122 SPORTING REMINISCENCES [1825 to 



u 



I never hunt in Hampshire when I can 

 help it : that is to say, when I can hunt in 

 a better country ; but there is an instinct that 

 takes a man to hounds when they meet within 

 reach of his stable, which it is quite impossible 

 to resist. I have known what it is to repose 

 upon a bed of roses, and, like most of my 

 kind, I have languished upon a bed of thorns ; 

 but to ride a good hunter over a bed of flints 

 is a misery, which was reserved for me till I 

 came to Hampshire. 



The h. h. " Bad- as this country is, and little 



country. as j have hunted in it, I have ex- 

 perienced a great deal of pleasure from the 

 Mr. vniebois. very masterly manner in which Mr. 

 Villebois hunts it, it being quite impossible, 

 as I have before observed, for any establish- 

 ment to be better conducted than his; and 

 the only alloy that attends it, is the painful 

 recollection that so fine a kennel of hounds, 

 so able a huntsman, such clever whippers-in, 

 such a liberal master, and so good a judge, 

 should not all be transplanted into a better 

 country. Here, however, are they fixed ; and 

 fortunate is it for the Hampshire sportsmen 

 that they have them ; and I have good reason 

 for knowing that they are not unmindful of 

 their treasure. 



