370 SPORTING REMINISCENCES [1845 to 



Mr. James Last, though by no means the least 



Dear s © j 



harriers. worthy of r ecor d amongst the different 

 packs in Hampshire, is the excellent one of Mr. 

 James Dear of Winchester, whose performances 

 are frequently recorded in the columns of the 

 county paper and Bell's Life. Mr. Dear began 

 keeping hounds in 1853, and has since re- 

 gularly hunted the country round Winchester. 

 Mr. Dear's kennel-man and assistant in the 

 field is Thomas Wilding, a native of Blandford, 

 and who served in the Crimea as a bombardier 

 in the Royal Artillery. Tom makes himself 

 generally useful, and is very civil and obliging. 

 Mr. Dear's system is that of leaving his pack 

 to themselves, and the result is that they come 

 to his call so readily that a whipper-in is not 

 required. The correctness of Mr. Dear's theory 

 of hunting is thoroughly proved by the ex- 

 traordinary sport he shows, and at a check his 

 hounds very frequently make their own casts. 

 At first, Mr. Dear went out with only a few of 

 his particular friends, but such sport has his 

 pack shown, that he now frequently has forty 

 Mr. John followers. Mr. John Bushe, formerly 

 Bushe. so we n kn 0wn as a fi rs t-rate sports- 



man at Melton, and with the Queen's hounds, 

 is a regular attendant, never missing a day, and 



