136 SPORTING REMINISCENCES [1825 to 



for the flints, with which a great part of it 

 abounds, it would rank high among the pro- 

 vincials. 



" In point of fences, it is not difficult to get 

 across, as there are no brooks, and the ditches 

 are for the most part dry ; but, notwithstand- 

 ing this, it is one in which no man can be sure 

 of being with hounds. 



" This is, first, owing to the frequency of the 

 coverts, in which hounds are hidden from his 

 view; and, secondly, to the almost constant 

 occurrence of those very wide hedgerows, 

 which nothing in the shape of a horse can 

 pass, but by pulling up into a walk and boring 

 through. Here much time is lost, and in two 

 instances I have been stuck fast in the middle 

 of them, unable for some minutes to get forward 

 or backward. A gate-leaper is essential, as in 

 many places the hedges are* only cut once in 

 nine years for the fuel, so that they are im- 

 penetrable to a horse. 



" It is true that a considerable part of Mr. 

 Villebois' country is pretty clear of flints. It 

 is also true that less injury, by cutting and 

 wounding, is done to horses that are hunted in 

 it than might be imagined, though fatal cases 

 do occur. The danger, however, is more in 

 idea than in reality, but a foreigner cannot 



