368 Tally ho. 



During the five miles I cantered along tlie notes of 

 the blackbirds, thrushes, and nightingales were to be 

 heard on every side ; from amidst every bush and from 

 the boughs of every tree they poured forth their 

 joyous songs ; and this, combined with a rattling 

 gallop over the grass, soon dispelled the gloomy feel- 

 ings engendered by the murky appearance of the 

 morning. Arriving" at the- Kennels, I found that the 

 hounds had already started, so away again by New 

 Lodge and White Waltham, and Maidenhead Thicket 

 is reached at the appointed hour. I imagined there 

 would be a considerable number of persons assembled 

 to see the uncarting of the deer ; but I was not pre- 

 pared to find at least two thousand people spread over 

 the thicket; on foot, on horseback, in carriages of 

 every sort and description, from the modest donkey- 

 cart to the aristocratic four-in-hand, they occupied 

 every available space in their anxiety to obtain a sight 

 -of the deer. Epping Forest on Easter Monday was 

 vividly recalled to my mind, and I doubt even in the 

 palmiest days of old Tom Rounding, if a greater or 

 more motley assemblage ever appeared at that cele- 

 iDrated meet than was to be seen on this, the last day 

 with " The Queen's." 



The van containing the two deer selected for the 

 occasion — Accident and Burley — was the centre of 

 attraction, around which the crowd surged and jostled, 

 got in the way of the horsemen, tumbled over the 

 furze-bushes, and disported themselves generally ac- 

 cording to their different ideas of pleasure ; and when 

 the stag emerged from the cart an uproar loud 

 enough to disturb a herd of deer from their propriety 

 arose, and there was not the least necessity for hounds. 



