the papers were complimentary of it as a whole, but some took excep- 

 tion to what I said about coursing, alleging that because I did not 

 cire about it I abused it as a sport. Certainly I don't care a great 

 deal about coursing, but if fair play was given to the hares I most 

 assuredly would not say a word against it ; on the contrary I should 

 stick up for it the same as I do for other branches of sport which 

 personally I don't care much for. Let us take coursing as carried out 

 at Altcar and described at pp. 285 and 286, which is typical of other 

 public meetings, in comparison with hunting, and also with what may 

 be called wild coursing. A fox when found goes away with an odds-on 

 chance of escape of at least 10 to 1. A deer let loose from a cart, being 

 worth about £50, is never allowed to be killed if it be possible to save 

 him, so he is enlarged at the betting of 2D to 1 on his being taken even 

 unhurt. Wild deer are killed, if they can be, but that is not often, so 

 they have as much chance as a fox. A hare hunted by harriers starts 

 with at least 5 to 1 in her favour ; and a hare started on the wolds, not 

 to talk of a mountain, if she gets a fair chance of the hill, will beat the 

 best brace of greyhounds in England three times out of four, or may 

 be four times out of five. According to the records of the Waterloo 

 meeting described in Chap. xvi. a layer of odds would have won £109 

 if he had bet in sovereigns 109 to 1 against the hares in every course 

 run at the meeting ! 



Waterloo Cup.— It may interest some people to know that the 

 Waterloo Cup was first run at Altcar in 1836, and was for eight dogs 

 only, the winner being a bitch named Milaine, the property of Lord 

 Molyneaux, but ran in the name of Mr. Lynn, the runner-up being Mr. 

 Norris' Unicus. Next year it was made a 16-dog stake, and in 1838 it 

 was increased to 32 dogs, and so continued until 1857, when it became 

 the 64-dog stake it has ever since remained. 



I was wrong in stating at p. 288 that the Derby was never won by a. 

 Lord Derby, for it was won in 1787 by Sir Peter Teazle, the property 

 of the twelfth Earl, who instituted the race, but never since or before. 



SPOKT A NATIONAL BENEFACTOR. 

 Chapter XVIL 



Advice to Header. — For reasons already stated at p. xiv of these 

 addenda my readers are requested to get a copy of the pamphlets 

 which I wrote under the above title in December, 1894, and July, 

 1895, and read them instead of this chapter. They are 3d. each, and 

 can be had at the offices of the Sporting League, 46, Pall Mall, London, 

 or I will send them gratis to whoever buys this book and applies for 

 them. 



