AND ITS RESULTS 201 



upright, knowing thoroughly the duties of his office, 

 and if not quite so bold and determined a rider as 

 in years gone by, still making up for want of nerve 

 in knowledge of the country, and for lack of dash 

 in careful riding and judicious nicking-in. Suffice 

 it to say, that at the finish, his absence is never 

 observed, though how he came to be there is better 

 known to the second-rank horsemen than to the 

 flyers. The huntsman and whip are much the same 

 as those worthies are everywhere ; but the hounds, 

 how to describe them I know not. 



The Easyallshire Muggers set all rules regarding 

 the make, size, and symmetry of foxhounds at 

 defiance. They show almost better sport, and kill 

 more foxes, than any pack in the kingdom ; and 

 yet they are as uneven as a ploughed field, and as 

 many shapes and sizes as a charity school. I can 

 only say, " handsome is as handsome does ; " and 

 if my canine friends are not pleasant to the eye 

 of the connoisseur — if they come not up to the 

 standard of Beckford Somerville, and other writers 

 who have described a perfect foxhound, still they 

 work beautifully — which to my mind is far pre- 

 ferable to looking beautiful — and will run and 

 kill foxes with any hounds in England. The 

 huntsman and whip, though not so well mounted 

 (economy is the order of the day with the Easy- 



