CHAP. I.] Charles King — Sport-spoilers, 29 



known as " ^otce Venaticce.'^ Wlien Lord Spencer gave 

 up the Mastership, Kino; resigned the horn, having 

 established for himself a reputation second to none in 

 the kingdom as a huntsman of the highest class. He 

 took a small farm under his old master at Bringtou, but 

 even in those ante-free-trade days, he soon discovered that 

 the "' cobbler who does not stick to his last " is apt to 

 find a new trade bad to live by. 



It is see a by the journals so accurately kept by King, 

 that the sport during the years of his huntsmanship was 

 far better, day by day, than what is experienced at the 

 present time. It is not likely that scent has greatly 

 altered, the drain-pipes notwithstanding ; but flocks, and 

 herds, and shepherd-dogs, the three great antagonistic 

 forces to sport, have increased twentyfold siuce those 

 days, as have "hard ridiug,^^ "" spring- Cap tains," and 

 foot-folk of all descriptions. Game, too, being far more 

 plentiful than of old, and rabbits more abundant, the 

 fox's salle a manger is never far distant from his 

 chambre de nuit ; and except when he would " a- 

 wooing go,''' he has little chance of acquiring any know- 

 ledge of distant points. Even in that case, after having 

 made arrano-ements with his '' Vixena " to " meet him 

 by moonlight alone," the chances are that the trysting 

 place is only in some neighbouring wood, from whence, 

 being roused by an unsympathetic hound, he straightway 

 returns to a home which he is able to reach in the course 

 of ton or fifteen minutes. Eailways must not by any 

 means be left out of the category of sport-spoilers : 

 obstructionists with whom the huntsman of old had in 

 no way to deal. Apart from the danger attendant on 

 hounds running a mile or so down a line, the navvy is 



