oonaista chiefly of hill farmers, keep in oonatant 

 touch with hounds. As for Major Davies,* and his 

 wonderful kennel huntsman, Jack Davies, they know 

 ever}' inch of the ground and ride horses which are 



* Since this was written Major (now Colonel) Davies has given up 

 his Mastership of the United pack, leaving Mr. Roger Plowden to 

 carry on the hunt single-handed. 



