SOME ENGLISH COURSING CLUBS 



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blood to escape. The bird must then be " drawn " very quickly, 

 and the place instantly sewn up also. Ten minutes before a 

 hot fire, and the trick is done.' When dissected, the flesh is 

 apparently quite blue, but it literally melts in one's mouth, and 

 no one who has eaten widgeon cooked as I have described will 

 ever care for them done in any other way. 



The ground coursed over is very similar to that at Cliffe ; 

 grass covers by far the larger portion of it, but there is 



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An oyster cart 



some arable, which latter affords rather heavy going. The 

 land is, however, quite free from stones or flints, and as the 

 enclosures are mostly large, very genuine trials are seen. 

 Wide dykes intersect the various fields, and I think that hares 

 jump more than they do at Cliffe, but still there are ' homes,' 

 and the short 'breaking back' from the bank often occurs. 

 The hares are uniformly stout, and by the end of the meeting 

 the dogs which are left in the various stakes have all had 

 enough of it. Coursers go to Southminster from all parts of 



